Craftiness

Every Saturday I have a standing appointment with my "Chicks with Sticks". A group of us get together and work on different needlework projects. You have to be careful what you bring because there are social knitting patterns and then there are patterns that are too complicated to be properly social.

Currently I'm working on a baby blanket for one of my fellow "Chicks". I learned the hard way today that this pattern is not for social knitting. I had to rip it back twice today after finding mistakes. Sigh! Those darn yarn overs get me every time.

However, this hat was great to pass the time when I was waiting to get admitted into the labour ward.

Here is a picture of it completed. (Both projects actually! Ha!)

I was wondering if there was such a thing as a knitted cozy for my Pilate's ball. It is bumblebee yellow and I keep moving it from room to room because it really is horrid. Hmmmm... I wonder if Ravelry has anything. Something like this.

Just did a little searching and I found it here. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha! Now it off to Wal-Mart to get a few of those HUGE balls of acrylic.

Fabulous Friday!

I start my Learn to Run program tonight and I am nervous and excited. I don't mind being at the back of the pack, but I hope I'm not so far back that they have to send a search party for me. I did find out that I can bring my little man in his jogging stroller for the practice sessions. Yay!

Not sure how cold it will be tonight but I have my trusty headlamp and thermal shorts that I blogged about here as well as this fantastic product.

Green Beaver Winter Cheek Balm to keep your skin from getting damaged from the winter wind. It worked fantastic on New Year's Eve and I didn't break out from it.

I really like this post from Kelli's blog (my image consultant) about Stars Before They Had a Stylist.

Another favorite blog of mine is Calgary Deals Blog. I have scored some pretty fantastic specials including my hair makeover and my wardrobe makeover.

You would think that I would visit a lot of exercise blogs. Nope! My blog browsing focuses more on interior design, crafts, and what I call my "girly" blogs. My newest fave is Beauty Parler, a Canadian blog about make up. I love to play with new make up products and I like to keep up with what's new.



New Friday I will be giving a review of my fave makeup & beauty products.

Relationships

Yesterday I was reminded how far I have come regarding food. It was always an unhealthy relationship and there was a lot of abuse involved. I abused the food, and in return, the food abused my body.

Mum and I were picking up an order of fries to share from McDonald's when she commented on the new "festive" dipping sauces. I paused for a second and then confessed, "You know, there was a time I used to get excited about new menu items from McDonald's".

Wow.

Just over two years ago I discovered that I am a food addict and a compulsive over eater. I had very damaging beliefs about food and I am very sensitive (allergic even?) to sugar, flour, and caffeine. When you don't want to cope with feelings or events, substance abuse can happen. My addiction of choice was food.

After some extensive reading, I made the commitment to remove flour, sugar and caffeine from my diet. Thanks to the support of my hubby, we cleared the entire house of contraband. I cried over my first "clean" meal.  I can honestly say that this was the hardest thing I have ever done. Yes, even harder than childbirth, because at the end of my labour I had my beautiful baby.

After giving it all up I felt that I had nothing. Actually I felt like I had lost my best friend. Food was my hobby, my passion, my comfort. The food network was my porn. I justified this by saying I was a "foodie". Nope, I am a food addict.

Who knows how this came to be. Nature or nurture, that's the age old debate isn't it? Either way it doesn't matter. It was a rough transition but the outcome was so worth it. Yes it is a pain that I can't eat whatever I want but it's just food. Food didn't make me fat. Food is neutral. It was my relationship with food that made me overweight.

Now food is energy and I have relationships with people. :)


FYI: These books were the eye openers I needed to make the change.

Food Addiction: The Body Knows

Why Can't I Stop Eating?

The Emotional Eater's Book of Inspiration

Snack Attack!

Snacking is my downfall. Wait, let me clarify, continual grazing is my downfall.

I had it pretty much licked before I got pregnant, but snacking and grazing became the norm to keep the nausea at bay. Then the baby came and all I had time for was a quick bite and nibble here and there when the opportunity arose. Then Christmas and New Years were the culprits for little nibblies around the house. I'm pretty lucky (in the weight loss sense) that I don't eat candy or baked goods or bread anymore (allergies). But you'd be amazed how much weight you can gain from chips, cheese, nuts, and "sugar free" chocolates. Sigh!

So now I have started the quest anew. No more snacking! Veggies and fruit are better options but it's amazing how you can still compulsively overeat good for you foods as well.

My plan is to keep my hands busy with craft and decor projects and try to keep the water nearby.

How do you keep from grazing?

Just call me Pollyanna!

It's Tuesday and time for another personal improvement. So far I have made a conscious effort to drink more water, dress better everyday (now that I know how), and to take time to do my hair and makeup before I go out. Working on it, check and check.

Today's is a little different. I am making an attitude adjustment. No more complaining. Gasp! Yup, no more bitching, bellyaching, moaning or groaning allowed on my part.

Why?

Well I had an epiphany last night watching Village on a Diet (interesting show BTW). Listening to the boot camp participants groaning and moaning, saying "I can't!", 'This hurts!", "Why am I doing this to myself?" made me realize that this was a completely different experience than I had earlier that evening at yoga.

Not one person muttered, groaned, snickered, or even uttered a single, "Are you serious?" All you could hear were the conscious breaths from my fellow beginners. We were all respectfully silent for each other and the instructor. It was wonderful!

Now for those of you who think that yoga can't compare to a boot camp, let me give you an example. I was at the VERY Beginner Ashtanga class last night. This class gave my muscles such a workout that I couldn't fall asleep last night from muscle strain. I had to get out of bed and do some serious stretching with a resistance band and roll my hips and glutes over my trusty pool noodle. After liberally applying roll on muscle relaxant I was finally able to sleep. I didn't have this kind of muscle tenderness after doing my 5K!

So from now on I will not waste my breath complaining. If I'm working out and something is hard or seriously hurts, I will state a fact, but I will not indulge in the usual bellyaching that I've done before. For those of you who I meet up with socially, I am asking you to call me on it if I slip.

What have I gotten myself into?

Monday's Motivation

Hello New Year!

I discovered a few things today that are going to help my motivation.

First, I have signed up for the Running Room's Learn to run program starting this Friday. I said it before and I'll say it again - I hate doing things that I'm not all too jazzed about alone. Bookstores, movies, makeup and clothes shopping? Sure! Working out? Nope! This is why I hate the gym. I'll go if the weather is frightful, or if I find a deal (especially one that has child care), but normally I'd rather be outside.

Also, I like to run - actually it's more of a jog/walk combination. The fresh air feels great and it is the only exercise I have found that renders my mind still. Yup, no inner conversations or observations, no list making, no hashing over stuff that I did or said yesterday. Nada. It is wonderful!

Second, I got deal through the Calgary Deals Blog from a local yoga place. Tonight will be my first class in Very Beginner Ashtanga at Yoga Shala. I tried regular ashtanga before I got pregnant and loved it. It's a quick moving yoga that also helps to shut off my brain. The slower the yoga, the more my brain starts to complain (It's to slow! I'm too sore! This is boring!)

Third, this weekend is the Ultimate Health and Fitness Show at the Telus Convention Centre. They have a Health Check program that will help me on my journey to wellness by helping me find my starting line. They'll measure my current level of health across a variety of wellness factors that include pain assessment, blood pressure, brain agility, alignment & posture, stride length, push up, BMI, heart rate, active lifestyle, body composition, balance & flexibility, functional movement, and stress. Whew! My goal is to get assessed and then get rechecked next year to see how far I have come.

Last but not least I will be watching Village on a Diet on CBC tonight at 9pm. According to the promos, the town of Taylor is one of the most obese towns in Canada. I look forward to watching their journey.

Whooo Hooo!

Happy New Year everyone!

I am a wogger again! After nine months of pregnancy and 5 months of baby, I am back! Whoo hooo! Can you tell I'm just a tad euphoric? Over 1000 runners participated last night. It was amazing to be a part of it. The energy and sense of community was inspiring.

Tim and I settled nicely in the middle of the pack and I speed walked the entire time. Halfway through, as I started to huff and puff, Tim asked me if I wanted to slow down. Uhhhh...NO!  I was able to jog the last bit and came away with a time of 42 mins and 53 seconds. The last time I did a 5K was on October 3rd and I did it in 47 minutes. I took just over four minutes off my time and I didn't even train properly.

The best part of last night was feeling my body respond so favorably to the exercise. Bring on the next challenge! The coolest part of last night was having a seven year old girl and her mum as my pace setter. Seven years old! What a fantastic girl. I wish we had photos from last night but I forgot to bring the camera.

Next year I hope to be able to run the 5K. After the marathon training this just might be possible!