Mindful eating and self-love

I have a bit of catching up to do! Here's how the 52 Days til Summer challenge has been going:

Week 3 Challenge

Last week's challenge was to pay attention to your eating. As Ashley put it:

Is what you’re eating helping you reach your goals and hit your full potential? Are you eating mindfully and nourishing your body? Or are there things in your diet that need to go? How are you keeping track of it?

I admit that I did not give as much attention to this challenge as I have to the past ones. It was a whirlwind week that included my 9 year (!) anniversary with my BF and a trip home to Belleville for the long weekend, and my mind was in a place where I wanted to have fun and not think too much about what I was eating.

However, having the challenge in the back of my mind proved to help me make some wise eating choices without feeling deprived. My parent's fridge was stocked with veggies so I fit as many of those in as I could in meals at home, and tried to make healthy choices at meals out. There were indulgences (I cannot resist a trip to Slickers ice cream while on a shopping excursion in Prince Edward County, nor can I turn down a home-baked butter tart made by a family friend) but to me, being mindful about my eating does not mean excluding foods like this from my diet forever. It means keeping foods like this to exactly what they should be - occasional indulgences - and eating healthy, whole foods the rest of the time.

Even though it is now time to move onto a new challenge, the mindful eating challenge has proven to have some staying power. The other day at work I stared down a box of Timbits that a co-worker had brought into the office. Usually, I overindulge on Timbits - once I eat one, I just want more and more. But I looked in the box and realized that all my favourites had already been picked out, and thought, "why eat them if I don't even really want them?" It was a small but proud moment for me!

Week 4 Challenge

Week 4 already, wow! This week's challenge is to practice some self-love, specifically to try and counter negative thoughts with positive thoughts.

After some thinking on it, I decided the best place for me to start exercising some self love is when I am...exercising!

I tend to get frustrated with myself very quickly when it comes to exercising. I sometimes feel that I'm not seeing the results that I should be seeing and I have a tendency to blame myself - that I'm not working hard enough, or that I'm just not capable of becoming stronger and more fit. A good place to turn some negative thoughts into positive ones:

Instead of thinking, "My arms are so weak," I will think, "These arms used to have trouble with 2 pound weights and now they are lifting 5 pound weights. They have come a long way!"

Instead of thinking, "You can't even do a pushup yet, how sad," I will think, "It is great that you are committed to the goal of doing a pushup. Keep practicing and you will get there!"

Instead of thinking, "Why is this so hard for me? I should be better by now" I will think, "You are doing things that you never thought you would do, and pushing yourself instead of being content to stay at the level you are. Good for you!"

I need this kind of self love in my life. It will encourage me to keep exercising and not give up, to keep challenging myself, and to stop beating myself up over not being super fit yet, and instead appreciate that by becoming more active, I am doing something healthy and kind for myself.

Next week I will be traveling to Edmonton for work and then a visit with my lovely sister, for which I am super excited. It may not leave me with much time to blog but I will do what I can, and at the very least take lots of pictures so I can make an epic post when I return!

Check in and some food pics!

Just checking in to say the 52 Days till Summer Challenge is still going strong!

Activity has been going well. The past two weeks I have worked out 4 days a week. This week coming up I am aiming for 5! 30 Day Shred has been my main workout this week. I did some Natalie moves the last time I did it and was no longer thinking it was easy! Next week I may switch back to Power Sculpt just to keep my body guessing and to work different muscles. Next week will also be a challenge as I will be away for the long weekend, so I will have to be creative in order to get all my activity in.

Food is also going great. I have been making good choices, but at the same time allowing myself to live my life (had a couple drinks out on Thursday and dinner out on Friday). I am proud that I have brought my lunch to work every single day since starting the challenge, which is really good for both my health and my budget.

Some recent food:Tandoori chicken and baked sweet potatoes, a meal made together with the BF. A fantastic dinner - the chicken tasted indulgent even though it was really healthy, and the sweet potatoes were amazing, they are the BF's concoction and they are my favourite way to eat sweet potatoes.


A tofu patty (one of La Soyarie's miso veggie burgers, so good), veggies and rice, topped with gravy made from Eat Drink and Be Vegan. The gravy does not look so appetizing, but I LOVE the stuff.
Homemade iced tea made with some key lime tea bags, lime juice and a bit of agave nectar. Yum!

Today the BF and I went and got plants for our vegetable garden, one of my favourite things about summer! We bought two tomato plants, a yellow bell pepper plant, a jalapeno plant and a cayenne plant. I am really hoping to find a cilantro plant as well so that we can make salsa with almost all ingredients from our own garden! Sadly no pictures of the plants right now because it is grey and rainy outside (boo) but when the sun decides to show its face again I will get some pics.

Challenge: Do one thing this week that scares you

This week's 52 Days Until Summer Challenge is simple yet difficult at the same time.

"Do one thing this week that scares you."

As soon as I read the post I knew what I would be doing - Level 3 of the 30 Day Shred.

I've expressed my love of the 30 Day Shred workout before, but in all the time I've been doing it I've never moved onto Level 3. Level 2 is still a pretty intense workout for me, and I am not one to push myself physically. I also have a tendency to think "I can't do that" about a lot of physical challenges. I forget that although I still find the Shred difficult, I have made a lot of progress. I can get through Level 1 without practically going into cardiac arrest. I use 5 pound weights instead of 2 pound weights. I get parallel to the ground when doing squats and lunges instead of barely sinking down. They are small changes that happened slowly over time, but they are significant none the less.

Another sign of progress: although Level 2 certainly seems more than challenging at the time, the next day my muscles feel fine. Clearly a sign that my body is getting accustomed to the workout, and it's time to move on to something more challenging.

So what was there to be scared of? Logically, not much, but I still felt apprehensive today before starting the workout. Would I make it through, or collapse in a heap?

Not totally tomato red - a good sign

I may not look impressed in that picture, but I survived! Dare I say it...I think I found Level 3 easier than Level 2. Some of the cardio and abs moves were definitely rough, but the beginner strength moves were pretty easy - too easy, in fact, since I should be moving on to a more challenging workout. Next time, I will have to follow Natalie rather than Anita (in other words, advanced vs beginner) for some of the moves. There's the surest sign of progress right there - I NEVER thought I would be saying that any of the beginner moves in 30 Day Shred were too easy!

I really enjoyed this challenge and I look forward to going one step further and truly challenging myself the next time I do Level 3. It's time to truly push myself with exercise and not be content to follow Anita!

One week down + delicious breakfasts

I'm coming to the end of my first week doing the 52 Days Till Summer Challenge and I'm feeling good! I have been making really good food choices, which is good news both for my health and for my budget. There were a few indulgences on Friday (Greek food for dinner and some drinking) but since everything else has been on track I'm not concerned.

I also got moving this week, working out a total of 4 times (The Biggest Loser PowerSculpt 3 days, and Pilates 1 day). I have yet to print my calendar out and stick it on my fridge, but I still met my activity goal which is a good sign! I am definitely feeling the effects of my workouts in my shoulders and my legs, and after the Pilates my abs were killing me! I kind of love exercise pain though.

In other news I have been enjoying some really delicious breakfast lately. Last Sunday I made Sweet Potato Oatmeal Breakfast Casserole from Oh She Glows.

Angela's recipes have never disappointed me and this one was no exception. Absolutely amazing! I loved this the best straight out of the oven, but the leftovers were quite good too, warm or cold. I especially loved the banana in this recipe - not something I would have thought to add to sweet potato oatmeal but it was a great touch.

I also enjoyed some overnight oats this week:

Everyone loves pink breakfast right? I love overnight oats. They remind me of those fruit and yogurt parfaits you can buy at the grocery store, but much healthier. This batch had oats, yogurt, soymilk, berries (President's Choice 4 berry blend) and a bit of agave nectar. I also topped this with some All-Bran buds when I ate it for added crunch and fiber.

And because William Shatner told me to.

Looking forward to seeing what next week's mini-challenge will be, and to enjoying the spring weather that has finally arrived in Ottawa!

Back with the 52 Days til Summer Challenge

Oh my god, I'm back again.

I was inspired by two lovely ladies I know to get back to my blog:

Emily, with her blog that I love love love;

And Ashley, as I'm thrilled to announce that I will be taking place in her 52 Days til Summer Challenge!

This challenge couldn't have come at a better time. Between being sick, crappy weather, and some unpleasant things happening in my personal life, April did not equal a healthy month for me. Food was more often chosen for its comfort value than its healthiness, and exercise was almost non-existent. I'm really feeling positive about May though (despite the sun's continued insistence on hiding away) and am really looking forward to this challenge, which I believe will help keep me accountable and will give me a little extra incentive to stay on the healthy track.

The first part of the challenge is to develop a list of reasons I want to participate in the challenge. My goal is not specifically to lose weight (although a few pounds lost would be a happy bonus), but instead just to get back on the healthy track and stay there. My reasons for wanting to get and stay healthy are:

- To take care of myself and ensure a long, happy life
- To feel (and be) fit and strong
- To have lots of energy
- To feel proud of the life choices I am making
- To feel confident in a bathing suit this summer!

The other component to this challenge is to develop a list of commitments that will help me to achieve my goal. My commitments are:

- To eat whole foods, especially lots of vegetables, as much as possible
- Work out 4-5 times a week
- Don't slack off on the weekends (this is a biggie - I have a bad tendency to do really well all week with food and exercise, and then eat whatever I feel like and be lazy on the weekends. I have to remember that weekends count too!)
- Take it easy on the alcohol (also applies to the weekend commitment)
- Keep track of my progress on this blog!

It's also back to tracking my activity with stickers and a calendar - a surprisingly great motivational tool. I guess the love of stickers never really goes away, no matter how old you are!

I'm really excited, not just for the challenge, but for the opportunity to start feeling more positive and developing some healthy habits. I hope you will cheer me on, and consider joining the challenge yourself!