Friday Drabble: Cake

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Mama Cormier

… trying something new

A drabble is a very short story of exactly 100 words. Feel free to join in and write your own drabbles on Fridays and tag them with “friday drabble” and on Twitter with the hashtag #fridaydrabble.

Cake

Just a coffee. That’s what I told myself upon entering The Second Cup. I was hungry. I knew this unplanned stop was a mistake. My eyes were immediately drawn to the dessert counter. Moist carrot cake loaded with fluffy cream cheese icing, dark rich chocolate cake, huge cake-like muffins topped with nuts and fruit, and sweet sumptuous squares were calling my name. “Carol, pick me!”

Maybe the fat-free, sugar-free pumpkin latte would satisfy my craving. No such luck. They were sold out.

I had to ask. “Do you have any healthy options?”

Stupid question. I settled for a regular coffee.

Where Do I Stand With My Weight?

Posted on October 10, 2012 by Mama Cormier

.…. the truth be told I don’t know

Two days ago, after the Thanksgiving weekend, I decided to face the music and get on the scale. Even though I didn’t overdue it, I certainly wasn’t perfect. I half expected to be up 2 or 3 pounds. If I had stayed the same I would have been delighted.

Normally I weigh myself every morning but for some reason I hadn’t stepped on the scale for over a week. I’m not exactly sure why I changed my routine. When I did finally step on the scale Tuesday morning the display window flashed the message “Lo”. After years of almost daily use the batteries finally decided to die. I opened up the back and removed the 4 double A batteries that had served me so well for such a long time.

The solution of course is simple. Replace the old batteries with new ones. If I had 4 on hand I would have done it right away but all my batteries are at the cottage. Once I’m at work the last thing I think about is stopping at the store on my way home to pick up batteries. My husband can’t even remember to pick up milk and we’ve been without it for two days.

It might be an avoidance strategy on my part. I’ve been back on track since the weekend and people continue to compliment me on my weight loss. I don’t want to gain my weight back and I can’t afford it if I did. I’ve literally gotten rid of all my ‘fat’ clothes. Logically my brain tells me that I should be able to eat more than I have since I started on my weight loss journey and still maintain the weight that I have lost as long as I don’t go overboard.

I’ve been here before. I lose weight, people notice and compliment me, my clothes fit better and I like how I feel. I become complacent and maintain my weight for awhile and then slowly start to gain it back.

There is a big difference this time. I’m not done losing weight. I haven’t met my next goal. I’ve made this journey very public and I don’t want to fail. It’s time to start moving again, drink more water and refocus. Oh… and I guess I need to get out there and buy some new batteries.

Where I’ve been and never want to go back. Where I am today.

Picture taken on the weekend.

My official ‘before’ picture taken in March 2012 just before I started my weight loss journey.

I Got My 25 Year Pin Today

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…..after 31 years of service

The day started out well. I ran 2.1 k with the kids this morning. My friend P, timed me today. It took me 19:29 minutes to run that distance. I know that it’s not fast but I didn’t stop to walk and I passed 3 students who started with me.

At lunch in the staffroom my principal called on me and one other teacher to stand before the staff where she presented us with our 25 year pins of service for the TDSB. The irony is that I’ve actually worked 31 years for this board. The days of honouring teachers with 25 years of service at a special dinner and a gold watch haven’t existed for a long time. In fact getting the dates right doesn’t seem to matter anymore either. Another teacher on staff who’s been with the board for 27 years hasn’t received her pin either.

In art today my first class finished up their colour wheels. The grade 3s created a their wheels using an outline of their hand and painting the 6 primary and secondary colours around their fingers. Then we had a quick lesson on ‘lines’ and the kids filled in the hand shape with a line design. I think they turned out remarkably well.

After school I had a great yoga session. My yoga partner told me that she thought I was wasting away (in a good way) and she couldn’t believe it when I told her that I’ve only lost one extra pound since starting back to school. Maybe the scale in the morning will show otherwise.

Tomorrow the school is having their Terry Fox run and I’m planning to actually run the course this year. I can’t believe how excited I am about running. I used to hate it.

Life is good. I look forward to each new day.

Art on a Cart

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Mama Cormier

….doing this everyday will help keep my weight down

Loading this up, keeping it stocked and pushing it back and forth from the library to the class I teach is a bit of a challenge, especially when I have to go outside to the portables and lug buckets of water with me. Should be interesting in the winter.

I love teaching art but this year it’s been a bit of a challenge because I don’t have my own space to teach in and I have to transport all my supplies to the students. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to store some of the supplies in teachers’ classrooms so I’ll have less to move around everyday. In the meantime it’s “art on a cart” and because I’m in other people’s classrooms I have no place to sit so I’m on my feet most of the time going back and forth assisting students. I forgot how tiring art can be but it’s a good kind of tired.

The portables are doubly challenging because they have no water so when we’re painting I’m also lugging water buckets to the classroom and using the caretaker’s room to wash out paint buckets and palettes. Luckily I always have a few students who volunteer to help with the clean-up but I work through the entire recess to leave teachers’ classrooms neat and tidy.

The portable classrooms don’t have wall space to hang art work so I have a gallery wall outside the library where I can display work from all five classrooms. Last spring I hung rope from the ceiling for our Forest of Reading display and it’s come in handy for hanging up art work.

Gallery Wall outside the Library

The first project I did with the students this year is one I call “I’m a star because….” or in French, “Je suis une etoile parce que….”. I ask the students to think of one thing that they are especially good at and then pose for a picture doing something that relates to their skill.

Everyone writes why they’re a star in the middle of a star that I’ve provided and then they decorate it with lots of colour. In the second class, after their photos have been printed the students cut out their bodies and glue them and their stars onto a piece of card stock. The final step is to draw a scene behind the photo demonstrating what they’re good at.

The students love this project. Students who don’t have me for art are asking their teachers when they’re going to do the same project. I’ve posted a couple pictures where the student isn’t recognizable or their name is absent.

Confession is Good for the Soul

Posted on September 22, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…..and for quick results on the scale

Earlier in the week I confessed that over the weekend or at least since I’ve been back to school I regained 3 1/2 pounds. Today I’m happy to report that I’ve lost all of it.

I think sharing my ups and downs helps keep me honest and on track. Not only did I admit to the weight gain but I was able to analyze why it happened. One thing that I’ve learned about my body after all these years is that certain foods trigger my urge to eat. Pasta is a killer for me. I also love corn and pork but my digestive system doesn’t and they tend to slow down my metabolism.

Everything in moderation but when I’m trying to lose weight I know that I have to avoid some foods altogether. Years ago, Weight Watchers used to call these foods ‘red light foods’.

I’ve also gotten more sleep in the last few days. I start getting ready for bed by 11:00 and I’m in bed well before midnight. A huge improvement for me. I’m getting at least 7 hours of sleep a night and slightly more on the weekend. The benefits of course are that I’m far more rested and I have a lot more energy.

My new job at school, this week has kept me hopping as well. I’m doing “Art on a Cart” and this week it involved painting. I’ll explain more in a future post but bottom line is I’m on the move in the afternoon more than ever.

Today I made a list of things I wanted to do with my husband. We decided to check out some farmers’ markets in the Niagara region. On our way we stopped at a few wineries as well and I came across this sign. At first I thought how nice it was that they allowed dogs on the premises but I didn’t the get the humour because I only read the top portion. My husband had to direct my eyes to the signature in the bottom corner.

Sometimes choices come with limitations but as this sign points out there are reasons why!

A Little Yoga, a Little Running

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Mama Cormier

….life is good!

The day started with a run and ended with a 75 minute yoga class. Any stress I experienced this week just vanished during Savasana.

http://sp.life123.com/bm.pix/poweryoga1

A number of colleagues at work lost weight over the summer. The difficult part for most of us is keeping it off and continuing to lose more. The problem is stress. I personally knew that the first few weeks back at work would be difficult. It’s not eating that’s the problem and I’ve continued to exercise.

So what’s the difference? For starters I know I’m not drinking enough water. I’m also not moving as much (despite running). A good part of my day is reading to children and sitting in front of a computer. Another factor is that I’m not getting enough sleep. Also the political climate for teachers in Ontario is very contentious.

It’s difficult going to work everyday when the media paints all teachers with the same black brush. Even though we continue to offer extracurricular activities at our school many teachers are angry with the government and some schools have collectively decided to cancel all or some of their extracurricular programs.

At our school council meeting yesterday the parents put me on the spot and asked me during the meeting what my take was on the status of extracurricular programs at our school and elsewhere. I assured them that for the time being at our school programs were running but if other schools opted out there wouldn’t be any teams to play against.

The bottom line is that extracurricular activities have always been voluntary. Ontario teachers do not get paid to run these programs and there’s nothing in the Education Act that says teachers have to offer extracurricular programs. Since our right to negotiate our contract has been taken away from us, teachers feel betrayed by their government. We normally settle contracts with our school board.

I didn’t plan on making this into a political rant. I felt you needed some background as to why school is so stressful for me right now. I literally gained 3 1/2 pounds over the weekend. I know that I didn’t eat 12 000 more calories than I should have in 2 days. When I’m under a lot of stress my body hangs on to water and my metabolism slows down.

So why did I say “life is good”? Because I feel like I’m back on the right path with my weight loss journey. At yoga tonight I could feel the stress leave my body. During Savasana I was seconds away from falling asleep. That’s how relaxed I was.

So I’m making a conscious effort to drink more water. I’m planning and packing my lunches before I go to bed. I continue to avoid all sweets (except the odd piece of dark chocolate). I’ve asked my husband not to prepare any pasta dishes for at least a couple of weeks. I’m continuing to run with my students 3 times a week and plan to ride my bike at least once on the weekends.

One of the most important changes I need to make is getting to bed no later than 11:00. So on that note I need to sign off so that I can get a big glass of water and get into my PJs. Positive thoughts!

Cheers!

http://news.upickreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/

The Joy of Buying New Clothes

Posted on September 16, 2012 by Mama Cormier

….in smaller sizes

It wasn’t that long ago when I was so happy about getting out of plus sizes and into x-large. Today most of the tops I bought were large.

I have to admit that I am a bit of a shop-aholic. Today wasn’t the only day that I bought new clothes. Last week after a stressful day at work I headed for my new favourite store, Marshall’s, and tried on at least a dozen tops. Many of the extra larges were too big and I actually went back to the racks to find the same garment in a smaller size. I bought 3 sleeveless tops and I’ve already worn all 3 to work.

I don’t think I’ve ever had as many compliments about what I was wearing as I did last week. Not only were the tops pretty but they actually accentuated my new figure and people really noticed how much weight I’ve lost.

Today I convinced my husband to go with me to Marshall’s again. We had spent hours today making ketchup, cleaning the kitchen, washing the floor and organizing all our newly made canned goods. I really needed to get out. Come to think of it I more or less left it up to K to decide where we would go. I guess Marshall’s was the lesser evil of all the other suggestions that I made.

I spent most of my time looking at the large size rack and took 8 items with me to the dressing room. Only one top was too small and the pants were a little snug. I ended up with 5 items. I spent just over $100.00. Not bad and all of these tops will take me into the colder weather.

When I got home I knew that I needed to clean out some more of my old clothes that were clearly too big for me. I used to think that looser fitting clothes would look okay but the truth of the matter is that they only make you look bigger than you are. Out with the old!

“Out with the old”…. I’m sure the pile will become bigger. These are only the clothes that were on hangers. I haven’t gone through my dresser drawers and then there are all my winter clothes that are packed away and stored under my bed.

I used to reward myself with food. I think I prefer my new reward system.

” In with the new!”….. they look much nicer on me. Maybe I can convince K to take some pictures for a future post.

The Joy of Spontaneity

Posted on September 9, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. and I reached my goal Saturday morning!

Some of the best times in life are those that are not planned and just happen as the day progresses.

The only thing that I had planned for the weekend was cleaning the house and getting some of my son’s belongings from the apartment he had shared with his girlfriend.

My husband and daughter number one, A, took care of the latter job while I started on the first. As it turned out retrieving my son’s belongings didn’t take long at all and my daughter called to arrange for me to meet her and my husband for breakfast.

As I was driving to the designated location for nourishment, A called me and asked if I would pick up her partner, J from the house so that she could join us for breakfast. The four of us ended up having a delicious meal in a very funky and popular yet unpretensious location.

I announced to my family that I had reached my goal that morning and my husband joked about celebrating by eating whatever I wanted. I wasn’t tempted. I ordered an omelet with cheese and herbs, a small side salad and a delicious cup of Americano. No potatoes, no toast.

As we were sitting in the booth (comfortably by the way even though it was pretty small) we talked about the large bag of pears my husband received from one of his clients. He wanted to make pear butter and put it in jars (there were so many pears).

The discussion soon turned to how we could all get involved and maybe we could pick up some tomatoes and make sauce as well. Hmmm….we had no idea how time consuming this would be.

The girls and I headed for the hardware store to pick up more jars, a food grinder and a propane burner to cook the sauce outside. We couldn’t find everything we needed in the first store so we decided to drive to a famous Italian store on St. Claire that catered to the Italian community, specializing in kitchen supplies. They had everything we needed except the jars and the pots were pretty expensive so we decided to continue our quest and we headed west. So far we had only purchased the food grinder.

After numerous discussions back and forth on our phones with K we decided to buy the propane burner at Canadian Tire where they were on sale. This particular model included the pot. Actually it was advertised as a turkey deep fryer. Guess how we’re preparing our turkey this Thanksgiving.

Unfortunately the first store had sold out but the Canadian Tire close to the house had 9 of them in stock. Back in the car. We made a couple of detours and stopped in a small cheese store where they make their own fresh ricotta everyday. What a treat! It was so fresh that it was still warm. The second detour was another cheese store. Have I ever told you that I love cheese.

We finally had all the supplies we needed for making the pear butter. In the meantime K picked up a bushel of plum tomatoes (another project for another day).

It was mid afternoon before we actually started making the pear butter. Turns out I had to make another trip to buy star anise, lemons and fresh ginger. It took us about 4 hours to cut up the pears, cook them, grind them and then cook them some more.

Pear butter after 45 minutes.

The actual cooking time for the butter to reduce was about 2 hours. As it cooked the sauce went from this light yellow to an amber and after processing it in jars it turned a pink colour.

After 2 hours.

For the recipe go to:

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/pear_butter/

The final product. Delicious on ricotta cheese and toast.

After supper we were ready to put the pear butter into jars. We got the water bath ready and K volunteered to watch the last step so that the girls and I could go for a long walk with Frances. The rain that was forecast for the day was over by the afternoon and the wind blew the clouds over the city and to the east. An interesting sky.

The girls and I walked for about 45 minutes. We passed a house where the owner was selling fresh vegetables from his driveway and A and J bought a bag full of corn, potatoes and cheddar cauliflower. When we got home the girls packed up their goodies, including jars of pear butter and I drove them home.

The best part of the day was spending it with my husband, my daughter and her partner. None of this had been preplanned. It was an adventure and even though it was a lot of work it was very rewarding. What about those tomatoes you ask? Well that’s another story for tomorrow.

Frances guarding the tomatoes for Sunday’s sauce.

Two Days of Running and the Pounds Gained are Again Lost

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. plus a yoga class and a more balanced diet

Well I’m back to where I was on my Birthday. One pound from my 30 pound goal.

It feels good to be running. Every time I go out it seems to get easier. Yesterday I ran 3 loops of the cross country course (814 m per loop) without stopping. I started well ahead of the kids but in the end I was pretty much the last one to finish. But that’s okay because I’m more concerned about my endurance than my speed for now.

The one downside of running before school is that there are no showers and on these hot days it takes me awhile to cool down and stop sweating. Thank goodness for baby wipes and a change of clothes.

I decided to have a rest day today. I’m hoping that I can run 4 to 6 times a week, three to four days at school and the rest on the weekend.

The one bad habit that I’ve returned to is staying up late and not getting enough sleep during the week. In the summer I was getting anywhere from 8 to 10 hours of sleep every night. Studies have shown that too little sleep can also slow down your weight loss. So my new goal is to get to bed by 11:00 or earlier every night. I usually get up at 6:30 so that would give me a minimum of 7 1/2 hours of sleep a night. A lot better than the 5 hours I got last night.

What ever I’m doing seems to be working for my overall health. I certainly feel better and people tell me I have more energy and a healthy glow radiating from my core.

I don’t want to jinx myself but I think that I might, in fact I’m certain that I will reach my 30 pound goal sometime this weekend. Positive thoughts, please.

Cheers!

The Benefits of Losing Almost 30 Pounds

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…..looking better is only one small part of it

Today I ran with the kids who came out for cross country. I love running with them. Most of them are faster than me but when I do pass some of them they miraculously find the energy to pass me. Many of them sent me encouraging words along the route and I think many of the parents were surprised to see me out there running with their children.

After school I went to yoga class. It was my first time back since May. Why was it so much easier today? It turns out that a lot of the moves are much easier to do when your belly fat doesn’t get in the way. My balance had improved and I could actually do the archer pose, hug my legs and do the tree pose without falling over. Maybe I’ll go back to Bikram hot yoga and try it again. Many of the moves in this hot yoga are next to impossible to do when you weigh as much as I did.

It’s been a great day! Here are the benefits of losing almost 30 pounds:

1. I can run without feeling like a bowl of jello.

2. I can complete 3 k without looking like I’m about to die.

3. My stomach and thighs don’t get in the way of basic yoga moves.

4. My thighs don’t rub together when I run.

5. My wedding rings are looser.

6. I have less joint pain.

7. I sleep better.

8. I look better in my clothes.

9. I don’t have to buy plus size clothes.

10. I have more confidence and don’t worry about how other people see me.

There are a few more that are too personal to share.