Unexpected Curve Balls

No matter how much, or well, you plan, there's always the opportunity for something to come out of left field and knock you off your schedule. For me, it was the death of my Granddad last week.

My friend C and I came up with a pretty good plan with regards to the gym and exercising. We started trying out different classes that our gym offers, to see what types we liked best. I was also concentrating on eating healthy again and just overall putting a push on my health. Everything was on track and C and I are great workout buddies, pushing each other and supporting each other, and above all, celebrating each other. I had just lost two pounds that week and was feeling good.

On the Friday we had gone to a fitness class that we both loved. It was also our first time with this particular instructor and she quickly became our favourite and we asked if she taught any other classes. She does and C and I told her we'd be going to those as well. Saturday I was recovering from the class and I had plans on running on Sunday or Monday (which was a holiday in Canada).

Early Sunday morning we got a call from the hospital where my Granddad was (different province from where we live). They told us he took a bad turn and would not recover. We should waste no time in getting back home. Within hours we had my Dad on a plane to go see him. My Mom and I had to hold back to get things organized and take care of some errands that popped up because of the nature of our visit. Luckily my Dad made it in time, my Mom and I did not. My Dad thinks it was the best for us and maybe he's right.

So, this was the curve ball. The reason he was in the hospital was not something serious. It was one complication that led to another, etc. that caused his death. Packing up and heading out of province of course threw me off my exercise schedule. Which, is obviously ok and understandable. I haven't exercised since that Friday night, about a week and a half ago.

Some people may have been able to squeeze in some exercise while away but I was not able to. There were plenty of things going on and other things that had to be taken care of that I just wasn't able to. I did however think about exercise. A lot. I missed doing it and was thinking that it would be great to get out to clear my head during a run/walk. I scoped out all of my gym locations there as I'll be heading back again in a couple of weeks.

I allowed myself this time off but I didn't fall off the wagon. I ate really well (except for the container of gummy bears) and kept up with my water intake. Today I will be going back to the gym and am going to get right back at it. I leave again in a couple of days for vacation but I have already come up with a flexible schedule for fitness while I'm away. Lots of walking and running, especially in the first week as I won't have access to a gym.

This time last year I probably wouldn't have thought of exercise at all while I was away. I probably also would've snacked on junk food while I was gone. Snacks are quick, easy and readily available. Plus, it's comfort when in grieving. I may not have exercised but I still think of it as a win. I drank water whenever possible and ate fresh food for just about all of my meals. And there was very minimal snacking. I don't begrudge myself the gummy bears.

Now it's time to get back on track. My head held high, knowing I'm ready for whenever another curve ball comes my way. And perhaps at that time, I'll do even better than this time. Grief and a different schedule is no longer an excuse to not work at it.

Will Be Back!

Sorry for the long silence. My Grandad passed away and I had to fly out of province last minute. I will be starting up posts again this week. I just need today as a day to just chill and relax now that I'm back home. Thank you for your understanding and I'll be back in a day or two.

Michelle

Slapped in the Face by a Dose of Reality

I had my last session with my personal trainer on Tuesday. I'm going to miss her. I knew I hadn't reached my goal but I was still shocked when I stepped on the scale. I am now at my all time highest weight ever! What?! How the heck did that happen? That was the slap in my face I was referring to in the title.

That's the reality. I'm up in weight. I need to deal with it and fix it. I didn't let it get me too down though. Even though I'm at my heaviest weight, and have that much more to lose, I'm more fit than I was when I started with my trainer. I can run for several minutes at a time, before, I could barely make it a minute. The weights that I'm lifting now are more than I started with and I can do more reps. When I first started I had to have a pole to help me with my balance when I did walking lunges, now I'm a superstar with them! So even though I'm up in weight, I've also gotten a lot stronger and I can do a lot more.

I gave myself a little pep talk, not a verbal bashing, but just a reminder that I do so much better when I have a plan and structure to follow. So, I planned. I've looked for new, healthy recipes that I might enjoy. I reminded myself that I need to cook more often. And measure my portions, I'm no good at judging what a portion size it. I know about the visual clues; palm of your hand, deck of card, etc. but it just doesn't work for me. I'm in the process of coming up with a meal plan. Structure that I can follow so when I wake up, I know what I'm eating that day.

I also came up with a fitness schedule that I plan on following. I'm allowing for some flexibility but I still plan on being active, in one way or another, on a daily basis. My friend Chanda also wants to lose some weight so she's my fitness buddy and we'll be going to the gym together, as well as going hiking and such. She's holding me accountable and it's exactly what I need. Finally I'm getting some personalize support and I don't feel like I'm doing it alone. She's already lost some weight previously so she's also able to understand what I'm going through. It helps let me tell ya!

I feel like I'm always starting from the beginning again. It's annoying me to no end, and I'm sure it's annoying the regular readers of my blog. I apologize if I sound like a broken record but I feel that by writing about it I'm keeping it real, as well as it's another form of keeping myself accountable. Maybe I need to do posts more specific to what I'm doing to reach my goals so that I'm putting it all out there. I'll write about my fitness, as well as everyday life and what I'm eating (no this will not become a food blog). Perhaps by putting everything out there then my readers can help steer me in the right direction if they see I'm going off course. Or provide me with advice that they learned while doing their own journey.

I'm not giving up. This is my life and I want to live the best one I possibly can. I want to be happy, healthy and fit. I will work at and continue to work at it. And if that means that I have to start from the beginning a hundred times, so be it. I will not quit. I hope that you follow me and that you will cheer me on and I can reward your support with great progress!

Wrapping Up with My Trainer

I’m entering another scary phase of my fitness journey. I have just one session left with my personal trainer. While I’m happy to open up my Tuesdays and Fridays again for other things, I’m a little scared of going it on my own. Having the sessions ensured I was making it to the gym at least twice a week. What will I do once they stop?

I’m lucky in a few ways. One of the gym locations is in the same building I work in so I have the benefit of going during before work, lunch or after work. That helps. Plus, my one of my friends is getting married next year and she’s also been working out and would like to amp up her exercise routine. She’s my workout buddy so this is a good thing. We’re going to look into going to some classes at another of the gym locations (one that is good for the two of us to attend).

I also don’t need to only be at a gym to get a good workout. With the warmer weather coming, I’d much rather do my walking and running outside.  Plus, I’ll be doing fun things like geocaching, hiking and playing sports as well as keeping active just by getting out with friends. And there are routines I can do at home no problem. 

I think I’ll be ok, it’s just a new beginning and those can be scary. I’m going to have to come up with a new routine for myself and keep to it. I’m not going to be too set on doing exactly what it says, just as long as I’m doing something on my active days. I should have that figured out by next week. I’m going to talk with my trainer so she can offer me some support and advice for continuing on. Once I figure things out, I’ll post my new routine and I’ll update with how I’m sticking to it.

If you’ve ever had a trainer and came to the end of your sessions, how did you do moving out on your own? Do you have any advice for me?

Girls Scrapping Retreat

Just a quick note, this post is getting done up on my iPhone with the Blogger app. If it needs to be fixed, or updated, I'll do so once I get to a computer.

Well, I survived this past weekend. On too little sleep and too much coffee of course.

The weather was perfect on Friday afternoon as Chanda and I hit the road for Brantford. We decided to hit up the local Walmart and we ended up running into one of our other friends in the craft isle.

Then after stopping for supper, and getting lost, we finally arrived.

We wasted no time getting stuff set up in our crafting space.

Here are some peeks of some of the layouts I did.

I'll do a post on my layouts at another time. I'm shooting for the weekend but don't hold me to that as they're at my parent's place and I'm not sure when I'll be there next.

It was such a great weekend and I'm already starting my planning for the one in October!

Treadmill Run

First, let me say that this is not me, nor is this the treadmill I'm referencing in this post, but hello! it's a pink treadmill! I had to use it as my picture.

So, onto the actual purpose of this post. This past Monday the weather was awful here. Snow, rain, wind and a bunch of in between. It was cold and gross. So I didn't want to go running with my group. Shhh, I ended up going to a friend's house instead.

Turns out, the entire group, save for one brave soul, took the same route I did and did not show up for the run. We're up to the longer runs now (run 5 minutes, walk 1 minute this week) and considering I was sure I'd never make it past the run 2, walk 1 week, I don't want to fall behind on my runs.

Enter the non-pink treadmill at my gym.

I knew I wanted to do the run and the weather wasn't forecasting any better for the rest of the week so I decided to do the run at the gym. As my warm up before working with a trainer. Yeah, that part may not have been brilliant, but whatever.

I did a 1 minute walking warm up and then I increased the speed so that I could do my run. It was slow, but it was still a run. I did the 5 minutes no problem! I walked for 1 minute, then decided to increase the speed for my run by .1. Again, I had no problem doing the 5 minutes. Walked another 1 minute and did my third round of running by putting up the speed again. After finishing that 5 minutes, I was tired but not defeated in the least.

During my 2 minute cool down walk I was so ecstatic. I ran 15 of 17 minutes! This was huge for me. No, I wasn't as fast as the guy next to me, or probably anyone else on the treadmill, but I did it. And, being alone there on that treadmill I didn't feel defeated by the others who are better than me in my group. There was nothing holding me back, making me worry that I didn't want to hold anyone up. I got to do it all at my pace, with no worries. And I rocked it.

A few weeks ago I could barely run for two minutes and here I am confident that I'll be ok when we increase the time again next week to 6 minutes of running. I'm really happy with my progress. My Mom always taught me to get good, then get fast. So once I get good at running, I'll worry about increasing my speed.

Tuesday, for the first time I really felt excited about running. And to some degree I finally felt like a runner. I'm definitely looking forward to running on a regular basis now.

On another note, I used to be completely dead after doing my runs. On Tuesday, I did the run and then the hour with my trainer. So I'm recovering faster from the running and it's not taking as much out of me as before. Just another thing that makes me happy since I can see myself getting stronger.

Now I must go and petition my gym to get pink treadmills...

Introduction to a Bad Run

Remember this photo? Well, if only I could look as good as that kid.

Last night I had my first bad run. Now, I know that there is a difference between a tough run and a bad run. And I also now know what that difference feels like.

I was feeling a little off all day yesterday. It's really hard to pinpoint how exactly I felt, or what was wrong. Just one of those days I guess. But, whatever it was, wasn't enough to keep me from my scheduled run (Day 2 of run 4 minutes, walk 1 minute). I was the first one of the group to show up, knowing if I stayed home any longer I might get a little too comfy. So at 6:34pm we were off.

Oh. Mah. God. It was if I had cement blocks attached to my feet and I wasn't able to move forward. I must've looked horrible too because the Running Room instructor told me that everyone has bad runs and not to worry about it. I'm still learning to run so all of the runs are tough for me, but nothing like that. The rest of the pack pulled away from me more and more, which I don't mind so much. I just wish I could run as well as the others. One day.

So, almost the entire run felt this way. I had a bit of extra oomph on my third set and I ran longer than the four minutes. This is because I started heading back and the instructor had to go wrangle the others up so I missed the call to walk.

Bad runs suck. But, at the same time I'm thankful I experienced it. I know, you think I'm crazy, but hear me out. I did it. Even as bad as the run was, I completed my scheduled run. I'm pretty happy about that. In all honesty, had I not been part of the group, I probably would've given up on it. But this is exactly why I wanted to join a group, so that I wouldn't give up when things got tough.

I'm hoping my next run goes smoother and if I start finding it tough, I can remind myself that I can do it, and that it's going better than my run last night. And for the first time, I kinda felt like a runner tonight.

Someone who runs in one of the higher running groups told me that she was worse than I was when she started and she almost quit. After three months she finally got her runner's high and things started to become a little more easier for her. Since then she's competed in triathlons, marathons, halfs and countless 5 and 10k. Her favourite distance is 10k but she never thought she would make it and she did. She told me not to give up, that it might take a few months, but that it'll all come together.

I'm so thankful for the support in the running community. I really feel like I'm being carried until I can make it on my own. I can't wait for that day!

And, although this picture has nothing to do with this post, it's too cute not to share.

This is Lacey. She's one of my parent's cats. I call her my kitty, even though she doesn't live with me. She chose me as her human so when I'm at my parent's place, most of the time it's like nobody else exists to her. When I first moved out, it was hard on her. She's so cute and such a good cat.