Thursday, April 5, 2012

Please follow my new Blog

HI Everyone,
I am closing this blog down, please follow me over at my new blog, found at.


http://40fabulousfit.blogspot.ca/

Friday, March 18, 2011

Heavy Heart

I have a heavy heart. I have been doing what I can to help people fighting Breast cancer. I know a couple of survivors. I've watched my next door neighbor fight through her diagnosis, her surgery, her chemotherapy and radiation and now her recovery. I went to Toronto to Run Director Trainging for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure. I listened to key note speakers, survivors, scientist and doctor's who are doing amazing things with Breast Cancer Research. It seems like we're doing such great work, I was feeling so positive about it.

Yesterday at work I found out that one of my associates in another department that I know fairly well has been diagnosed with Breast Cancer. This horrible, ugly disgusting disease has struck another person that I know and care about. It's not fair! It's not. It plain and simply isn't fair.

The Run for the Cure is in the planning stages right now. There's over 100 different locations across Canada. Do me a favor, do all of those women who have been diagnosed with Breast Cancer or who will be diagnosed a favor.

Register! Put a team together, do some fundraising, register and help us beat this horrible disgusting disease! We will win the battle...but we need your help to do so!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

cross post to 40 fit and fabulous

I've managed to go to the gym for 6 of the last seven days. I've worked hard, I've sweat and I've overcome some of my fears.

My husband and I used to belong to a gym that had a women's only section upstairs. I pretty much worked out up there exclusively. It wasn't as busy upstairs and when it was, I could put myself in a corner on the elliptical, put on my headphones and just go for it.

This isn't the case any longer. After hurting my knee last year and it progressively getting worse, the doctor suggested that I get into the water. As our gym didn't have a swimming pool and the REC centre down the street does, we switched over. I stayed in the water for a good six months but I wasn't getting the results I needed in the water, so back to the gym I have returned.

I have been very apprehensive about going into the gym of the REC centre. There are a LOT of people there, not just on the equipment but walking the track, playing basketball or indoor soccer etc. The weight room is usually full of groups of men, grunting, groaning and generally making a lot of noise. I've been very wary of going in there. I need to go in there, I KNOW I need to go in there. I'm a fairly shy person to start with,(all right stop laughing!) I am when it comes to people I don't know, especially when I'm out numbered.

I had an incident happen this week, which almost sent me running with my tail between my legs. My beloved elliptical's were all being used, so I had no choice but to use a treadmill over in the section connected to the weight section. In had just finished my walk, I turned off my ipod but still had my earbuds in. As I was wiping down the machine, I over heard someone say something that almost stopped me in my tracks!

The young man, pushed one of his friends and said "Don't get on that one, the fat lady probably broke it." The small group laughed and went on their way into the weight section. It was all I could do not to run out of the Rec Centre. I was so upset I wanted to throw in the towel.

Last night, my husband and I headed up to the gym. I knew that I wanted to do some weights, I've missed doing them, but I didn't really want to go into the weight section by myself. My loving husband told me that when I was ready to go do my weights, come get him and he would go in with me and ensure that I got to use all of the equipment I wanted to use. I went and did my cardio and then headed over towards my husband at the other end of the rec centre where he was on the bike.

Something came over me though as I walked over to him. I had to do this. I had to get over my fear and just go in there. I told my husband that I would be all right and I plunged into the weight room. I almost walked right back out. One of the men who had been with the group earlier in the week was in there. I steadied myself, walked up to the machine I wanted to use, put on the hand grip I wanted and just got to work. Six reps later, I was ready to use another machine. Two men were leaning up against it talking, I walked up to them and asked them if I could use the machine, to my utter surprise they moved. I could feel the one man from earlier in the week watching me, because yes, I actually do know how to use the machines. When I was done with my the machines and it was time to go over to the free weight section, I turned and smiled at him, from the look on his face, I'm sure he knew that I had heard his friends. With my head held high, I went over and finished my workout.

It's amazing how grabbing the bull by the horns, really does make it possible to conquer your fears.

Friday, January 7, 2011

New blog! Visit my fitness/nutrition blog...

I've moved my fitness blog over to a new blog, visit me there at http://40fabulousfit.blogspot.com/

Saturday, January 1, 2011

New Year, New Blogs

Hi everyone,
I didn't fall of the face of the earth, really I didn't! I just fell off the computer, and the elliptical and the nutrition and, well pretty much everything else. Oh well! It's a new year and with that comes a fresh start with a new blog!

This Blog will now be about my passion for fighting Cancer, and what I'm doing to help.

I have a new weight loss, nutrtion and fitness blog. It's called 40 fit and fabulous and can be found at

http://40fabulousfit.blogspot.com/

I hope you'll join me there!

Have a great day! Katie

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Happy Halloween~~~~

How is everyone? What is everyone doing for Halloween? I didn't purchase any candy at all this year, we get so few kids in my complex that I'm not even going to tempt fate by bringing the candy into the house. Instead I picked up a half dozen Tim Horton's cards that I put 2.00 each on and if we get any kids, they can have a treat at Timmies, if we don't , well then my husband has his IceCaps pre paid for the next couple of weeks.

I'm working today and decided at the last minute to dress up. I didn't have a costume on hand so I decided to go as a Participant. Yes, a participant to a Run. Now because I have a team that does the CIBC Run for the Cure, that's who I'm dressed as this year, but on my waist pack I have my buttons from the Weekend to End Breast Cancer as well.

Tomorrow is November 1st and I'll be getting back on line a ilttle bit more. After doing all of the work for putting the Run on this year, when it was all done and finished with, my husband asked me to give myself a break from the computer. In the lead up to the Run in Septmeber and the early part of October I would be on the computer first thing in the morning, as soon as I got home from work (usually for an hour or two) then again for an hour before bed. I'd get up at 530am adn I'd be back on the computer for another hour.

I totally understood where he was coming from. I was tired of the computer. I didn't want to check e-mail (of which i had four different accounts to check), I didn't want to go on face book, (I got tired of doing updates for the run, the activites, creating events, managing the events etc.) So, after three weeks of being mostly computer free, I'm giong to go back to checking my personal e-mail, to reading the blogs I follow and keeping you all up to date with how I'm doing.

This week got me back into the swing of things. I spent 6 hours in teh pool this week, which I am really incredibly greatful for. It felt so good to get my muscles warmed up and moving in the water. I'm going to try going back to the gym to work out as well. I miss the elliptical, I miss the treadmill and I miss the weights. I'm going to make an appointment with my doctor and get his clearance before I do so but it's been four months since I started working the water. I haven't had my knee go out from under me in all of that time so I think it may be a good time to get going again.

Have a great day everyone! Happy Halloween!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Thanksgiving

..so how was your Thanksgiving? I ended up having two of them. Yes! Two! I was a little freaked out at first that I was going to have to sit through two turkey dinners, deserts and everything else and I was honestly VERY nervous about it. I decided going in that I would have a plan of attack ready and raring to go. On Saturday I ate very little during the day, I had breakfast, and I had a light lunch(bowl of soup). I got home from work and I was hungry, hungry, hungry! I knew that dinner would be at 7pm so I filled up my water bottle and drank some water. When we went over to our friends for dinner, they had some cheese and crackers out, I helped myself to a few and then put my plate aside. I sipped some water and when it came time to eat dinner. I was very proud of myself. I took a little bit of several things, but not everything. I only had one helping of everything, a little bit of gravy and that was it. I did indulge in desert. Pumpkin Pie! My favorite, it was home made pumpkin pie and I had a little piece along with a little dollop of whipped cream. I was satified. I wasn't over stuffed as I usually get during these types of meals.

I was proud of myself. Especially considering that I had weigh in to do the next morning. I was a little apprehensive on Sunday morning. I didn't get to the gym at all last week as I wasn't feeling well and I was still running around doing Run stuff. I have to say though that I was happy! I stayed the same! Now that may not seem like a huge accomplishment to some, but considering that I had lost 4 pounds the week before, I had eaten out 3 times and I had a turkey dinner. Well, all in all, I was very happy.

Sunday was a nice relaxing day, my husband and I tranferred most of the run stuff from our basement to the storage closet and for dinner we had home made Cream of Mushroom soup. - Non Fat! and sandwiches for dinner. Again we ate light, knowing that on Monday we were heading over to my parents house where we as a family have a tradition of cooking enough food to feed a small army!

My husband and I had a light breaksfast of muffins and tea and then we held off during the day. We headed over to my parents house around 2 in the afternoon and instead of the usual chips and dips and lots of appetizer's. My mom didn't put anything out at all. I was soooo very thankful for that! It meant that I wouldn't graze all afternoon while we prepared dinner and then sit down to a full dinner. By the time dinner time came around, I was very hungry, but common sense prevailed, I took a little bit of most things, and a little bit of gravy. For desert I had picked up a pumpkin pie at my local grocery store and I had a small piece, this time without ice cream or whipped cream. I was truly satisfied. I wasn't groaning from being full or feeling sick to my stomach from being over stuffed.

This was a true Non Scale Victory for me. I'm not afraid to say no when the platters are coming around for the second time. It feels GREAT to be in Control. So what am I thankful for? A loving, caring and understanding family who understands the struggle I'm going through and is helping me over come it!

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Aqua spinning.

So, as you know if you've been reading my blog for any length of time, I have a knee injury that has prevented me from working out on land as much as I would like to. So the specialist suggested I get in the water. I'm fine with swimming laps, but I wanted to kick it up a notch or two as well. I tried Aqua fit a couple of times but the bouncing up and down was aggravating my knee.

Now while I was in the shallow end of the pool, in the deep end there were people on pool noodles and it looked like they were having a lot of fun as well. I asked at the front desk what was going on in the deep end and I was advised that they were Aqua Spinning. It's a more intense workout as you have to keep moving to keep floating, they use pool noodles or waist type floatation devices but you still have to keep your legs moving as though you were riding a stationary bike. Thus the Aqua Spining.

Now, I have to admit I thought at first it would be easy, but let me tell you, when you are sitting on this noodle and you are pedaling away as though you were on a bike, it takes a lot of work. Then you add in the arm movements, the resistance and the constant circling of the deep end of the pool and you get one heck of a workout. I thoroughly enjoy my Aquafit class, and in fact I now have my Brother in Law attending class with me.

Check out your local leisure centre and see if they offer it, give it a shot, I promise, you'll love it!

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Whew!!!

That was a busy few weeks but the Run for the Cure in Abbotsford went off for the most part without a hitch and I am now returning to the land of actually having time to breathe! YEAH! I have a few more run related events coming up, I also have to tidy up my basement! It currently looks as though the Run for the Cure threw up all over my house! My basement has become the temporary storage area for everything until we can get it all sorted, packed and labelled so that the people who need it next year will have it.

Working with the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, CIBC Run for the Cure has been an enlightening experience. As with any major event's, you don't go without your hiccups or false starts but we did it! We had a phenomenal turn out at this year's race with over 1800 participants, over $291,000(and still counting) and we had over 100 volunteers help out. It was indeed a sight to be seen and it's something that I am very proud to have been a part of! See some of my amazing committee below!




So now what? Now that the Run is done, life is coming back to normal what's next for Katie? Getting moving again. I haven't done a lot of swimming the past two weeks, simply no time! However, I figure I did enough excercise on Saturday and Sunday make up for that and the next two weeks as well. I will be hitting the pool at 8am tomorrow morning for my aqua spinning class. I'm off of work as I work on the weekend and I'm quite happy to be able to take in an aqua spin class. I've missed going for the past two weeks so this is a good thing to my way of thinking!

So I hope you all have a fabulous Friday, and I WILL be talking to to you tomorrow! Have a great evening everyone!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Doing all right.

Hi Everyone~~~~~~~~~

I'm still here and I'm doing all right. Work has been insanely busy with product launches, training, new promotions and the usual insanity that comes along with it. I've also been incredibly busy getting ready for the Run for the Cure. I'm the Co-Run Director in Charge of Logistics for the Abbotsford/Fraser Valley, Canadian Breast Cancer Foundaton, CIBC Run for the Cure. As the run is literally 3 weeks away, I have a tonne of stuff to get accomplished and very little time to get it done in. Add to that all of the fund raising events that are happening and I'm beginning to wonder if I'm going to lose my mind by the time everything is said and done, but it is all good.

I am keeping on track with points and activity. I actually hit a new high of 17 laps today at the pool in 45 minutes AND I've moved in to the medium speed lane. I think this is a good thing.

This coming week is the calm before the storm. I only have one run related meeting and no conference call this week, however next week is when the flurry of activity hits into high gear.

In case you didn't know the Run for the Cure is the Largest Volunteer driven event in Canada. Each run site is put together with a committee of volunteers who volunteer their time, and energy to pull the run together and make sure it goes off without a hitch. You can do one of two runs, a 1km fun run/walk or a 5km walk/run. All of the money raised goes to support breast cancer awareness, support and research.

If you haven't already registered for the run in your area,or would like more information go to www.runforthecure.com find the run site nearest you and see what it's all about. If you don't want to particpate, you can always volunteer or go down to the urn site on run day and cheer on the participants. I guarantee, you won't regret it!