Thursday 28 February 2013

Hey There Plateau

Not this morning, but appropriate for this post.
This month has been tough outside of the whole workout/healthy eating realm that is this blog.   As much as I'd love to blather on about it here, it's not the place, and I need to cope with it.  I've been dealing heavily with feelings of wanting to stress eat over the last 1-2 weeks and not giving in, but I'm sure it's been clouding my food judgement.

I'm not entirely sure what went wrong this month (okay I have a suspicion), but I went into this morning not necessarily expecting great things, but hoping.


The good is that I'm down 1.5lbs.  The not so good is that my measurements didn't change at all this month.  At least it's not a gain?

I'm annoyed, and it set my morning off in a funk that I'm trying to mentally get through.

These things happen, and being stressed about it on top of everything else isn't worth it.

Tomorrow is March 1st, and I'm going to step into it with renewed dedication and drive.

I will break this plateau.  I will meet my goal of being as happy as I can with my body/self-image by the summer.  It will be okay.

Wednesday 27 February 2013

Get Real Food Challenge Update #2

There was supposed to be a vlog here yesterday, but my new computer was having none of that and I got too frustrated to fix it yesterday.  Or today.  So you get a blog.  Deal.


Food

Food wise was fairly good last week minus the times we went out to eat, but I stuck with paleo.  Umm.... except for me making a mistake with my pizza on Friday night and forgetting that I had to check 'no cheese' option when I ordered online.  So I ate a piece with it and then picked it off the rest.

Gym

Last week I felt off for most of the week and had trouble upping my weight on a lot of things.  However, during our special Monday workout, I actually managed a 2RM Turkish Get Up with 20lbs and majorly upped my box jumps.  Wahhoooo!  This week I've been PRing all over the place but I'll update that tomorrow.

Life

Sleep has been actually on a roll this week and despite feeling off and the stressors I've had, I've been well rested.  Some of those days were melatonin induced, but I'm okay with it.  Unfortunately this week started off with me trying to push down the stress eating cravings, but so far so good.

GOING FORWARD

Food 

My goal this week has been to take out my paleo treats and decrease my 'paleo approved sugars' to take down the stress eating cravings.  I didn't bake anything on Sunday, and instead prepped lots of veggies and protein to make it through.  Unfortunately, I also made maple cinnamon almond butter and someone needs to pry it out of my hands.  It's so good.


I'm also trying to up my water intake.  I've been slacking recently.  So the brita and I are now BFFs.


Gym

Trying to give it all no matter how I feel this week.  Pushing through and getting it done.  That's it that's all.

Life

My life goal is the same as the gym.  Approach things with positivity and every time my head gets into a vicious cycle of self doubt, counteract it with what is going right in my life at this very moment.



And a little something extra.... pictures and American Eagle LIE.


For those of you who saw that picture of me in my size 10 shorts and figured I was a 6-8.  Not so much.  AE is never consistent with their sizes depending on the cut.  Case in point:  I have 12s, 10s, 14s and they're all different.   I went in this weekend to try jeans on, and because EVERYTHING is flipping low rise, no 8s or 10s that I grabbed fit me.  Bah!

Saturday 23 February 2013

Fourth Time's a Charm?

You all already know what happened, but let's go back in time for a second and do some build up.

In 2003, I departed to university with this beast:

Or something along those lines... I don't actually remember the model, but it was a huge Dell Laptop that I had no desire to cart to class.  I think it also had a hefty price tag since it was loaded with everything that you could get in 2003.  DVD burner anyone?  Honestly, I don't know why I thought I needed that stuff.

Then one day while doing who knows what at my desk, I dumped a bottle of Diet Coke on that sucker.   Luckily it dried up, got all fixed, and lived a decent life when I wasn't yelling profanities at it for being huge and clunky and slow.

When I left for physio school, I decided to upgrade with my first Mac.  The very stylish black Macbook that was just a little bit better than the white ones, but not quite as expensive as the Pros at that point.


Picture this:  It's May 2-4 weekend and the library is closed because, well, it's a long weekend for 90% of everyone else in Canada, but not for us poor physio kids.  I was working away at my dining room table on my large cumulative project (change of environment?) with a nice cold glass of water instead of my normal bottle.  You know what happened.  Luckily, she revived herself and was good to go.  (Though I needed a new logic board a little later but it ended up being covered).

Until 6 months later when my screen started acting up.  I took it into Apple and they said to replace the hard drive (which I paid for since it was out of warranty by this point).  It didn't work.  I took it back in and then they told me that it was the logic board (again) and that it was due to water damage.  Conceding defeat, I ended up with a Macbook Pro.

I loved my Pro and treated her well.  She was just over 3 years old when I royally effed her up yesterday.


I had a bottle of acu disinfectant in my bag to take to work and my Mac.... I noticed halfway that my leg felt odd but didn't think anything of it until I got to work and tried to figure out why my leg was soaked.  Took a sec and then.... oh noooooooo.   The bottle had completely dumped in my bag which meant that my laptop (which was on) had been sitting in basically water for at least 5 minutes.

 I knew from the moment I picked her up and water poured out she was dead.  But Greg took her apart and let her dry in front of a fan over night.  We tried to turn her on this morning but no luck.  You could see what was corroded.  It just wasn't worth the salvage.

R.I.P. Pretty Macbook Pro.  I love you.

On to the new 13" Retina Display Macbook Pro.  There was a debate of which model I was going to get... but as soon as I saw this one I couldn't go back to the standard Pro.


She's just so light, and is so much smaller than my previous computer.  On top of all that, the new OS is a lot of fun to play with.

Pip approves.


I'll be back soon with a Get Real Food Challenge Vlog!


Thursday 21 February 2013

My Favourite Cupcake Recipe


This probably comes as a surprise to a few people, but I don't always cook paleo/healthy.  Once in awhile, I've been known to create crazy decadent creations for dessert.  When my coworker's birthday came up (and she bakes for us ALL the time) I decided to break out my Kitchenaid and get to work.

 The chocolate cupcake is an Ina Garten recipe and is hands down my favourite chocolate cake/cupcake recipe of all time.  It's got a ton of ingredients, but it's worth it in the end.  It's chocolatey, slightly tangy, and moist.

Ina Garten Chocolate Cupcakes

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
2 tablespoons brewed coffee
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup good cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and 2 sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes. Lower the speed to medium, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. On low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the mixer bowl, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until blended. Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it's completely blended.

Divide the batter among the cupcake pans (1 rounded standard ice cream scoop per cup is the right amount). Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely before frosting.



 I also use the Peanut Butter Frosting listed at the end.  Normally, I actually need a little under a double batch of her icing, and I'm assuming it's because I pipe my icing.  This time, I totally forgot that and didn't have enough cream to do a second batch, so I just added milk and icing sugar until I got a good consistency and taste.

Peanut Butter Frosting 

1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.





Little (okay they were huge) cupcakes of love:


But wait!  There was a secret to these fellas:


You can just barely see it, but I filled them with dark chocolate ganache.

Original Recipe found here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chocolate-cupcakes-and-peanut-butter-icing-recipe/index.html

Saturday 16 February 2013

It's been a rough week....

This week has been full of ups and downs and stomach aches and frustrated workouts.

I've been sitting on a vlog I actually NEED to do since Sunday/Monday but haven't had the umph to get it done.  I'm hoping to have it up by tomorrow or Monday at the latest.  It's kinda necessary and should promote me doing more.

Let's start with the bad:
  • Feeling sugar addicted again and wanting dessert and/or to stuff my face.  I don't know where it came from but I'm guessing stress and emotional eating triggers.  The good news is that I've resisted it, but it hasn't been easy.
  • Alcohol.  With the vlog I need to get out haha, you'll know why, but I've been trying to keep the boozing to a minimum for the next 4-5 weeks and that just didn't happen this week.
  • Getting frustrated with my lifts.  I get really testy when I can't nail my form and have to drop down in weight.  I know it's for my greater good, and I'm only 3 months in, but it would be nice to get out of Foundations.  Unfortunately, my coaches often get the wrath of frustrated OCD perfectionist cranky pants Kelly.
  • That time I ate gluten.... I indulged with 1 homemade dumpling (but only 1/2 of the pastry) and a little bit of glass noodle salad and paid with my gluten baby for the rest of the day.   It was uncomfortable, but at least I can now l can laugh at it instead of curling up into a ball
The good:
  • I managed to squeak out 6 reps at 63lbs for my bench.... last week I struggled to get 2 at 65 so it's a big change in a short time.
  • I upped my box jump to about 20-22 inches... I should measure that.
  • I did not let any of the bad things completely mess up my week and learned to accept and move on instead of dwelling on them.
Alright, I have a date with my oven.... not for fun baking, but cleaning.  Here goes!

Tuesday 5 February 2013

Changing the Mental Game

Part of the problem (or at least my problem) of being chubby, losing weight, putting a significant amount back on, and working my bum off to get it back off, is the toll it's taken on my mental health.

The good news is that my self-hatred for my body has basically been erradicated.  I truly believe that if I was to stay at this size for awhile, I'd be okay with it.  I'm proud of what I've worked at to achieve, and so excited to keep pushing forward.  But if nothing were to happen, if I were to plateau, it'd be okay.

The problem now then?

I still have scale issues.  In the last 3 weeks,  I've been on the scale 3 times.  All favourable results, yes, but every time I get on that scale and feel that little twitch in my tummy of happiness, I wonder what I'm going to feel like if the scale doesn't budge for awhile or if it even goes up.   I can't let a number have power over me. That's not how this works.

It's February 5th, and I'm not getting back on the scale until the end of the month.  Nope.


Anyways..... other things that happened in the last few days:

I'm now down 11lbs and seated in the 150s again (okay 159, but I'll take it!).

I bought a new lulu gym outfit.  Hooray for matching! Though I need to figure out what else to pair with the crops.


I also bought a new shirt from Le Chateau and it was only $9.99.   Score.  I never buy anything from Le Chateau since it's not really my style and it's always pricy.


And then I bought some MAC too which is currently on my face :)  Good shopping weekend.  Bad for my bank account.  Whoops!


OH!  I signed up for a whole year of Crossfit!  It also means that it's significantly cheaper per month now!   Pretty excited to see what the next year may bring.

Sunday 3 February 2013

February Thoughts

I was going to do a vlog today, and then I realized that I really wanted to ramble right now, and I didn't want to be that awkward person talking to her computer while she has friends over.  Well they're still in bed right now, but still.  Anyways.... this sums it up well:

Dumb face... don't ask...
 Also, I'm pretty sure I woke up with a sushi hangover and I also think this might have something to do with it:

Sushi on sushi on sushi

We went to an AYCE place at Queen/Yonge, and it's the first AYCE place that really impressed me.  First of all, it took zero time to get our food (though we were also kinda out of the dinner rush (it was only about 5pm) and the fish it's self was really good quality - totally the area in Toronto I think that dictated that.   I also had this odd but delicious roll called the Firehouse.  It was banana and shrimp with spicy mayo and tuna on top.  It was really oddly good.

Anyways, sushi hangover.  I did really well.  I didn't totally overeat, didn't use a ton of soya sauce, and tried to stick to things that weren't uber deep fried.  Unfortunately, I still woke up with that hangover dehydrated thing, though I'm wondering if it's also because of the fact that there were a ton of foods I wasn't used to eating anymore.  I also had a headache last night and again, I'm wondering if it was because of gluten.  Fun times.

Ugh I lost my train of thought there for a minute.

Anyways, this whole post was supposed to actually be about one thing:  coffee.


I'm hardcore addicted to the stuff.  I get massive headaches (when I normally get like 2 headaches a year and they're not that bad) when I don't have coffee in the morning.  It's dumb and I need to fix it.  On top of the fact that I think I'll sleep better if I get off the juice. 

Plan: this week is one in the morning.  Next week is 1/2 cup diluted.  And after that, I'm taking it by feel.   Now, I'm pretty sure I should kick all caffeine, but there's probably still going to be some of this in my life:


No, not the wine.  Promise.  I finally restocked on two of my favourite teas:  Oh Canada and Happy Kombucha.  These two are the bomb.  Oh Canada is one of the best Rooibos that I've had.  It doesn't get all soapy and has a great sweet flavour.  Happy Kombucha is one of the only fruity teas that I like hot or cold.  The best part about Oolong's too, is that you can brew them twice (or more) and the caffeine content decreases each time.  So though this guy's a bit expensive, it's actually kind of a steal.  I think you'll probably see me drinking this all day today.

I'll try to check in halfway through this process.... wish me luck!

Saturday 2 February 2013

January Progress

January 1st, I decided to join the masses with a goal/challenge to myself. 

I was going to get serious with my diet.

I was going to stop drinking.

I'm no alcoholic, but a glass of wine would make it into my nightly routine 2-4 times a week.  Sometimes less, sometimes more on the weekend.

I have this weird thing.  Often, I struggle with self-control and impulse.  Other times, I can cut out things in my life with no problem.  Diet pepsi, the first time I lost weight,  daily Starbucks. 

Cutting out wine was the latter.  The first week was a little tough, and then I was flying. 

With renewed dedication, and being strong willed, I cut out wine and got serious in the gym.
December, sick on January 2, January 31.

Over the course of January, I lost 7.5lbs and I'm sure a bunch of inches.  I'm really starting to notice that clothes are fitting me differently and starting to notice greater ease with body weight exercies at the gym. 

While I'm never going to get rid of my genetically endowed legs, the difference between these three pics show how much more muscular they look.  First picture: all hips.  Second picture: quaaaads!

February is a shorter month, and is starting off with drinks with friends, but last night I kept it to a minimum and ate well.   I'm hoping to keep the January momentum and keep seeing changes.

All that said, if I was to stay right here, at about 160lbs, with this body,  I think I'd be okay with it.  It's amazing what losing 10lbs and gaining mass amounts of strength has done for my confidence.

Here's to taking it one day, one week, one month at a time!