I am Truly Honoured

I have been involved with various Cancer functions for a few years now. I am passionate about doing something about this disease and I do tend to jump in feet first to heck with the results. Back in January I heard an advertisement on my local radio station that the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation was looking for volunteer's in my area to help with the CIBC Run for the Cure. I grabbed a pen and wrote the phone number on my hand as I was driving to work. I called through, spoke to someone and then forwarded my resume and their volunteer application to them.

Long story short. I have been selected as the Co-Run Director for the Abbotsford CIBC Run for the Cure. I am truly honoured to be selected for this position and I am truly hoping that my previous experience and expertise will help this to be a great event.

If you are interested in helping to raise money for cancer research, please contact your local Cancer Society office and ask how you can volunteer. Your few hours a month can make the world of difference to the lives of people living with, and fighting this disease.

A gain...again...

Yep, I gained again this week. I'm trying to analyze why I gained and the only explanation I can come up with is Water Retention. I have been retaining a lot of water this week. I have literally had no ankles since tuesday, the skin on my hands hurt because my hands are so swollen. I'm chalking this weight gain to water retention. I missed two days at the gym this week but I still had a lot of activity. I didn't get to the gym on Thursday as I had a meeting after work that ran until almost 930. I did take the dog for a twice around the block walk when I got home so that gave me 30 minutes of activity. I didn't get to the gym yesterday as I quite honestly just didn't feel like it. I got home from work, went grocery shopping, costco shopping and petsmart shopping. Took the dog for a walk and finally sat down to relax at 8pm. I just didn't have it in me to get up and go to the gym. I will be there tonight though and that's what matters.

I hope you all have a great day!

Bombing right along

...I've stayed on plan and gotten my activity in today. I did splurge a little bit, one of our suppliers came by with Purdy's chocolates so I had one maple leaf chocolate for 2 points and afterwards decided, it really wasn't worth it. It really and truly wasn't. I would rather have one of my Chocmint WW one point snack treats.

Ah well. Live and learn.

Today's Activity Accountability Chart.

Activity.......Elliptical
Duration.......49min 15sec
time in zone...46min 30sec
Avg Heart rate....129bpm
Max Heart rate....153bpm
Calories burned...798

Not bad for having to drag myself there. I hope you're all having a great day and enjoying the Olympics from my beautiful Home Province. Katie

I'm baaaccckkk!!

and I feel good...it's been a great two days. I stayed completely on program yesterday, went to the gym and I have to tell you. I knocked it out of the ball park! I did indeed, I did 30 min's on the Stair Climber on the fat burner setting then I did my weights, doing every kind of lunge and squat possible!Including wall sits. I did some upper body stuff-chest press, tricep pull downs, straight arm pull downs, hammer curls, pivot curls, not too much as that will be Wednesday's work out. I then finished up with another 20min's on the stair climber while waiting for my husband to finish his Spin Class. I have to say, I'm toying with the idea of joining the class. I just have to work up enough nerve to do it.

My activity Accountability for Monday is:
Duration......1hr, 22min 24 sec
Time in zone..1hr, 16min 13 sec
AVG heart rate....133
MAX heart rate....165
Calories burned ..1084

Today was another good day. I didn't take a full lunch to work with me as I have GOT to go grocery shopping this week, but had to wait until today at least, so I had my banana, I had my crackers with laughing cow cheese and when it was time to go for lunch down to the mall food court I went. I have to tell you, malls do not have healthy food choices. Fortunately there is a Quiznos so I grabbed a cup of soup from there and then I went over to the build your own salad place. They do these great vegetarian wraps with what you want in it. By asking, I was able to calculate the points value for the actual wrap, only 4 points, so I had a good well balanced and points friendly lunch. YEAH for me!!! I didn't have the Sub, I didn't have the A&W, I didn't have the Terriyaki Chicken, the New York Fries, the Thai way Express, the Manchu Wok, the Mrs. Vanelli's NOR the KCF/Taco Bell. I'm really pleased with myself.

Tonight was Belly dancing class and believe it or not you can get quite a workout doing Belly Dancing. I only have one more week left in this set of classes and I'm debating whether to do more or not but it is so much fun and a good work out to boot.

Here is today's Activity Accountability Chart.

Duration .....59min 34 sec
Time in zone..32min 57 sec
AVG heart rate...119
MAX heart rate...127
Cals burned......345

Valentines day!!!

...perhaps today was not the best day to "get" myself back on track. I did good though. Instead of going for a high calorie restaurant dinner, my husband took me to a new restaurant in town called RAIN for brunch. Now, if you live in the Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Mission, Aldergrove or Langley area. You have GOT to go to RAIN for brunch. It was the best brunch I have ever had, they have a build your own omelet station, a crepe station and a HUGE variety of breakfast foods, lunch foods, salad's and deserts(including a chocolate fountain). All for under 15.00 per person including your coffee/tea and pop. It was great.

I did choose my options carefully, I asked for a small omelet with ham, cheese and mushroom, I had to pieces of bacon, a small scoop of hasbrowns and some fruit. I then also had a crepe. The best thing was, he made it exactly as I asked for it, fresh strawberries, no custard, a LITTLE bit of whipped cream and just a touch of Chocolate drizzle. My bunch cost me 22 points, but I tell ya, that was all I really had to eat all day. After coming home from the gym tonight, I made my husband and I Light Caesar salad with grilled chicken breast, 8 points for dinner for I still came in right at my points!

I tracked everything I ate and drank today! It felt really good to be back in that routine where I wrote down everything I ate while I ate it. I picked up one of the little clickers at my WW meeting yesterday so I used that to tick off the points I knew about when we were out and then looked up the rest when we got home.

So besides tracking my food today, I also got in a fair bit of activity.

I took the dog for a nice walk and then I went to the gym as well.

Here's what my activity Accountability looks like today:

Activity....... Dog Walk.........Gym
Duration .......32min 14 sec.....1hour 6min 25sec
In zone ........17min 42 sec.....1hour 3min 01sec
Avg Heart rate ...121 ...............129
Max Heart rate ...155............... 153
Calories burned...352 ...............948

I hope you all had a great Valentines day! Talk to you tomorrow!

Getting Focused.

Hi~~~~
It's just me, the person who apparently fell off the face of the earth for almost two weeks. I'm still here...kinda...sorta.

It's been a hard few weeks, mostly work related, a lot happening through head office, I'm short staffed now in both offices as one my ladies is off having knee surgery.

Life has been hectic, it really and truly has, I have not stepped foot inside of the gym since January 29th.

It's horrible I know...I'm finding myself slipping back into my old patterns, even worse I haven't been tracking my points. I thought I was doing all right. If you all recall three weeks ago, I was up 2 pounds, the following week, I lost two pounds, last week I maintained, didn't lose, didn't gain.

This week however, different story, I've gained another two pounds. I'm not trying to make excuses. I know what I've done. I had a packed week this week and I've used that as my reason for not getting to the gym.

On Sunday, I had the day off, I could have gone to the gym in the morning but I didn't. I was tired and grumpy and we were hosting a combination Olympic Torch/Super bowl party. You see the Olympic Torch was going right by my street, so we invited a few friends over to watch the super bowl and go up and see the torch as it passed by. That was Sunday.

Monday I didn't go to the gym, my husband wasn't feeling well so I used that as my excuse not to go the gym.

Tuesday was belly dancing class, so yes I got in some activity, followed by two hours of sitting on the couch munching on veggies and dip while watching the Biggest Loser.

Wednesday, I had my team captains meeting for Relay for Life. It didn't start until 7 and I was home by 830 so I could have gone to the gym, but I chose not to.

Thursday, I was meeting some friends for dinner, at a Greek Restaurant, a really, really good Greek Restaurant. Where I ate way too much food, and had food that I had no business having! Really, did I need to have the melted Greek cheese smeared onto a fried pita? No, but I did. I didn't get home until 10pm, so that was my reason for not going to the gym.

Friday, it was my dad's birthday so over to my parents we went where we had an awesome spaghetti and meatball dinner, with garlic bread and Black forest cake. We then sat and watched the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

So...no gym for me there either, so I really was busy every evening. But do I have to go the gym in the evening? Is there a reason why I can't go in the morning when I'm going to be busy in the evening? There is no reason other than my own total lack of dedication and will power. I'm not a morning person, but still, I should gone in the morning.

This two pounds I've gained back have me really annoyed. I really need to get myself focused and get moving on and up with the whole program. Time is a wasting and it's not going to wait for me.

So here's to a fresh start, a new day, a new week and getting back on track.

Rough week.....

I had a rough week, I admit it. I followed my points, but I didn't get in any real quality workout time until last night and to be honest by then I was tired, grumpy and my heart just wasn't in it. So the result today. I gained two pounds last week. I'm picked off a little bit, but I know that I'll bounce back from it. I know I will. I know that I'm retaining water as my hands are swollen today and I have no ankles. That means sometime in the past couple of days I've had to much sodium so it is very likely that the two pounds I gained are mostly water. I've been drinking a ton of it this week.

It was a rough week, it was stressful and upsetting at work but I got through it without falling back on food. I'm quite proud of that fact. However, it also kept me from going to the gym, I just didn't have the energy for it. I'm not making excuses, it's just the plain truth. My heart wasn't into exercise this week. Yes, I went to dance class, yes I walked the dog, but no, I didn't go to the gym until Friday night and then it was barely for an hour. I wasn't in the mood for cardio so after just 20 minutes of cardio, I did my weights and headed home.

I didn't go to the gym today either. I just didn't feel like it, I went to weigh in, I did the weekly running around, I made lunch for us, I took the dog for a quick walk through the park and then I sat on the couch like a bump on a log for a half hour or so before it was time to head out to Vancouver where we spent the afternoon/evening with my husband's extended family. We had a great time, we had a lot of laughs and we had great food, home made pirogi and sausage, and cabbage rolls. Followed by cake for desert. It was great, I didn't over indulge, but I also didn't track my points for today. I didn't see the point in it.

Sunday is a new day, new week, new page. I'll get it together, starting off with a trip to the gym in the morning before I go on to the rest of the day.

A special message for my sister Kelly, I'm wishing you the Best Birthday ever! I hope it was a great one!

Grooving to the music

Do you groove to the music while you're working out? I find that I get a much better and more intense workout when I have my mp3 player going. I've had a few workouts when I've forgotten my music or I've forgotten to charge my MP3 player and it dies on me in the first few minutes. It is times when that happens that I just don't get a good workout. The gym has good music, don't get me wrong but it's just not the same.

So...I was thrilled tonight to see that Jen over at Prior Fat Girl has posted a link to a Biggest Loser Subway free music down load. Here is the link. http://www.podworkoutmusic.com/SUBWAY/ all you have to do is enter you e-mail address and you can download this free music playlist.

Pretty neat huh?

I hope you all have a great day! Katie

How do YOU measure success?

It's a question that I haven't really though of until today. I have had a very SUCCESSFUL weekend thus far. I went to weigh in yesterday on my way to work and I had a very succesful weigh in. I was down 4.8 pounds! I hit the 25pounds lost in 13weeks right on the nose!! I felt fabulous about that. I had been worried about weigh in and almost didn't go but I am so glad that I did. Success is seeing those numbers come down on the scale. It feels great. It also marked another success for me. I am now back to my pre-accident weight.

Yes, pre accident, Five years ago, a kid was racing a friend down the street and blew a red light. He t-boned my car, totalled my car, forever wrecking my back. I tore my L joint, it connects your lower back to your hip. I am NOW a walking human barometer. I can tell you when the weather is going to change, I can tell you when it's going to rain or be humid. But I'm back! Yes I got sidetracked. When you go from being totally active to struggling to walk a half a block without bursting into tears you feel sorry for your self and I didn't help myself any either. But I'm back! I'm better than I ever thought I would be. I've learned when and how to take medicines to help me along.

In fact, I'm so far back that I've worked on a project this morning. My husband is working and so after returning from taking the dog on a 5km walk in 40minutes(yes!), I showered and got dressed, looked at myself in the mirror and decided the shirt I was wearing was WAAAAYYYY too big for me! A frenzied 45 minutes later. This is what my bed looked like.



This is what my closet now looks like:




I now have three piles of clothes for donations, three sizes that I no longer wear.
Sizes 5X-6X



Size 4X



Size 3X


So as you can see, I've done pretty darn good and I'm very happy.

Here is my activity log for the past two days as well.

Date 23-Jan
Activity Gym Stairclmber
Duration 50min 06 sec
Time in Zone 34min 56 sec
Avg Heart Rate 133
Max Heart Rate 149
Calories 744

Date 24-Jan
Activity 5km dog walk
Duration 40min 55sec
Time in Zone 34min 20se`
Avg Heart Rate 128
Max Heart Rate 153
Calories 498

Da...Da...Da....

So I've been off line for the past couple of days but that in no way means I haven't been active. I have been! I've been going and working and plugging along. I have weigh in tomorrow so I went to the gym to do my last chance work out. I'm pretty sure I blew it tonight though. It was my brother's birthday yesterday and as he and everyone else had to work today he was meeting people for dinner and a couple of drinks and invited my husband and I along. Knowing the restaurant that they were going to and the fact that there isn't a single menu item on there under 20 points, my husband and I decided that we would have dinner at home,(roast chicken, roasted carrots, potatoes and onions with steamed broccoli. YUMMMYYY!) and we would have a desert between us.

When we got there I ordered an unsweetened ice tea, since they serve Pepsi at the restaurant I knew it would be Lipton Iced tea, which isn't my favorite but I can't handle restaurant water. It's just blechy. Anyway long story short, one and a half glasses of iced tea and more than my fair share of Chocolate Explosion. Yep...I have weigh in tomorrow...did I mention that? I think I did all right points wise despite indulging in a bit too much of the desert(which honestly, wasn't all that great).

Ahh well. I did do a fair bit of activity this week, so here is Wednesday, Thursday and Friday's Activity Journals(Yes I do have three journals for Friday. While swtiching from cardio to weights I accidently turned off my heart rate monitor).

Wednesday
Date 20-Jan
Activity cardio
Duration 1hr 27min 45 sec
Time in Zone 1hr 23 min 05sec
Avg Heart Rate 134
Max Heart Rate 155
Calories 1184

Thursday
Date 21-Jan
Activity
Duration 47min 15sec
Time in Zone 43min 14 sec
Avg Heart Rate 129
Max Heart Rate 145
Calories 590

Friday

Date 22-Jan
Activity Dog walk 3km
Duration 28Min 26 sec
Time in Zone 23min 05sec
Avg Heart Rate 134
Max Heart Rate 159
Calories 378

Date 22-Jan
Activity Cardio
Duration 41min 37 sec
Time in Zone 41 min 25 sec
Avg Heart Rate 135
Max Heart Rate 143
Calories 558

Date 22-Jan
Activity weights
Duration 39min 03 sec
Time in Zone 34min 30 sec
Avg Heart Rate 129
Max Heart Rate 150
Calories 356


So you see, with all of this activity, I'm hoping for a decent loss tomorrow morning.