Hooray for the Weekend!

…… 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!

Down, down, down…….

Feeling Good


It’s been a good day. My weight is holding steady but I’ve been down everyday this week. I’m trying to drink more water and when I do I definitely notice it on the scale. I’m eating well and no more unplanned snacking, especially after 8:00 at night. 

I’ve been wearing a pedometer for the last two days. Yesterday was dismal; only 1600 steps. How is that even possible? Today was a different story. Lots of activity. At lunch today I played floor hockey at school; the school team champions against the teachers. The teachers won 4-3. Everyone gave it their all and the students enjoyed watching their teachers running up and down the gym. 

Girls on the Run

After school I met with my group of girls for Girls on the Run. Today’s theme was reflecting on things we are grateful for. After a fun warm-up (they always want to do more of these activities) they started their actual run. The challenge today was to run 2 km without talking  to their friends and reflect on their promises and goals. Do you know how hard that is for some 10 year olds?

I was going to stay back and join the girls on the second kilometre but I decided to start running with them right away. I ran/walked about 200 m to our newly mowed 200 m track and I started running laps on the track. I tried to run half the lap before I started to walk and I came pretty close to doing that. In total I managed to run/walk 8 1/2 laps and then I ran back to home base. 

As much as I don’t “love” running I don’t hate it as much as I thought I would. It was great hearing the cheers and words of encouragement from the girls as they ran by me. I might even sneak out at the beginning of lunch tomorrow and run a lap or two before the kids come out for recess.

As I write this post my pedometer reads  …… Oh, no!….I accidently reset it. It was around 7800 steps.

Maybe I’ll get out with the dog before I go to bed tonight. TTFNImage

Time to Brag!

I’m happy on many counts today.

First and foremost, the scale finally moved in the direction I hoped for. Down. I’ve been working hard on eating well and moving for the last two weeks but my hard work wasn’t showing on the scale. I know that it’s only a number and what’s more important is how one feels. I have to admit that I have been energized (when I get enough sleep), my joints don’t hurt as much and my clothes fit better.

The second reason I’m happy today is because the three of us ( KC, the dog and I ) got out for a walk this morning and like yesterday we covered 1.8 miles or 2.9 km. I’ve been trying to run a portion of the course and today I ran 160 m without stopping. I’m hoping to increase the distance everyday and start doing some interval training. I’ve discovered gmap-pedometer. com and have been mapping out my walking routes and it even figures out how far I run when I do my short distances.

The day turned out to be a beautiful day. The sun came out and warmed things up a bit. Always puts a smile on my face.

As moms I think we’re entitled to boast a little bit when our children do something well. Today when I was in the bookstore I found a copy of the magazine that my son edits. I believe that this is the first edition with his name on it. I’m sure if it’s not he’ll let me know. It’s hard to tell from the picture because it’s a mirror image but the name of the magazine is Volume and the cover title is  “Privatize”. I miss B and I wish he didn’t work so far away but I can appreciatePhoto 12

why he loves Amsterdam and more importantly he loves the job.

…….and that’s why I’m happy today!

Girls on the Run – Week Two

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.

Walking again.

I finally got back on the horse so to speak. After days of inactivity I got out for two long walks today. My husband and I got out early for a morning walk with the dog. We were hoping to miss the rain but just at the half way mark it started to spit and then it came down pretty steadily when we were still 500m from home. Oh well, I can hear my mother or somebody’s mother saying how I’m not made out of sugar and how a little rain won’t hurt you. After drying off the dog and changing my shirt I wrote another post this morning and my significant other calculated how far we had actually walked.

                                                         1.8 miles or 2.9 km 

I was a little worried when I started out because my right knee hurt and I had a pain in my upper left thigh. It would have been so easy to use those aches and pains as excuses for not going. I feel pretty good about that. About a quarter of the way into the walk the pains went away and at the half way point I did something I haven’t done in over 10 years. I ran about 50 metres without stopping.

NEW GOAL – Run a little further every day!

This afternoon I thought we were getting in the car to go shopping but Kevin convinced me that everything we needed was just up the street. So we walked some more. This time we walked about

1 mile or 1.6 km

Grand total for the day – 2.8 miles or 4.5 km

It feels great to move again. 

My Fitness Journey

Over the long weekend I went out walking everyday with my husband and our dog. We would be out for at least 45 minutes each morning. Sometimes I would take the dog out for a second walk later in the day. On the first day back to school I woke up extra early (5:50) so that I could join my husband and our dog for an early morning walk. It was still dark when I woke up and the sun was just coming up and the moon was still in the sky when we headed out the door. It felt great but later in the day I kept yawning and I still had to do Girls on the Run.

The next day my husband let me sleep and I didn’t get up early enough to go for a walk. That evening a group of us from school went downtown for a clothing sale and then dinner. It was dark when I got home. I didn’t get out for my walk. I have to get to bed earlier.

Thursday  I slept in again. We did have Girls on the Run after school but most of the activities didn’t allow me to run with the girls. I did make a pledge to the group that I would walk at least 20 minutes every day. When I got home I did take the dog for a 20 minute walk before dinner. I think I will invest again in a pedometer and aim for 10 000 steps a day. Can anyone recommend a pedometer that won’t break everytime it falls to the floor or one that will stay securely attached to my pants? I’ve broken more pedometers……..!!!

I haven’t got up early since Tuesday to do my walk. Friday was the worst day yet. The dog didn’t want to go any further than the park at the bottom of our street. Oh well, Saturday is a new day.