Christmas Rush

As you can see, I haven't been writing in here much. That's because I've been failing miserably lately, lol. I haven't been to the gym in almost a week, and I feel BLAH! I've been very busy though, so I shouldn't be so hard on myself. Friday I had the day off work because we had a wedding to go to, so I was preparing for that in the morning, then was there all day. Then Saturday I had a meeting with my Arbonne Upline, starting up my business, then after that we had a Christmas party to go to that night. Sure, I could have went to the gym on Sunday, but all I wanted to do was rest!! Which is what Sunday is for right? Well, I still ended up going out and getting some Christmas gifts. Then yesterday I went to the Arbonne distribution centre to pick up my business tools! So last night I was just going through that, and didn't go to the gym either. So tonight I MUST go! I haven't been eating that great lately either, as I mentioned before about the parties we went to, well of course they all involved food, and LOTS of it. Then yesterday at work we had a Christmas potluck which inolved a lot more food and then waking up in the middle of the night with heartburn, not fun. That was my breaking point, I decided I must wake up and get back on track just as I was blogging about. Then I come online and see my friend lost 10lbs, good for her!! Now that's my extra boost of motivation for today.

Today I went out to lunch with a few people from a Supplier. I had a salad, scallops, green beans and risotto, and for dessert a bowl of mixed berries with a small scoop of ice cream. Not to shabby at all, and for breakfast I had a Nature Valley granola bar. Not sure about Supper yet :)

Get Back On Track

So I lied, didn't go to the gym the last couple days!! I went today though on my lunch break. 30 minutes on the cross trainer and burned over 200 calories. It's crazy how even just missing a couple days at the gym can throw you off track, and you need to make yourself go back again. I feel great when I do go though! Not everyone likes working out, but you need to find something that you enjoy doing or you will never keep it up. Could be walking, running, machines, fitness classes, yoga, etc etc, try everything until you find what's right for you! As for me, I actually like all forms of exercise. I really enjoy boot camp which I will be starting in January. As for equipment I like the Cross trainer because of the different programs that kick your butt, and I like the treadmill.

Maybe I'll work out on the exercise ball a bit tonight, or punch the boxing bag, haven't done that in a while!!

Tis The Season

Tis the season, and with the season comes goodies galore! Very hard to resist temptation when there are so many Christmas treats, parties with appetizers, candies and chocolates and so on. Don't be afraid of this people! You can still enjoy the season, just limit what you eat. When you are at a party with platters of different appetizers, it's very hard to keep track of how much you are eating. You think, oh just a couple here a couple there, and before you know it, you have a tummy ache! Normally I would eat lots when there's appetizers out, because they are just so scrumptious. This past weekend though, I went to a party and only had a few different ones. I was really happy about this later when I wasn't grumbling about an upset stomach.

As for exercise, I haven't been to the gym in a few days, but I'll be going tonight. Don't worry if you fall off the wagon sometimes, just jump back on when you can!

Also, I don't think I mentioned this before, but I actually started watching what I eat and exercising more before I actually started this blog. After the wedding when we got back to Ontario the beginning of October I decided to get back on track, because since we were engaged Dec of last year, all I could thnk about was WEDDING. Luckily I had a dress that had a corset that expands, otherwise I would have had to squeeze into it on our Wedding day Sept. 25. Since the wedding, I've lost 10 lbs, I'm not tracking inches though, which I should be, since muscle weighs more than fat, maybe I should start doing that!

Ta Ta for now!

Ashley

Manic Monday

Another weekend over, and Monday is here. It's the end of Monday now though, even though the time on here says otherwise, for some reason it's messed up!

Food today:
-Oatmeal
-Coffee
-Brown Rice
-Chicken, jambalaya rice, & veggies
-Couple chocolates

Christmas is just around the corner, I'm going to have to crank up my willpower since there will be sweets and treats wherever I turn. As I said before though, all about balance!!

Exercise today:
-Went to the Cardio Fusion class lunch time. Did a lot of aerobic moves, jumps and squats, I'll know tomorrow if it was a good work out..

Slacker

I haven't been updating my blog, what a slacker. The rest of my week was good, I was eating okay, except yesterday I had McDonalds, but there's no way I'm completely giving up McDonalds, I need that every now and then, lol. I went to the gym Wednesday and did the Core 1000 class, then was on the treadmill and Crosstrainer. The rest of the week I was Christmas shopping and wrapping gifts though, so I did not go to the gym.

Determination

It's crazy how even a couple of days missed at the gym makes it hard for you to go back. The last day I was there was Friday, and I really didn't want to go today either, but I made myself go! I'm glad I did, I feel great after a workout, it"s just hard to get yourself in gear sometimes. I spent about an hour at the gym today, treadmill and crosstrainer.

For food, I missed breakfast. I know that was bad, I didn't get a chance to eat, I should have picked something up at Tims or something, but I didn't. I ate a 6 inch ham sub for lunch. Then around 3:30 I was very hungry again, I guess because I missed breakfast, so I ate my 300 calorie Healthy Choice chicken meal. Then later around 6:30, I ate Indian food, mmmm, so good. I had curry chicken, butter chicken (lot of calories..), rice and salad. Then went to the gym afterwards. Then when I got home, I brought Maxx for a short walk. (The Boxer that's with us for a while).

What a weekend!

I failed miserably this weekend with the whole working out and eating right thing, but it was worth it! Had a girl's night with old friends, and boy oh boy, girls can eat a lot when they're together! Before that night though, I did house work, so that burned some calories at least! Later that night though, we had burgers, potato salad, chocolate-peanut butter dessert, quiche, spring rolls, garlic bread, jelly beans, punch, and sangria all in one night! Then Sunday we went out for breakfast, then what do I do when home with the hubby, we order Chinese! I think I had a weeks worth of calories in a weekend, but every now and then you need to binge :P

Last night, the hubby's cousin brought over his Boxer. We want to see what it would be like to have a boxer, because that's the type of dog we want. So this morning I brought him for a walk, but that's the only exercise I did today, my tummy was hurting today (hmm I wonder why?)

All about balance

Yesterday I didn't work out. It was my recovery day. When working out, a rest day is very important to let your muscles repair themselves and grow.

Yesterday's food:

Breakfast -Yogurt & berries and medium coffee (190 calories)

Lunch - Grilled Chicken whole wheat pita, with veggies and mustard (240 calories)

Snack - Low Fat Chocolate Pudding, 10 almonds (160 calories)

Supper - Healthy Choice Cajun Chicken & shrimp with rice (260 calories)

Dessert: Swiss Chocolate ice cream with raspberries, mmmm(400 calories)

This is a total of 1250 calories, and that's with indulging in delicious Ice Cream from Marble slab Creamery. It's all about balance though, because I had lower calorie meals throughout the day, I still can have my guilty pleasures! :P

Todays Food:

Breakfast - Cinnamon raisin bagel with butter (300 calories)

Snack - Tuna Salad/crackers, 5 almonds (305 calories)

Lunch - Whole wheat sub with chicken and veggies (400 calories)

Snack - Chocolate mints (100 calories)

Supper - Harveys grilled chicken, root beer and fries (yep, a whole lotta calories..900)

This gives me a total of 2005 calories, wowza! Gotta work out tomorrow! Tomorrow will be bad for calories as well, it's a girls night, uh oh, ha ha.

Exercise:

Went to the Sculpt class today, but it was another instructor and not Jen. Her name was Danielle I believe. She was good as well. We did lunges, squats, jumps, weights, etc.

Feelin' Good

First of all, I found out I exagerated the calories on my coffee. Since I get 1 milk instead of cream and only 1 sugar, my coffee is only around 50 calories :) Switching to milk makes a difference, and I only get a medium coffee instead of large.

Here's my food intake for today:

Breakfast - Fruit and Yogurt parfait & Coffee (170 calories)

Lunch - Whole wheat chicken pita with veggies and mustard (240 calories)

Snack - 10 almonds and yogurt (110 calories)

Supper - Healthy Choice Sweet Sesame Chicken and Rice (330 calories)

Snack - Two Nature Valley Granola bar (200 calories)

Total of 1050 calories, which is actually pretty low, maybe I'll eat something small before bed if I get hungry.

Exercise:

45 minutes at the gym: 2.5km run on the treadmill and a little over 1km program on the crosstrainer.

Just as I suspected

Yep, I'm hurting today. Stairs make me cringe right now, but pain is gain!! I also did a bad thing today, it was without knowledge, so I swear I won't do it again *shame on me*. Today I figured I would have an energy drink instead of a coffee. It was in the fridge and came out of a box, which sadly, the box was thrown away so I didn't see the nutritional facts. It was a Red Rain Acai-Blu with Taurine. Yeah it all sounded fine and dandy, except when I googled it I find out it has the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of sugar!! Bah! A little crazy, don't you think?



Food today:

Breakfast - Bowl of Kashi Cereal and 1% milk (250 calories)

Mid-morning - Red Rain Energy drink (120 calories)

Lunch - Chicken Brochette with veggies and Brocoli soup (From Score's, and I didn't eat the bun!) (500 calories)

Snack - 10 almonds (70 calories)

Supper - Tuna salad, crackers and yogurt (210 calories)



So even though I had an overload of sugar, I still only had 1150 calories. :) Also, notice that I ate a smaller supper because I had a lot of food for lunch!

As for exercise, I'm recovering today from yesterday's work out, but since it was mostly a leg work out, I'm doing some exercises on my Ball tonight. Will record later.

Coffee!!

My bad, I forgot that I had a coffee, which brings me to 1500 calories. The rest of the day I had water, no calories in that! Also, I will do 100 crunches before bed!

Gonna hurt tomorrow

I thought I would also throw in what I'm eating, because I know I'll try to eat healthier when I have to post it on here for the world to see, haha, and no, I will not lie! When working out, protein is very important to eat because it builds muscle. This increases your metabolism, and helps you burn more fat. Someone once told me that her personal trainer told her the last year of her working out was basically a waste, because she wasn't taking in enough protein which is why she was not seeing results. So I am trying my best to take in protein when I can.



Food for the day:

Breakfast - Honey Nut Cheerios, with 1% milk (approx. 200 calories)

Snack - Tuna Salad kit with crackers (170 calories)

Lunch - 6 inch Tuna melt sub on multi-grain bread with veggie toppings (approx 450 calories)

Snack - 10 almonds (70 calories)

Supper - Healthy Choices Balsamic Chicken dinner (320 calories)

I also had 10 jujubes..which is shockingly 180 calories



This is a total of 1390 calories, which is not too shabby at all.



*On a side note, I'm at work most days during supper time. I found these Healthy Choices microwavable dinners, they are pretty good! It's the one that steams your food, and they have lots of choices, I've been eating them almost every day lately, and still not bored of them yet!



Exercise:



I have a membership at a local recreation centre, and it includes their fitness classes. They have a fitness class during lunch time on Monday's and Friday's. I've been going to the Monday one lately, and I like it. It's called Cardio Fusion. Well, today I went, but the normal instructor was away, so the Friday lunch time teacher substituted, and boy oh boy, I'm gonna hurt tomorrow, and probably Wednesday as well. This teacher's name is Jen, she teaches a sculpt class on Fridays, and she incorporated that class with the Cardio Fusion. We used weights and did God only knows how many lunges and squats, I hope I can walk tomorrow. We also did jumping jacks, mountain climber, football run, and skiing. It was a great workout, and I will for sure start going to her Friday classes, even if I curse her name tomorrow and the day after. I like the classes when you can feel it's working! Anyways, that's it for today, tune in again tomorrow!

P.S - I know it's not the end of the day yetm but I won't be eating anything else today, and if I do, I will log it later!

Introduction

It's a proven fact that keeping track of your goals by writing them down actually makes you more likely to go through with them. Knowing that you have to write something down makes you want to do the right thing, because of course you don't want to write down negative things! I've been trying to do this for a long time, but just in my own personal journal. So now I've decided to do it in an online journal, that way I know that people are actually reading it, and I'm hoping that will motivate me to keep going! Hopefully it will also motivate others!
Every year I always say "By my next birthday, I will have a 6 pack". And I don't mean one of those crazy body building 6 packs that those girls have on tv that kind of make you cringe, I just want a nice flat stomach that looks great in a bikini, and every year..sadly..I fail. Either I'm caught up with something else (like last year, planning a wedding) or I just give up. But not this time! I can do it, and I will! Have to keep positive! It's been a thought of mine to become a fitness instructor, but in order to do that, I first have to become fit myself, so this is a blog about my progress. I will record my day later tonight.