I’m Back!

Posted on May 12, 2012 by Mama Cormier

….. the worst is over (for now)

The week is over and I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

Last Monday was my breaking point. I started crying the moment I pulled into the parking lot at school and I finished crying as I left school at 8:45 in the evening (working on timetables for next year). The good thing about allowing yourself to cry is that all the frustrations and emotions are purged from your body. I need that occasionally because I tend to internalize everything.

The next morning when I weighed myself the weight fluctuations had ceased and I was finally down another 1 1/ 2 pounds for a total of 7 1/2 pounds in the last 2 weeks and a day. It may not seem like a lot to some of you but for me it signified my first milestone. First of all I’ve shed all the weight I’d gained over the winter and secondly I was down 1/2 pound more than I was at my daughter’s wedding last September.

The irony of weighing less than I did for the wedding is that it took me all summer to lose the same amount of weight and I didn’t have the stress of school on my back. I know some of you may counter with the argument that weddings can be very stressful as well but my daughter did all the planning and I was pretty much ‘hands off’.

People are starting to notice that the weight is coming off. In fact one of my colleagues commented on my size when I had only lost 3 pounds. Earlier this week one of our supply teachers who hadn’t seen me in a few weeks told me that I was ‘wasting away’ and was I ‘okay?’.

Yesterday when I weighed myself I was down another pound and today I started walking again. I’m feeling good and can’t wait till I start running again. The knee feels ‘normal’ again so I’m going to slowly start doing some interval running.

Lot’s more to share. Off to my daughter’s for an early Mother’s Day brunch.

Cheers

Book Flags Created by Some of My Students

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Mama Cormier

At my school we are participating in a province wide reading program called The Forest of Reading. Every child in the school has had 10 stories read to them from the Blue Spruce collection and the older boys and girls were also given the opportunity to join an in school book club where they were encouraged to read books from the Silver Birch collection and/or the Tamarac collection (French books).

Students in grades 3,4, and 5 were given the goal of reading at least 10 books from the above mentioned collections. Next week those students who have met the goal will participate in an activity day centered around literacy. Workshops around drama, book making and art banners, lunch and draws for prizes are some of the fun activities planned for the day.

The activity day also happens to coincide with Education Week. Every class in the school is presenting projects that they’ve created to highlight The Forest of Reading program. Some classes picked one book to focus on and others selected a number of different ones.

In my class, each student was asked to choose their favourite book and create a book flag depicting aspects of the book. They were given the freedom to use a number of different techniques (painting, collage, stamping, sewing) and choose whatever materials I had on hand.

I think they are all beautiful and even though some of them are still works in progress I wanted to share them with you. Tell me what you think.

Cheers

I Love to Create

Posted on May 5, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. today I needed to make art.

Whether it’s photography, painting or stitching, I find comfort and solace

in the act of creating something beautiful. I needed that today and found it while teaching my grade five students how to make unique flags that depicted their favourite books from the Forest of Reading program. They were encouraged to think outside the box, be creative, experiment and love what they were making. Their creations are wonderful.

Some took my lead and tried some of the new techniques that I demonstrated and others were more thoughtful and careful in their approach. Children who are normally cautious and uncertain about their artistic ability created some of their best art today. It turned out to be a great stress reliever for me. I only wish it could have lasted the entire day.

I’ve brought the projects home for the weekend to stitch the casing on the sewing machine. I will take pictures of the ones that are finished or close to it and post them later.

….. advised to take it easy this weekend

My knee continues to give me grief. It’s definitely on the mend but it has been suggested that I give it a good rest before I start my walking/running again.

In my last post I wrote about how stress affects my weight. Despite walking a fair bit, going to yoga for 1 1/2 hours and eating well (1250 calories) I was up 1 1/2 pounds the next day. I’ve learned not to give in when this happens and I continued to make good food choices (even when I went out for dinner). This morning when I got on the scale I dropped 1 of those pounds.

It’s the start of the weekend and I want to do so much. My garden needs a little TLC, a few books are calling to be read and I’d love to find some new recipes to test out. Those are some of the fun things. Maybe getting on my bike won’t aggravate the knee. I’m already anxious about NOT exercising. Do you think I can forgo some of the ‘not so fun’ things, like housework and school work?

I’d love to do some painting and I don’t mean house painting (although some of that should be done as well).

Any words of advice are always greatly appreciated. TTFN

Yoga, a great way to combat Stress

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Mama Cormier

….. that nagging pain in the knee was back again today

It amazes me how much a little discomfort in your knee can affect your mood. I had a good night’s sleep but I was rushed this morning to get to soccer practice. Arriving a little late and then getting side tracked by my colleagues didn’t help. Most of the morning I spent on the field with students supervising the long jump so most of my planned lessons for the morning didn’t happen.

I think walking on the uneven grass for hours aggravated my knee. Every movement in the afternoon seemed like a chore. The worst part of my day though was trying to deal with all the planning and work that needs to be done in the next two weeks. I’m also the go to person when things go wrong with the computers in the school and when people need a sounding board.

So my biggest fear and nemesis on my weight loss journey is Stress and I’m about to experience a lot of it. Years ago I regularly visited a naturopathic doctor to give me advice on weight loss. After months of sessions my doctor concluded that all my significant weight gains over the years happened when I experienced a lot of stress, i.e. my mother’s death, dealing with a difficult principal, conflict with an angry colleague, my husband losing his job, etc.. I think you get the picture.

Tonight I could easily have backed out of going to yoga but I knew in my heart of hearts that it would do me a world of good. It did. I was able to completely relax and stretch out some tired muscles. Even my knee cooperated and it only complained once over one of tonight’s moves.

Sorry Frances, but no walk tonight. We’ll see how the knee feels tomorrow. No point in ‘stressing out’ about not walking. Besides I walked a lot of steps this morning on the field and I did just complete an hour and a quarter of yoga.

Cheers

Thank you Frances!

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Mama Cormier

I knew that if I didn’t get out with the dog tonight she would drive me crazy for the rest of the night. Her normal 45 minute walk was cut short this morning because K started his 5th round of chemo today and had to be at the hospital early. I had a transition meeting at the board office first thing in the morning as well and in the afternoon I went straight to the hospital to keep my husband company.

After dinner Frances kept wanting me to throw her ball. She’s a very vocal dog if you try to ignore her. I finally gave in to her demands and hooked her onto her leash and headed outside. I didn’t even change my shoes. I only planned on going around the block but once I started I just kept going.

I took a new route today. My neighbour recommended it and thought that it covered about 5 km. I was glad that I followed the path. It was so beautiful. It took me past ponds, beaches, rocks, marsh birds and lots of walkers, runners and playful dogs. I’m naturally drawn to water so walking next to the lake always puts me in a “happy place”.

When I got home I checked out the distance on g-pedometer.com and discovered that the route covers 4.5 km. Bonus! My tired little dog is going to sleep well tonight.

Cheers

Love and Weight Loss

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…… maybe I should have said “new” love

The first time I experienced ‘love’ the weight came off effortlessly. It was actually puppy love because I was all of 13. I remember having no appetite and food was the last thing on my mind. My mother was amazed at how I was changing. I couldn’t wait to leave the dinner table and meet my secret beau at the park. It was so innocent. We never did more than hold hands. But alas it was short-lived. It just wasn’t cool for a boy in grade 11 to date a girl in grade 9. Yes it’s true I was dating ‘an older man’.

Over the years I had crushes but I didn’t experience true love until I met my husband. Even today I get ‘butterflies’ when he walks into a room when I’m not expecting him. So why don’t we stay thin when we’re in love? I think it’s because people get comfortable with each other and are free to be themselves. In our case we both loved food and enjoyed cooking together. The only time I remember my husband expressing concern over my weight was just before our wedding and I quickly lost 10 pounds.

My husband loves me no matter what. He likes women with a ‘little meat’ on their bones. He wasn’t being mean when he brought up my weight before our wedding. He knew I wasn’t happy and he has always supported my attempts at weight loss.

A lot of people love food and love to cook and don’t have a weight problem. Why is that? I know that genetics plays a large role in how we metabolize food but a few years ago I discovered that for me a huge contributor towards my weight gain had to do with stress. To be continued…….

Taking a break to nurse my knee…..

Last night and today I experienced a lot of pain in my knee. I decided to take it easy today. The fact that the weather was cold and wet when I got home from work made that decision easy.

After one week of successes on the scale I have decided to share my results with you. I’m pleased to tell you that I’ve dropped 5 pounds. I’ve made some positive changes with my eating habits but I have a way to go. I’m drinking more water but I haven’t reached 8 glasses a day yet. I am definitely snacking less and when I do have a snack it isn’t something I grab when I’m on the run or sitting in the car.

Even though I know that taking a rest from running today was probably for the best I do feel like something was missing today. I hope I can get out and at least walk tomorrow. Thanks for following along.

Till next time, cheers!