The demise of Get Fit Chicks

One of the blogs I used to post on has ceased to exist. I'm still not sure what happened, but it's not there anymore. I have started to repost my posts from there over here because, well, I like some of them. It's a painstaking process as I'm attempting to update links etc, but it's taking FOREVER. So, if you see a post and the links don't work, please let me know. Or if the post references another Get Fit Chicks post that doesn't exist anymore, I'm sorry. I've tried to break all of those links.

Yoga Interruptus

This post was originally published at Get Fit Chicks. It may refer to posts on Get Fit Chicks that no longer exist. Please email me if you run into any of those and I will break the links. More information about the reposting is available here

I’ve only mentioned it a gazillion times, but for the last year I’ve been going to yoga at lunch time twice a week (ideally). Through the Health office at work, we can take advantage of a bunch of subsidized exercise and healthy living programs and yoga is one of them.

I HATED yoga when I started. Downward dog was the bane of my existence. Now, I love yoga. I can tell when I haven’t been able to go twice a week. My body complains when it misses yoga, not just when I go to yoga after too long away.
But I’m not going to yoga this month. Or next month.

Since the beginning of January I’ve paid for more yoga classes that I haven’t gone to than yoga classes that I have gone to. Unfortunately the program doesn’t have a drop-in option available – based on my calendar I sign up for how ever many classes I want in a two month block. Usually this isn’t a problem. I just enter the yoga classes into my calendar as I go. Both of my bosses have been respectful of that time in my week, even though it means I usually take a 75 minute lunch instead of a 60 minute lunch twice a week. I make that up by either staying a bit later or taking slightly shorter lunches the rest of the week.

But we’ve been busy lately. And J and I were both sick a lot in the first three months of the year. So instead of going to yoga, I’ve often had to work at lunch to get caught up and meet our deadlines.

So, I had to take a break. May and June were supposed to be jam packed busy and so far, I wouldn’t have been able to make yoga at all this month, so I’m not regretting it. Even though it’s subsidized, the fee is still a lot to pay for nothing!

But I’m stuck. I miss my yoga class and I don’t know what to do instead. I’ve been trying to do some yoga at home, but that can be hard. I’ve been trying to walk at lunch time, but with Mother Nature getting confuse about the order of the seasons and winter returning a bit prematurely, I haven’t really wanted to go out in the downpours...

Any suggestions? Lunch time or post-toddler-bedtime is the best time for me to exercise. My husband works nights so I’m home alone with the kidlet and can’t exactly go for a walk or to the gym when she’s in bed....

Shopping time...

This post was originally published at Get Fit Chicks. It may refer to posts on Get Fit Chicks that no longer exist. Please email me if you run into any of those and I will break the links. More information about the reposting is available here

Stacey and I must be on the same wave length…I woke up this morning and decided it was time to start posting over here again and when I got here, there was Stacey’s newest post too!

I have lots to say (as is usually the case when I go away for a while) but I’m going to try to keep it short today…I’m excited and apprehensive because this weekend I’m going to do something I haven’t done in ages – buy some new clothes. And not because I need something specific to wear somewhere specific but because I’ve hit a point where I have nothing to wear. My pants don’t fit and there is nothing in my stash of smaller clothes that fits me. It’s still all too small. HUH?

At first I was confused. When I started trying to lose weight and be healthier, I knew I had arrived to where I was weight-wise by gaining weight, one pound at a time. And I am certain I was clothed during that time.
But then I realized what was going on. The last time (the only time) I weighed the weight I am now, I was pregnant. I had a baby belly and a baby-carrying body. So I was wearing maternity clothes. No wonder none of the clothes packed away in the trunk in the basement fit. I never actually weighed what I weigh today when I wasn’t pregnant.

So, because my pants are all sliding down my hips and sagging in the butt, I’m off to get myself some new clothes this weekend. I’ve never been a big shopper and I’ve never enjoyed shopping, but I’m trying to convince myself this is a positive step, but I’m nervous. I’m not where I hoped to be by May, but I am losing weight, so I just need to keep reminding myself of those positives.

And I need to remember that in two months time the pants I buy this weekend should not fit anymore, so I should only buy one or two pairs. Because why spend more than I need to on something I won’t use for very long. And in two months it’s going to be summer anyway, so I’ll probably want capris and skirts…

If you have any suggestions of where to shop for not too expensive clothes, I’m all ears…

Yoga for a year

This post was originally published at Get Fit Chicks. It may refer to posts on Get Fit Chicks that no longer exist. Please email me if you run into any of those and I will break the links. More information about the reposting is available here

I’ve been doing yoga twice a week (in theory) for an entire year now. I can’t believe how much I enjoy it. When I started, I hate downward dog. Poses where I had to hang my head upside down were not something I enjoyed…at all. Now I can hang out in downward dog for ages!

My goal a year ago was to try to do yoga twice a week and to hold a plank for at least 30 seconds. Most weeks I meet my goal…as long as my kid isn’t sick. And I can hold a high plank for 60 seconds.

I can’t believe the difference yoga makes! I missed a few weeks of yoga because of my sick kid and when I went back, I immediately noticed a difference in my attitude and how I felt about everything. My patience grew. I felt more relaxed and more productive. I have finally found a video I like so that I can do yoga at home but I find when my week gets busy with a sick kid and/or catching up at work because of the sick days, I don’t manage to get it done on my own either.

I’m very glad my colleague talked me into joining yoga last year. My boss is hugely supportive of me running off to yoga twice a week – I have missed the occasional class to catch up either on some work or meetings, but most days she encourages me to go. Amazing what happens when you try something new…you might actually enjoy it!

Guest Post: Letting Yourself Go

This post was originally published at Get Fit Chicks. It may refer to posts on Get Fit Chicks that no longer exist. Please email me if you run into any of those and I will break the links. More information about the reposting is available here

Melynda wrote a series of guest posts about pregnancy and weight loss and weight gain when she was pregnant with her third daughter. Four months have passed and Melynda has agreed to write some follow up posts about getting fit again.

'Letting yourself go' is a phrase I have often heard that refers to a woman…usually a mom…who has stopped doing her make up, wearing nice fashionable clothes and doing her hair more than putting a brush through it. If you have ever watched 'What Not to Wear' you know the type of person I am referring too. There was a time that I couldn’t understand why those women would do that to themselves....but then I became a mom....and then a mom with three children and a business to run....

I have never been one to wear much make up or wear nice clothes every day. I love rocking my yoga pants and see nothing wrong with that. Recently I have found where the slippery slope starts. For me it is lack of time and energy. Some days getting dressed doesn’t happen or not until lunch time. The other thing that takes me one step closer to letting myself go is my body. My body has changed drastically in the last 5 years. You may remember that 5 years ago I was the skinniest I had ever been for my wedding. Since then I have been pregnant and/or nursing continuously, which means major changes.

My body image is very poor and it saddens me that I can’t look in the mirror and not appreciate the amazing things it has done. That sadness distresses me and I do my best to change my thoughts in regards to myself because I want to my daughters to love themselves and I know that starts with me. I am trying to turn things around, I am trying to eat better and actually get dressed. As hard as it was I discovered that having clothes that fit, even if it is in a size that makes you cringe, helps your body image. I had to buy plus-size for the first time but I am comfortable and I look good and thus feel good. I have also bought some make up and I am trying to put it on more to feel good and so I can hide how tired I look. I am discovering that each small thing for me is a treat and makes me feel good.

Georgia was born 4 months ago. She is wonderful and a delight. Her sisters love her and would kiss her all day long. I love her and surprisingly enough…I would love to have another…I love being pregnant and giving birth that much.

For the past 4 months I have been struggling with how to lose my pregnancy weight, eat right and some days even to eat. Managing three kids has been hard but that is the one piece that I manage fairly well…it is the other things that are hard cleaning, laundry and I have stepped in to run our publishing business while my husband has gone back to work full time. So there is not a lot of ‘me’ time. I am doing a bit of a diet. I am counting my calories and focusing on high protein meals. Some days I slip and eat lots of sweets and chocolates, but I keep going. The nice thing about having my third child is I know that the sleepless nights and chaotic sleep habits will be gone soon. Things get easier every week. We are falling into a nice routine.

I am also beginning to think about exercise. I can not wait for spring when I can take the kids out for a walk. My girls also love to exercise with me and when we can, we turn the Wii on and exercise. I have also set up some support and encouragement. Shannon has been wonderful, she and I email twice a week to keep both of us on track. I have another friend who has set up a Facebook group that has been helpful.

Buddying Up

This post was originally published at Get Fit Chicks. It may refer to posts on Get Fit Chicks that no longer exist. Please email me if you run into any of those and I will break the links. More information about the reposting is available here

So, I don’t make resolutions. I said that already. But that’s not entirely true. I do make resolutions. I just don’t make resolutions that are centered around January 1. I make them all year.

Anyway, my friend Melynda and I both decided we needed something to motivate us as we work on our get healthy goals. So we’re checking in with each other twice week on designated days to see how the week is going.
The idea is that we can talk about our progress, our successes, and our frustrations in reaching our “big” goals AND we can set little goals and be accountable for them.

So, if you look at my list of 101 in 1001, there are two big ones I’m working towards:

1. Fit back into pre-tumble down the stairs clothes
and
13. Weigh less on day 1001 than on day 1

But those big goals are only accomplishable (is that a word I just made up?) by reaching other smaller goals.

For instance, last week my goal was just to remember to take my supplements every day. This week my goal is to drink at least 1.5 litres of water while I’m at work.
We decided our goals could be anything we could measure in some way. Last week, both of us needed help remembering to do something, so we sent each other daily reminders to do our little jobs (taking supplements is a lot easier to remember to do when it’s just once a day...I can't wait for the GAPS diet to end!) This week, we checked in with our new goals yesterday, we’ll check in later this week with progress, and next Monday we’ll both have new goals again.

I like this buddy system...I have to be accountable to someone other than me; I can set small, achievable goals; I can set the same goal over and over and over again for a few weeks until I think I've achieved it (or created or broken a habit); I can set more than one goal a week; I get to catch up with a friend in the process. Because, believe me, we're not just talking about our goal...we're both working mommies and we have two year olds and husbands...there’s lots to talk about!
I used to think the only buddy system that worked for me was scheduling real life time to do something with someone...I'd definitely go to the gym as planned if I was meeting someone there. I’d definitely go for a walk if I was walking with someone. But I realized I just need someone to tell about, someone who would support me but also remind me that I said I was going to do yoga today and it's now 11:45 at night...better get yoga-ing for 15 minutes if you want to reach that goal!

Do you have a buddy system? How does yours work? or does it work better for you to not have a buddy??

I’m ready for you, 2011!

This post was originally published at Get Fit Chicks. It may refer to posts on Get Fit Chicks that no longer exist. Please email me if you run into any of those and I will break the links. More information about the reposting is available here

Happy New Year!

I was away over the holidays and busy celebrating with family and friends and pretty much ignoring the computer world. Yeah. When I turned my computer on after three days of ignoring, do you know what I found?

Over 1000 posts in my RSS feed. Something like 300 emails.

I selectively read my RSS feed. There are some blogs that I have to read and some that I like to read and some that I read very occasionally, so there was a process to choosing what to read, but it still took forever. And I deleted most of the email. I don’t get a lot of personal email anymore...

Anyway, I'm back now, so I'm trying to get back into blogging...

Not that 2010 was a bad year (it wasn't), but I'm so ready for 2011. I didn't make any specific resolutions for 2011. I've been working on my 101 things in 1001 days since September and that seems to be a good way for me to do it. There are some health and fitness goals in there, so go take a look (and if you're doing the 101 things in 1001 days challenge, let me know, I love to follow what others are up to!)

I did start the year with a list of lists though…books to read, blog posts to write, parts of our house to declutter, emails to write, packages to send, phone calls to make…

Slowly but surely I'll cross them all off…and very quickly I'll add more and more and more.

Lists are never ending! But I love them anyway!

My big challenge right now is still the GAPS diet. It's going much better now that the evil healing crisis is done and I'm on the full diet. It's still restrictive, but not like in the introductory stages.

I had some interesting food over the holidays – my mom made me lasagne with zucchini "noodles" and used cheddar cheese instead of ricotta and mozzarella. It was tasty and it held together fairly well. She also made some spiced nuts which were to die for and I could have everything in them...yay for finding snack food that works with the diet.

I have another 6-8 weeks to go on the diet and I'm looking forward to the end. I think I will have developed some good low carb habits by the time the end comes and I've figured out how to make one meal for all three of us instead of one for me and one for them…it's easier on the full diet and I can always make a side of rice or some potatoes for Alex and J and just not have them on my plate.

The big thing I'm looking forward to is a reduction in our grocery bill. It's huge because of all the nut butters and meat and special foods…I think it will go down substantially when I go back to less restricted eating (and less broth...I'm getting tired of it!)

Is anyone else out there like me and doesn't make specific New Years resolutions?

Time for the full GAPS diet

This post was originally published at Get Fit Chicks. It may refer to posts on Get Fit Chicks that no longer exist. Please email me if you run into any of those and I will break the links. More information about the reposting is available here

Life is going to get easier!

Today I got to start the full GAPS diet and there is so much more on that list that I can eat than there was on any stage of the intro diet.

Honestly, I wasn't convinced I wanted to continue with the diet until I actually saw the naturopath this afternoon. I was considering moving straight to the Nourishing Traditions cookbook and giving up on the GAPS diet.

I wasn't hungry. I wasn't craving anything. The biggest problem was that I often didn't feel satisfied after I ate. I wasn't hungry anymore, but my meals weren't making me happy.

And I feel that eating is for fueling our bodies but that it should also be a positive experience.

Before I announced I was done with the diet, we went through the complaints I had last time:

• horrible cramps, evil periods, vicious PMS (the PMS part was new following the birth of J two years ago)
• horribly chapped lips that wouldn't heal
• fatigue. EXTREME fatigue
• frequent migraines
• difficulty losing weight

Then she asked me what the status of those things is now:

• horrible cramps? nope, just a few little twinges. evil periods? not so horrible, still not perfect, but we’re getting there. PMS? none of that
• horribly chapped lips that wouldn't heal? GONE
• fatigue? improving. There are some environmental factors that need to be addressed and that will likely help too
• frequent migraines? how about no migraines since I started the GAPS diet. I haven't gone this long without a migraine since I was pregnant.
• difficulty losing weight? solved. For now. Now I just need to keep it up and then maintain…

So after that little chat, I decided I wasn't making any announcements this week. Sticking to the diet is a bit of a pain, but if it means that all those things will continue to improve, well, it’s worth it.

Oh, and the bonus? I hoped I'd be able to wear my wedding rings by Christmas. I've been wearing them for a week. It feels so great to have my rings back on my finger where they belong!

The naturopath also ran some tests and the most interesting result was that my cortisol is LOW. Very very very low. The last time I had extreme fatigue, my cortisol was off the charts high. There were some other interesting results, confirming what I thought – hormones a bit out of whack which in turn makes my thyroid unhappy – and telling me things I’d never thought of – my insulin production is out of whack so my pancreas is a bit unhappy (coupled with the weird hormones means no weight loss) and a few other things that I’ve since forgotten but were interesting at the time!

Progress with the GAPS diet?

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It's debatable. But I'm going to keep up with it for a least another week – that's when I have my follow up with the naturopath.

It's be a hard go this time...They don't recommend doing the intro diet with a toddler and Alex isn't too into the GAPS diet, so I'm just going to integrate them into the full GAPS diet when I get there. In the meantime, I'm making at least one and half meals every time I cook, sometime two. I'm not at the point yet where I can always just make dinner and opt out of the potatoes or grains and add a salad and they're not really into eating soup five times a day.

We'll get there and it's not forever and I need to just keep reminding myself of that! It's been surprisingly easy to resist the goodies that have been everywhere for Christmas...I did skip a dinner with my committee on Saturday night because I checked the menu and there was nothing I could eat...I don't think they would have appreciated it if I had wandered in with my Thermos of soup in hand!

Now that we're two weeks in, my patience is beginning to return...thank goodness. That's not really something you want to be without when you have a toddler!

On the fatigue front, I think we're improving. It is less of a struggle to get out of bed in the morning and I've been really productive before work – making up a few days worth of soup, hard boiling eggs, making muffins for J and Alex – and usually making it out the door at just about the right time! I have been going to bed earlier and I know that's helping too.

My boss and I have been talking about the fatigue issues, and interestingly, we've both been experiencing them since we moved into the building. I was talking to one of the women who works down the hall earlier and she moved into the building a month or two before us. She said she was fine in the summer, but she’s been having trouble since the weather turned cooler and she had to keep her windows closed…so, maybe the problem is the building...

So overall, while it's been frustrating, I think the diet is doing some good...I'll find out for sure on next Tuesday when I have my appointment.

Awesome Yoga Practice

This post was originally published at Get Fit Chicks. It may refer to posts on Get Fit Chicks that no longer exist. Please email me if you run into any of those and I will break the links. More information about the reposting is available here

I went to yoga yesterday for the first time in a week and a half. And the time before that was the first time in three weeks. And, ugh, I was really not looking forward to going yesterday. I was happy to sit cocooned in my little office and sip soup all day.

But I am so glad I went!

The last time I went to yoga, it had been three weeks because of work meetings and a lung infection...and my lung weren't quite ready to be doing anything. Anytime I squished my lungs, I ended up having to drop out of a pose so that I could breathe properly. When we did a reclining pigeon at the end, I couldn't even support myself – the instructor had to assist me. I felt so weak afterward too...oh lungs, you are important.

So, yesterday I was still a bit hesitant...my lungs should be fully healed. I'm not coughing anymore, but my body had just gone through a brutal healing crisis. I figured it would be another weak day.

Boy was I wrong. I couldn’t believe how strong I was. I was holding poses for ages without any shaking!

Oh GAPS diet, is this your handiwork? Because if it is, I might be able to forgive you the evil healing crisis. MIGHT.

And, to top it off, I'd been having a hard time with Tuesday classes. We have a new instructor for Tuesdays and I just wasn't enjoying it. The practice wasn't too hard or too easy, it just wasn't doing it for me. But I really enjoyed the whole class yesterday, so hopefully that means I'm over my dislike of Tuesday class! Yay!

Not liking the healing crisis

This post was originally published at Get Fit Chicks. It may refer to posts on Get Fit Chicks that no longer exist. Please email me if you run into any of those and I will break the links. More information about the reposting is available here

So, the first part of the GAPS diet is basically a liver cleanse and a way to get you ready to see if your body is intolerant to certain foods and, with a cleanse, typically that means a healing crisis.

I hate the healing crisis. It's pure evil.

My naturopath told me I'd have some discomfort – headache, migraine, maybe nausea or vomiting or other stomach issue – for a couple of days around the second or third day of the diet. I'm on day five of the diet and day four of the healing crisis.

And I almost quit sixty-two times before lunch time today. But a desire to get better, encouragement from Alex, and the memory of exactly how much money I paid the naturopath have convinced me to keep going.

I feel like I have the worst hangover ever (minus the nausea). I'm hot, then cold. I have a searing headache (that oddly, has just let up now). I've had two hot showers. I've had two naps. I've had lots of soup. Hopefully today is the last day.

There have been good signs – yesterday when I first got up and after I had a rest late yesterday afternoon, I felt great! Initially my fingers were so swollen my ring was tight…now it's loose. I'm hoping that by Christmas I'll be wearing my *real* wedding rings again!

The naturopath told me to take it easy for a few days and I’m really hoping that my body will be ready for yoga on Tuesday...because my brain sure is.

Bedtime!

Broth soup anyone?

This post was originally published at Get Fit Chicks. It may refer to posts on Get Fit Chicks that no longer exist. Please email me if you run into any of those and I will break the links. More information about the reposting is available here

I'm into the first phase of the new crazy diet GAPS diet and it's all about broth soups.

I was super excited at the beginning as I love soup and it's the perfect time of year for soup, but here I am on day two and I'm ready to move on...I was waiting to hear from the naturopath, who was going to give me some additional information (like when I get to move to the next phase) that isn't available online. I haven't heard from her so I emailed her to find out when I can eat other stuff...I'm not hungry but I'm not feeling satisfied either.

I'm totally in detox mode and I'm sooooo tired. We had a snow day at our house today and I worked from home, but I ended up napping the whole time J slept as well. And I could go back to bed already and it's not even 4:30. But at least this is just a temporary phase...

I'm going off to eat some soup now…

PS: Stacey, your post made my tummy grumble...a lot!

Here we go again...

This post was originally published at Get Fit Chicks. It may refer to posts on Get Fit Chicks that no longer exist. Please email me if you run into any of those and I will break the links. More information about the reposting is available here

I've been sticking to the crazy diet as best I can, but I'm having no luck with the fatigue.

So, I sucked it up, got out my credit card, and went back to the naturopath.

And you know the crazy diet? Well, I think it's about to get crazier!

I'm doing some testing to make sure that I don't have anything going on with my thyroid or iron levels or my cortisol and then we’re starting a new crazy diet.

I don't have all the details yet (the naturopath is waiting for the results of the testing) but instead of no fermented stuff, this diet is all about the fermented stuff. She gave a me a few things to look at before we get into the plan, but it's based on two things – the GAPS diet and the Nourishing Traditions cookbook. Both of these have some controversial points to them, but at this point, I'm prepared to try pretty much anything! The GAPS diet is one of the diets that claims to help those with autism and Nourishing Traditions promotes the regular use of saturated fats, including butter.

It's interesting to see what could be happening to my diet (and a bit scary as Christmas is just around the corner), but if it helps with the fatigue and the other boring stuff that goes along with it, well, I'm happy to try it and see…

Have you ever heard of the GAPS diet or the Nourishing Traditions cookbook? Have you ever followed either? I'm curious to see what other people think – I’m just starting to look into both, so I haven't really formed any opinions…and the naturopath thinks it will only take 2-3 months of these two to reverse things and then close attention to what I'm eating after that, so as long as neither of them look harmful, I'm willing to give it a try!

The people in the computer

I bet, if you have a blog, there are people in your computer. You know, people who you know because you read or comment on their blogs and maybe they read and comment on your blog too. Or maybe not. But because it's the internet and people publish things there for other people to read, it's not stalking if you only have a one-way relationship!

It's easy enough for me to forget that the people in the computer are real. Until something major happens in their lives that jolts me back to reality OR you get to meet them for real.

I've never met any of the people in the computer for real before.

Until yesterday.

Stacey and I met up at Granville Island (no, Stacey's not the person in the computer, I've known her for years) and found AndreaClaire waiting for us at the flower stand at the market!

We had a great visit and, hey, did you know, the awesome people in the computer are pretty awesome in real life too!

I'm so glad we managed to work our weekends out so that we could meet...it's kind of fun to meet the people in the computer!

I warned myself

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But apparently I didn’t listen…

When the pedometer miraculously returned, I said I’d only try for 8,000 steps for the first little while to get my body used to walking again…and I did really well the first two days, logging over 8,000 steps. Wednesday was chock full of meetings, so I was happy with 6,000 steps.

But then Thursday was a holiday. And there are Danish visitors here. So we went out with them. With J in the stroller. And oh my, now I’m sore…I didn’t do anything I’d normally think was excessive, but when all I wanted to do was sit on the couch and have my legs rubbed last night, I realized I’d over done it.

It was only a little over 4 km and for a while I wondered what was wrong with my legs…Maybe a combination of the lung infection I’m just getting over and the change in my work situation which, for a variety of reasons, has changed my commute? I used to walk J to daycare, hop on the bus, and walk across campus to my office. Now, I have a new job and a new office and J has a new daycare. All of those things combined to make it impossible for me to take the bus *and* put in a full day at work. So now I drive. And I’m really good at taking my lunch. So I don’t walk. So, the days that I don’t have yoga, I have actually scheduled a walk into my day…that way the next time I was 4 km, I hope I won’t be whining on the couch the next night!

Well, that was easy

This post was originally published at Get Fit Chicks. It may refer to posts on Get Fit Chicks that no longer exist. Please email me if you run into any of those and I will break the links. More information about the reposting is available here

I thought it was going to be hard to get back up to 10,000 steps a day now that I’m not walking and taking the bus as part of my commute.

I think I was wrong! I had one meeting outside of our office yesterday and it was fairly close and I managed to walk over 8,000 steps. We’ll see if I can replicate that today.

I think that means if I go for a short walk at lunch time I’ll be able to hit my goal most days – and by short I mean 30 minutes. That’s totally doable and I can’t wait to see if it helps!

Oh, and on my quest to see how what my food choices “cost” me…I was craving a scone from the coffee shop and I know it’s not a good idea for a whole lot of reasons…so I got up and made hot scones for breakfast this morning. YUM! And Because I used stuff from the pantry, I’m not counting it as an extra cost, but calorie-wise it was less than half the calories of a scone from the coffee shop! And it was only about 20 calories more than the oatmeal I usually have for breakfast…must remind myself to keep making smart choices! It will be interesting to see what my week looks like when I’m done!

The cost of unhealthy living

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Every once in a while, I stop and take a bit of an inventory of what's happening in my life related to my health – how much am I exercising, what kind of exercise am I doing, what’s my diet like, what are my sleep patterns like, what's my stress level – and readjust it.

There’s all kinds of talk in the media about the cost of unhealthy living and the strain it is putting (and will put in the future) on our health care system…we’ve all seen it – more diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, rates of obesity – the list is endless.

Right now I know I need to eat better – I'm much better than I was this summer, but there's still room for improvement. We started creating a weekly meal plan, including snacks, and I'm pretty good at sticking to it if we remember to print it and post it in the kitchen – I know I need to do some other exercise besides yoga and I know I need more sleep. Stress is pretty good right now.

This summer I took a look at the cost of some of my unhealthy choices. The cost to me right now, not to me (or the health care system) in the future. And wow, was it motivation! I had slipped into some unhealthy habits that I'm blaming partly on the somewhat unstable daycare situation we were in, some mini-crises we were dealing with as a family, and job uncertainty. And that resulted in some stress eating and more lunches out at work than I would like. So I spent a week tracking what I was eating and this is what I discovered:

In seven days I ate an extra 4500 calories (YUCK!) and it cost me close to $30. An annual habit like that would have me packing on the pounds and would cost me over $1500. Granted, I don't normally eat that way, but this was a slip up that needed correcting and looking at it from a cost perspective really opened my eyes and helped me change the bad habits I was starting to form.

Even though I'm trying my best to eat from the crazy diet right now, there are still ways to make choices that might not be the best choices. Now that plain dairy (ie not cheese or sour cream), flour, and sugar have been added again, most baking is okay. Potato chips (as long as I read the ingredients) are okay...there are many ways to make poor choices even when following a somewhat restrictive diet.

I had planned to do a cost experiment again this week, but I've been under the weather and home all week, so the opportunity to make poor choices at work was completely taken away. I expect to be back at work on Monday, so starting Sunday I'm going to track a week's worth of food to what the extra cost is…

I’m thinking I'm down to more like $5 – $10 a week, and hopefully only a few hundred calories but we'll see...I'd like it to be no calories and less than $5 if at all possible!

Return of the pedometer

This post was originally published at Get Fit Chicks. It may refer to posts on Get Fit Chicks that no longer exist. Please email me if you run into any of those and I will break the links. More information about the reposting is available here

Just over a year ago, I lamented the loss of my pedometer...I loved it. It was a great way for me to track whether I was getting enough exercise or not.

On Saturday, Alex took the car in to get the winter tires put on and when he was readjusting the seats after they were done, he found the missing pedometer! I can't wait to start using it again. I've been off work this week with some yucky germs my kid generously brought home from daycare and shared with me, so I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but I think that since I started driving to work and since we moved offices, I'm way low on my 10,000 step target.

I'm going to readjust and try for 8,000 a day for the first week…otherwise, my body might just scream and yell at me. Gradual reentry, here I come!

To weigh or not to weigh…

This post was originally published at Get Fit Chicks. It may refer to posts on Get Fit Chicks that no longer exist. Please email me if you run into any of those and I will break the links. More information about the reposting is available here

A very weighty question (pun maybe intended, maybe not, I haven’t decided yet)…

My friend Melynda recently posted on her blog about some lifestyle changes she’s making now that her new baby has arrived.

One of the big changes is that she’s not going to weigh herself anymore. She said she was weighing herself daily, but that she has decided that she needs to stop.

To weigh or not to weigh is a big decision…I’ve looked at (and lived) the pros and cons of both…regular weighing – daily, weekly, monthly, whatever – is definitely a motivator and can be very helpful. I have also experienced how it can work in the opposite way. I happen to think (right now) that not weighing yourself can be great, especially for your self esteem, but that it also doesn’t necessarily help if you’re not aware of your body.

I don’t weigh myself very often. I never used to weigh myself at all, but then we moved. And the people who used to live in our house left their scale behind. Even when I was pregnant, I didn’t weigh myself. Because of my back, I had prenatal check ups at least every two weeks, so my doctor weighed me. But after J was born there was a scale in our bathroom. And I started weighing myself. I weighed myself once a week on the same day that J had her weigh ins.

It was great until the domperidone started. And then I began to dread the scale. The needle didn’t move. And when you’re three months postpartum and the needle stops moving before you fit into your pre-pregnancy clothes, it’s not a happy thing.

So I’ve stopped. Almost a year ago I decided it wasn’t helping me at all. It was making it worse. (Take a look at Single Dad Laughing’s post on bathroom scales and his list of steps. It was something like that for me except I didn’t usually do the two to three day junk food binge and I was a lot harder on myself)

Now, I have two guides – one is how I’m feeling – am I dragging myself around or do I have energy. The other is how my clothes fit. Waistbands are getting looser and that means that things are changing in my body. And that’s good. But I’m not stepping on that scale until it’s time to wear a different size and retire all my pants.

Because my weight fluctuates. With the time of day, the day of the week, the week of the month, the colour of my socks. And those fluctuations can really drag me down.

And I’ve decided the fluctuations stress me out and that just makes the extra pounds more determined to stick to me.

Do you weigh yourself regularly or not at all? How did you decide what the best scale plan was for you?

When a magazine stirs it up...

This post was originally published at Get Fit Chicks. It may refer to posts on Get Fit Chicks that no longer exist. Please email me if you run into any of those and I will break the links. More information about the reposting is available here

So, I know this is my second post today, but grrr….

You may have heard about the Marie Claire controversy around The Hunger Diaries.

Maybe today you saw the controversy around a Marie Claire writer who wrote the blog post Should Fatties Get A Room? Even on TV?

They made me grumpy. Both of them. You can read about it here.

Stacey and I talked about this when the first article came out and we both felt that the magazine just felt threatened by the blogs...I'm not sure what the excuse is now...

Thoughts?