I’m a Happy Mom

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. to all the moms out there, “Happy Mother’s Day”

What a great weekend!

On Saturday I got out for my first long walk in over a week. K and I woke up early and took Frances for our usual walk around the neighbourhood, about 3 km. Then we picked up some champagne and drove to our daughter’s and son-in-law’s apartment, where my other daughter and her partner joined us for a special Mother’s Day brunch.

I was a little worried about what might be on the menu but my children are such good cooks that I knew I would have to try a little bit of everything. We started with half a glass of champagne topped with orange juice. There were lots of things to choose from and I certainly didn’t feel pressured into having to try everything. I started with fruit salad, topped with yogurt and a little bit of granola. Daughter G made a wonderful egg strata and served it with bacon. A cup of good coffee and I was a happy mom. I passed on the homemade muffins.

For the rest of the day my other daughter and I did a little bit of shopping for the gardens, after dropping K off at the house. It took us longer than planned so I ended up picking up ready made chicken and salad for dinner.

…. more success on the scale

This morning I had a pleasant surprise when I weighed myself. I thought I might be up slightly after Saturday’s brunch or at least be the same. I am actually down another 1/2 pound for a grand total of 9 pounds in just under 3 weeks. Hooray!

This morning, K and I and Frances went for another walk but we went further today, 5.8 km. I haven’t started to add any running yet to my walks. So far my knee hasn’t given me any more grief.

… a new challenge!

Tomorrow, I leave for 3 days with 56 grade 5 students for Mono Cliffs, an outdoor education centre. I’m not worried about getting enough exercise because we’re outside for about 6 to 8 hours (rain or shine) everyday. The food there is amazing but it is somewhat geared for kids. The good thing is you can take as little or as much as you want and there are always lots of choices.

The evenings are a little worrisome for me because I won’t be eating the snack they provide. The cook there makes the most amazing cookies and muffins and I know they will be hard to resist. I think I’ll have to pack some veggies and dip to take with me.

Wish me luck!

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

Hooray for the Weekend!

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…… but with it come some challenges.

I always look forward to the weekend but after a week of successes on the scale I always worry about the next two days.

For dinner tonight my husband made pasta with homemade bolognas sauce. Carbs are often my enemy but he did use a whole wheat pasta and he measured exactly half a small box for the two of us. We also had a nice big salad with it and we decided to forgo the wine tonight.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, we will probably go on one of our long walks with the dog and I will try to run some laps at the rugby pitch. Later in the afternoon we are invited to our neighbour’s birthday party. I know there will be lots of good food but there are usually some healthy options to choose from. Will I have some birthday cake? All depends on the cake. I’ve learned that not all sweets are created equal and some just aren’t worth it.

I don’t know if it’s the weather or my husband’s next round of chemo next week but I have the urge to clean, organize and purge. I’ve started doing more of that in my classroom and now I want to extend it to my house. I have to be careful that I don’t use that as an excuse to not get outside and move. Wish me luck! Happy weekend everybody!

Girls on the Run – Week Two

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Mama Cormier

The phone rang at 6:30 this morning. It was my friend L reminding me that I had to be at school by 7:30 for soccer tryouts. It’s never good when the coach is late. After a quick shower, I grabbed a protein bar and hurried out of the house by 7:15.

I pulled into the parking lot by 7:29 and could see that about 20 of the girls and two of the assistant coaches were already waiting on the soccer field. I grabbed my 3 bags from the car and dragged myself into the building to drop off my stuff and fetch the bag of soccer balls from the gym. When I finally got back outside we discovered that most of the balls needed to be inflated. Luckily many of the girls brought their own balls so the drills were already underway.

I never did find time to eat my protein bar. My first meal of the day happened at lunch. I thought that I could find a minute to read over the activity sheet for tonight’s Girls on the Run meeting but I made the mistake of trying to read it in the staff room. What I did read looked rather straight forward and the story attached to it inspired me to share it with my library classes in the afternoon.

When 3:00 came around I looked over the activity sheet again and went into panic mode because I was suppose to make a special box for one of the activities. Luckily Coach C had it under control and she decided that both teams could use the same box and do that particular activity together. Thank Goodness!

The day was colder than it had been the day before but not nearly as bad as the week before. We worked on negative traits that we wanted to change and focused on the positive things that we do and want to continue. It tied nicely into the story whose message was not to listen to negative or pessimistic comments when trying to pursue a goal or dream.

I think Coach P and I make a good team. During the run we encourage the girls and I even ran/walked a loop of the track today. After the girls left for the day the four coaches sat around and discussed the activities and how well the girls participated. I feel good about the program but I’m not sure it’s getting me ready for that 5 km walk/run.

It was a long day today. After Girls on the Run, Coach P and I had a parent council meeting and I didn’t get home till 9:00. At around 6:00 I finally ate that protein bar and I made supper when I got home. Way too late to eat but I knew that if I didn’t eat something I would graze for the rest of the night. It will be interesting to see if the scale has me up again, at the same weight or down somewhat. When I eat irregularly, like I did today, my body goes into starvation mode and I usually gain weight.

First Week with Girls on the Run

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Mama Cormier

Day 1 – The day was bitter cold. We started outside but after handing out the girls’ t-shirts we quickly went inside for the introductions and getting to know you activities. The girls really enjoyed the activities. Now I should explain at this moment in time that I had some difficulty understanding the directions for the warm-up activities. At our training session we were assured that we could simply take the instructions from the equipment box and simply follow the very detailed directions for each step of the way. Coach P had a better handle on what needed to be done and she led the girls in the warm-up back outside in the nasty cold weather. In the last 20 minutes we all headed out for our walk/run around the school property. All in all it was a pretty good start to the program. I’d better read the instructions a couple of times before day 2.

Day 2 – A much nicer day. I did read the instructions ahead of time but I’ve discovered that I interpret the instructions differently than my assistant, Coach P. The warm-up activities and the run were a lot of fun today. There were 10 stages to the run. Three pylons were set up around the course with directions for 10 different activities between runs. The girls ran for 2 minutes and when the whistle was blown they headed toward or back to the nearest pylon. When all the girls arrived at the pylon they could follow the directions and as soon as they completed it they would start running again. At the end of the run each girl was given an empty choker and a star bead because they were all “stars” today. After each run the girls will be given beads to celebrate how far they run each day.

Welcome to Carol’s World

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Mama Cormier

I’m about to enter a new phase in my life and I need to figure out which direction I want to go. The problem is I want to do it all. I’m a mother, wife, teacher, coach, artist, and librarian. I love teaching, crafting, reading, gardening, walking the dog, baking and painting. I want to travel more and explore the world with my husband. I also want to stay healthy and I’m trying to move more and eat better.

I hope to divide this blog into categories that address my interests and my journey into retirement. I’m still teaching and coaching and would also like to include some of the upcoming highlights of my experiences in education. This week, for example, I’m about to embark on a new program at school called Girls on the Run. I’m one of 4 coaches and we will be working with 32 girls, ages 8 to 11. At the end of 10 weeks of training, all of us will be walking/running a 5 km race. I know I can walk that far so my personal goal is to try and run for at least half of it. I’ve added a link for Girls on the Run if you want to know more about this organization.

Girls on the Run in the GTA

I know that this blog will evolve and change over the next few months and years as my journey into retirement evolves. I look forward to sharing my experiences and maybe even hearing from some of my fellow bloggers.