After 30 years of standing at the sidelines of my own life, I am ready to "Pick Me!" first. Follow me on my journey of finding health and happiness in my every day...
Monthly Archives: October 2011
I am still here…
My life has been a little hectic trying to juggle everything. When I made this commitment to try and find a healthier and happier me, I said if things get difficult I would drop stuff. I am not dropping the blog! I just may not be as consistent till I get some reno stuff done, including purging! Yesterday I cleaned out some cupboards and got 3 boxes of kitchen stuff that I can donate to a local church rummage sale. Funny, now I have room in my cupboards 
The day before I tackled my HUGE stash of fitness magazines. All I can say is I should be smokin’ hot bouncing quarters off my A$$ from the amount I had sitting here. In the past I have subscribed to Shape, Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and now Oxygen.
I used to get the first two I swear for the I Did It! and Success Stories… and they were the reason I was keeping the magazines as well. So I did what any great home declutter’er would do, and I clipped those pages and got rid of the rest! now I have less than an inch of reading material that I will put in a binder when I get time, but for now they can cuddle my past issues of Oxygen that I am not ready to get rid of.
I have to say it was very depressing, to look at the old magazines. The models in Shape and Fitness are tiny… and un-muscular for the most part. Sticks compared to the nice tone, and shape of the Oxygen girls! The fashion pages were not why I bought the magazines, and thankfully! I saw many barely bones models on these pages, and it makes me think, what are we telling people what is FIT and normal when looking at them??
So I will stick with my Tosca Renos’ and Jamie Easons’, who’s daily diet and fitness is evident just by looking at them. There is no skinny fat on those pages, and I have to say, Thank you Robert Kennedy for that!
…Supper last night was Salmon Cakes and a Caesar Salad
In the Cakes:
- home-canned sockeye salmon
- left over mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving
- chives
- onion, garlic powder, dill, salt and pepper
- egg
Mix well, and form into patties and place on a griddle or un-greased skillet. You could use oil, but then they aren’t as healthy for you, and this works without it! Flip when edges are getting a little white’ish… try not to flip early or they will fall apart! 
Put with your favourite salad, or in my case my kids’ and hubby’s favourite salad, and enjoy!
Tomorrow is weigh-in, and after a weekend of Thanksgiving supper, and sitting at the arena, wish me luck!
What are your feeling about the magazines I mentioned in this post?
Weekly Weigh-in #5
Well it is another late weigh-in! I wonder if I should just do weigh-ins on Fridays?!? For now I am keeping it Thursdays, but I am flexible!
Recap: last week I was up… as well as the previous week 
Last week- 191.5lbs
Today- 190.5lbs - Down a pound! Whoot Woot! Thank God I am finally going down instead of up!
Yesterday I missed my weigh-in due to the fact I was off to Edmonton to pick up the tile order, and some used goalie gear I found on kijiji. I also bought some other stuff yesterday! Some new blog dishes, and a new placemat for a backdrop.
…a new Lululemon yoga mat that is supposed to be more indestructible. I hope so at $98 the Manduka Pro mat is supposed to be indestructible and comes with a lifetime warranty. I have been shredding my old mats when doing my Jillian Michaels videos as they do NOT like runners! I have went through 2 mats trying to find something that works… so as much as the price was hard to swallow, 2 mats at $40′ish each is adding up!
Breakfast this morning was to try a flavour I see on the Starbucks menu.. Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate.
I decided to make a Salted Caramel Chocolate Green Smoothie
In the vitamix:
- 2 cups of fresh spinach
- 1 shot of sugar-free caramel syrup (Davinci)
- 1 scoop Promasil milk chocolate protein powder
- 2 tsp cocoa powder
- pinch each of xanthan and guar gum
- 1-2 cups ice
- sprinkling of sea salt
It was really good but WAY too big!
Well I hope this week was good for all of you out there in blog world. I have been busy and have not had much time to blog this week. I have been doing pretty good, working, and have had a few appointments in the past week, today I even did Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30, week one workout!! I will keep you informed how the mat stacks up to my cross trainers!
Till my next post I will leave you with a picture game, of Can you Spot the Kitties?
An Unorganized Life…
Ahh… I had an epiphany last night. I am a casual exerciser… kind of like a casual christian… maybe not the best reference, but you know those who go to church at holidays, and you never see them the rest of the year?? Well, I spent most of the summer doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!! …and guess what?! Last night at hockey practice schooled me good! My shins were burning, my back was aching… I was in BAD shape.
Why is that?? Well this September I did nothing… I sat on my A$$ nursing that crappy chest cold (Thanks again Dad!) Summer exercise was sporadic… my basement was embarrassingly unorganized and that is where my treadmill, reformer, weights and recumbent bike are…
I had another epiphany… when my life is unorganized I don’t feel like doing anything… nothing for ME! That is part of why I started this blog. To organize my thoughts, and processes of finding and picking the best life for me.
I am really hoping as my house gets more organized so will my life… If it doesn’t naturally, I will just have to make it!
Well enough of that… Breakfast
- half a Granny Smith apple diced
- 1/3 cup cooked steel cut oats with chia seeds
- 1/4 pumpkin puree
- sprinkling of pumpkin pie spice
- few drops of vanilla stevia
I am trying to retrain myself… to EAT CLEAN! I always feel the best, and have the most energy when I do…
Any other motivational tips for me?? This afternoon my October Goals post will go up… maybe I need some last minute additions?
What are your favourite Oatmeal Add-ins?
Steps…
Whoo Hoo!! It has been a long week of trying to get these steps from this horror! (this is after I pressure washed it many hours… It didn’t look like that always! It looked like a run down of the current new version…)
It had many steps to get to that point though…
From 3 days of pressure washing….and then etching it with acid
Rolling on a primer coat…
Troweling on a first coat of flexrock mixture…
Taping the design, then cutting the tape to look a little more natural…
Troweling on the coating… 3 colours…
Troweling done…
Two colour washes of Brown and black…
and then, a top coat, and I was DONE!
Well… now I just need to touch up the paint on the door that the acid removed, and a few spots on the siding…
and find a railing I like, and get it installed! No pressure!
Another part of today involved steps as well… steps in making a new pizza crust recipe! My family’s favourite pizza crust is from Panago, and knowing I was going to make pizza yesterday for my sons sleepovers I decided to look for a recipe that would be like this dough. Not only did I find a recipe, but I found a recipe from Panago itself! Being that I live an hour from the closest Panago I am hopeful that this recipe will be the as good as the original!
Recipe yields 2- 12″ pizza crusts
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp. dry yeast or small packet
- 1-1/4 cup warm water
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. Sea Salt
- 2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 tbsp. honey
In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of warm water (don’t make it too hot or you’ll kill the yeast), honey + yeast until dissolved. Leave for 5-10 minutes until the yeast activates + the mixture develops a layer of froth on the surface.
Next in a large bowl, mix together sea salt + flour, finishing with a well in the centre. Add the yeast mixture + olive oil.
After the olive oil is roughly mixed in then use your hands until the dough comes together. (This step can also be done in a mixer but it’s not nearly as much fun.)
Tip the loose dough onto a lightly floured surface, and then wash + dry your hands. Knead dough until smooth, shiny + elastic (it’ll take approximately 10 minutes).
If the dough is too sticky or soft, just add a little flour. If the dough seems too dry + crumbly, then just add a little more water. I had to add quite a bit of water, as I found the dough too dry… maybe due to altitude?
Shape the dough into a round ball + then place in a large oiled bowl. Cover with a damp cloth for roughly 45 minutes, or until dough doubles in size.
Punch down the dough to remove the air + then place it on a lightly floured work surface.
Now you can divide the dough into 2 pieces (remember, you’re making two 12″ pizzas).
Shape each section into a well-rounded disk. Then place the dough balls onto a sheet of parchment paper. Cover with a light coating of olive oil + allow to rise again for about 20 minutes.
Then top with your favourite toppings…
I didn’t photograph the actual topped pizzas as I had 4 boys here hungry, helping, and decorating their own… it was a gong show, but they all LOVED the crust! My family said it was better than my usual crust…even when I don’t health it up 
It’s a keeper! Now I just need to find a way to health it up without wrecking it!!
What is your Favourite Pizza Place? Is it a chain? or local?
