Moving into March

I think this may be the most winter-y week we've had this winter. While we have not had any storms, it has stayed cold, and we've had flurries that did at any point turn into rain. Really we've been so spoiled, it seems like it has never stayed cold for more than a few days at a time until this week. Having all of these cold days in a row feels like a real hardship...and it hasn't even been all that cold compared to other years. I was looking over my posts from last March, and the amount of snow we had at this time last year was just crazy. Still, I'm ready for winter to be over.

I know we've probably still got a month of winter weather ahead, but this is the time of year when I really start to get sick of it. What also happens this time of year is that grapes start to look really good to me...

For some reason, grapes always taste extra good this time of year - probably because we've gone so long without in-season produce. And really good grapes just have a sun-shiney quality about them.

Anyway. On to business. My February goals? Well, I didn't do so well on the tracking. All I really wanted to do was track if I ate anything that contained wheat or dairy. And I started to, but I didn't stick with it.

So there I was, eating goat and sheep milk cheese, trying to fill the void left by the absense of my beloved Balderson 2 Year Old White Cheddar (Oh how I miss you!) and thinking I'm going to have to stay away from the non-cow's milk cheeses because I am getting  itchy patches...Then I gave it some thought and remembered those few little innocent cookies that husband brought home from Japan...and the bits of chocolate here and there...and oh, how about some popcorn with real butter? So I honestly don't know - which was the whole point of tracking, now wasn't it?


So, I guess that's going to have to carry forward as a goal to work on, and I'm probably going to  have to start all over again. But that won't happen right away, because my main March goal is to GO ON VACATION AND HAVE A FABULOUS TIME.

How's that for a goal?

Actually, this has taken up quite a bit of my February. But we've got things mostly figured out now. We have a house sitter to stay at the house while we're gone and take care of the Fabulous Felines.  We've got our itinerary and our reservations. I'm honestly too overwhelmed by everything that needs to get done to be excited at this point, but it will come.

February Workouts

Feb 01: Jackie Warner 30 Day Fast Start Lower Body & Abs + Treadmill Walk[45 mins]

Feb 05: Zumba @ Baila Fitness

Feb 06: Jackie Warner 30 Day Fast Start Upper Body + Treadmill Walk]40 mins]

Feb 07: Jackie Warner 30 Day Fast Start Lower Body & Abs[25 mins]

Feb 10: Crunch Fat Burning Yoga DVD[40 mins]

Feb 11: Jackie Warner Power Circuit Upper Body + 1 Heavy Set[20 mins]

Feb 12: Jackie Warner Power Circuit Lower Body[15 mins]

Feb 13: Zumba @ Baila Fitness

Feb 14: Zumba @ Baila Fitness

Feb 15: JW Xtreme Circuit[30 mins]

Feb 17: Zumba Toning @ Baila Fitness

Feb 20: Zumba @ Baila Fitness

Feb 21: Zumba @ Baila Fitness

Feb 23: Jackie Warner One On One Training - Upper & Lower Body[40 mins]

Feb 26: Jackie Warner Xtreme Circuit[30 mins]

Feb 27: Zumba @ Baila Fitness

Feb 28: Zumba @ Baila Fitness

 

Yep, so, a lot of Zumba and a lot of Jackie Warner DVD workouts. I have  not been on the  scale, but my upper arms look slimmer. I have no idea if I've magically stumbled onto the right workout formula, or if it's because of how I've been eating - most wheat & dairy was eliminated, I have been mainly vegetarian though I've had fish probably once a week. I would like to say I will keep it up, but once Husband is home from his travels the vegetarian with fish thing will be out the  window and I'm not sure I'll be able to get to Zumba as often. We shall see what happens I guess.

The Fabulous Felines say hello...

Frank is such an excellent model. He holds his pose perfectly, allowing me to take lovely portraits. Meanwhile, Zappa either jumps up and runs toward me as soon as he realizes I'm focused on him, or he looks goofy and/or wild. Also, he constantly rolls around on that rug leaving balls of fur all over the  place. But that's okay. I adore them both and the only thing I don't like about going on vacation is how bad I feel about leaving them behind. Enjoying lots of kitty snuggles now to make up for it!

February Goals

I meant to include some goals for February when I posted my January summary, but that didn't happen. As usual, I was trying to throw the post together at the last minute and so I forgot. Then Husband got home from Japan and I forgot again.

Better late than never though, and I'm keeping it brief:

Eat to feel good.
Enjoy regular exercise.
Track without judgement.

In November I experimented with cutting out wheat & dairy; my eczema cleared up and I actually lost a few pounds. Then while Husband and I were on vacation at the end of December I dove headfirst back into yummy cheese and baked goods. I've been trying to cut it out again now though, and trying to figure out exactly what I can and can't have. Which is what I want to track - it's not about counting calories right now.

Exercise, I just plan to keep on keeping on. My shoulder is feeling way better than it was in November, which is  great. Taking it easy with the strength training, making sure I stretch well, still enjoying Zumba classes when I can get to them.

Husband was home for week, and he had to leave again yesterday. :(

Yesterday started out warm and raining, then shortly before noon turned to snow which continued into the evening.

Frank seemed pretty convinced that he wanted to go out for a walk in the afternoon, but we didn't even make it down the driveway. It was actually warm (relatively speaking) but the snow was coming down pretty thick.

That's okay. There was fun to be had indoors.

I went out for groceries yesterday before the snow started. On a whim, I picked up a bunch of kale and finally got around to trying kale chips. Sadly, I can't show them to you...

I stood at the stove to taste them and see how they turned out and before I knew it half the pan was gone. The rest disappeared within the hour. Looking forward to more of those.

And tonight I made fish tacos. I've never had fish tacos anywhere, no idea how they are usually made, but I had haddock that I managed to perfectly pan fry, I had corn tortillas and guacamole. It was pretty awesome. I will be doing that again also.

If I keep this up, I will have all kinds of interesting new things to feed Husband when he gets home.

January

January 2012:
~ Lovely mild weather, very little snow. Just the way I like my winter
~ Three weeks of Husband's work saying: You have to go to Japan! Oh wait, we need  you here...But we need you in Japan! You go in two weeks! Well maybe...It seemed like a lot longer than it was. I like my routine. If my routine is going to change, I like a detailed plan. I won't say I was glad to see Husband leave, but I was glad we weren't waiting on a decision any longer.
~ A solo trip home to Nova Scotia...On the same day that Husband left for Japan. That was the biggest disappointment - the timing when they finally made the decision. But I still had a good visit with my family. One of my sisters was home visiting from out west, so I definitely wasn't going to miss the trip.
~ I am a little stressed about things going on at work. Well, more than a little. I am working very hard to distract myself and not dwell. It's nothing I can change, so I have to power through. Last weekend I sat down and rewatched the entire first season of Big Bang Theory on DVD. It makes me laugh. Laughing is good.

So is exercise, so without further ado...

January Workouts
Jan 03: Treadmill Walk[30 mins]
Jan 04: Crunch Yoga Body Sculpt[40 mins]
Jan 09: Treadmill Walk[45 mins]

Jan 11: Treadmill Walk[45 mins]

Jan 12: Treadmill Walk[25 mins]

Jan 14: Crunch Candlelight Yoga[40 mins]
Jan 16: Zumba @ BailaFit
Jan 17: Zumba @ BailaFit
Jan 19: Jackie Warner Fast Start Upper Body + Treadmill Walk[45 mins]
Jan 25: Zumba Circuit @ BailaFit

Jan 27: Ellen Barret Grace & Gusto DVD[45 mins]
Jan 28: Jackie Warner Fast Start Lower Body + Abs[25 mins]
Jan 30: Jackie Warmer Fast Start Upper Body + Treadmill[40 mins]
Jan 31: Zumba @ BailaFit

Other good stuff - His & Hers Anniversary gifts; apparently the 10th anniversary is the camera anniversary...

Our anniversary was actually December 31st...I got my gift a couple of weeks early - a 15-200mm lens for my Rebel T3i. Husband wanted a compact camera to take with him on his travels, and had it all picked out but we didn't manage to get our hands on one until Jan 13; not a moment too soon because a week later he was headed for Japan.

Alternate reality Fabulous Felines!

AKA, my parents cats. I just found it kind of funny that we have a matched set of grey tabbies and my parents have a matched set of orange & white.

The prettiest pooch ever!

I'm definitely a cat person, but I am rather fond of my sister's dog. Not only is she pretty, she is extremely polite and well behaved. My sister is awesome too and I was even more happy to see her. :)

And that was January. Bring on February.

Stormy Fridays

We have been having an extremely mild winter which is just the way I like it. We had one big snow storm in November, then nothing until last Friday when we had a storm. Then on Tuesday it warmed up to 8 degrees and all the snow was gone by Wednesday. Today we had another storm - started with snow, then ice pellets and freezing rain, and it's supposed to warm up enough to rain after that. Honestly, I don't think we could ask for a better winter.

Last Friday

I did work at home today; I didn't like the idea of having to drive home in freezing rain. I had planned to go to Zumba this evening, but I didn't want it badly enough to go out in the weather. I'm sure it wouldn't stop a lot of people, but I freely admit to being a wimp about winter driving.

I had kind of a bad day. I've been feeling a lot of negativity about work lately, and today was even worse. I won't go into that, it's not why I'm here. I'm here because by the end of the work day I really just wanted to sit in front of the TV and eat guacamole. But I talked myself into a treadmill walk. I was sitting by my desk, putting my sneakers on, feeling cranky and trying decide between TV or tunes. At which point I decided it was time for a change of strategy.

I had this new Ellen Barrett DVD sitting there. Ellen Barrett workouts always make me feel good. They require some concentration, even more so when it's a brand new workout. So off came the sneakers, and into the player went the DVD. The workout flew by. There was one shoulder stretch at the end that hurt in a way that tells me I should be doing it every day. And I feel better. Thank you Ellen.

On the subject of new workouts, I've tried two others so far this month.

My Jackie Warner collection is nowhere near as big as my Ellen Barrett collection yet, but I have four DVDs now and I like them all. This is the newest; I've only had a chance to try the upper body workout so far.

It went something like this:

Hey! I like Jackie's hair cut, it's really cute...Hmmm, she says 3 - 8 lb dumbbells so I'll go with 6 lbs...This is kind of fun, but I don't feel like it's doing anything...Wow, they get through those reps really fast...Oh! Ow! Where are my 3 lb weights?

And then, thankfully it was over.

It went really fast. It was doable, but challenging. Each segment is two exercises that you alternate between, doing a pyramid; so alternate between pushups and bicep curls (pushups were from the knees, then you come up to kneeling for the bicep curls), starting with 1 rep each, then adding a rep and repeating until you get up to 10. I found it really challenging to change positions and keep up with the pace on the DVD; I don't know whether to blame that on it being the first time with the workout, my bad shoulder, or my being a wimp. In any case, I did survive the experience and was sore in new spots the next day which makes me happy because I know I've hit some muscles I don't normally work.

Now I just have to survive the lower body workout.

And finally: Zumba Circuit! I didn't make it to the regular Zumba class on Monday or Tuesday. I've been avoiding the Circuit class because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do it with my bad shoulder.  I ended up having a lot of fun!

I tend to worry about new classes, I think I will be lost, I won't keep up, etc. The thing is, I've been doing this fitness thing for quite a while and since I like variety I've tried quite a few activities; maybe not so many live classes, but a lot of DVDs and a lot of different workout plans. That doesn't mean I can walk into a class and get everything right the first time, but it's usually nowhere near as bad as I think.

Zumba Circuit was fun. We did one song to warm up, then everybody ran to stations. There was a max of 3 people per station, and I ended up going around with 2 ladies who were also new, which was nice; sort of a 'we're in this together' vibe. Most of the stations were not anything new, except 2 that used TRX - that was kind of exciting as I've never had a chance to try TRX before. That was also the only thing that bothered my shoulder, so I guess I won't be signing up for TRX classes any time soon.

I enjoyed the class, I worked hard, I walked out feeling good. Note to self: get over this fear of new things! And fun workouts make you feel better!

Now. Did someone mention guacamole?

Back to Reality

Husband and I have had a lovely two week vacation, relaxing at home; sadly it's almost over. Back to work tomorrow! I'm glad we had the chance to goof off at home together for two weeks, as it's sounding like Husband will be heading back to Japan soon.  Anyone have any suggestions on what to see in Japan in late January - early February? We're looking at the possibility of my flying over to meet up with Husband when he finishes up this stint in Japan. Nothing definite yet, and it's probably not the best time of year to visit, but it seems like a good opportunity.

For the first part of vacation, I divided my time between some extra chores around the house that I'd been meaning to catch up on, and sitting around on my butt. Husband & I both came down with a bad cold that lasted through Christmas Eve to Boxing Day, and somehow after that I barely managed to do anything productive at all. Oh well, vacations are meant to be enjoyed.

December Workouts

06: Jackie Warner Power Circuit Upper Body + Treadmill walk/jog[35 mins]
07: Jackie Warner Power Circuit Lower Body + Treadmill walk[35 mins]
13: Jackie Warner Xtreme Circuit Training[30 mins]
14: Treadmill Walk[45 mins]
16: Ellen Barrret Pick Your Level Pilates[30 mins]
11: Jackie Warner Xtreme Circuit Training[30 mins]
13: Zumba @ Baila Fitness
14: Jackie Warner Power Circuit Upper & Lower Body[30 mins]
31: Jackie Warner Xtreme Circuit Training


Dec 31st was Husband & my 10th wedding anniversary. My anniversary gift from Husband is a new lens for my camera which was very exciting. I took a bunch of pictures to play with it. I would have posted some cute ones of the Fabulous Felines, but after I downloaded the photos, and deleted them from the card, I discovered that they are not in the folder where they were supposed to have been imported. I have no idea where they went and I suppose I've lost them. Sigh.

We are having absolutely fantastic weather so far. We did have snow that arrived just before Christmas, then melted right after Christmas. There have been a few cold days, but mostly it was pretty warm. When I checked the weather earlier today it was 8 degrees celcius (for those who don't speak celcius, google says that  it is 36 degrees Farenheit right now, and the weather page says 2 degrees celcius). For January in that Maritimes, that's downright balmy. I will enjoy it while it lasts because I'm sure it won't last that much longer.

Happy January everyone!

November Summary

During the month of November I:

- Lived the single life, as  Husband's stay in Japan was extended to 5 weeks
- Stacked 2 cord of firewood in the garage all by myself
- Hacked open a coconut all by myself (and ate it all by myself - I love coconut)
- Went to a live Zumba class - twice!
- Was mainly vegetarian, occaisionally pescatarian (had fish 4 times)
- Experimented with cutting out wheat  and dairy

The weather went from no snow, to 30 cm of snow in one day, and back to no snow within a week.

The workout list for the month:

Nov 02: Jackie Warner Xtreme Circuit DVD[30 minutes]
Nov 03: Walk[25 mins]
Nov 04: Walk[20 mins]
Nov 05: Yard Work
Nov 06: Stacking Wood
Nov 08: NROL Phase 2 Workout A
Nov 10: Gentle Hatha Yoga #1
Nov 11: NROL Phase 2 Workout B + Cardio Intervals
Nov 12: Stacking Wood
Nov 13: Stacking Wood
Nov 14: Treadmill walk/jog[25 mins]
Nov 16: Treadmill walk[45 mins]
Nov 17: NROL Phase 2 Workout A
Nov 21: Zumba @ Baila Fitness
Nov 22: Ellen Barrett Power Fusion DVD[45 mins]
Nov 23: Ellen Barrett Skinny Sculpt DVD[45 mins]
Nov 24: Ellen Barrett Barefoot Cardio DVD[45 mins]
Nov 28: Zumba @ Baila Fitness
Nov 30: Ellen Barrett  Power Fusion DVD[45 mins]


Being mainly vegetarian agreed with me. The conclusion on cutting out wheat and dairy is that it does indeed make a difference. I'm not sure what the optimum balance is at this point, and I suspect it  will be harder to stick to/play around with this once Husband comes home, but I hope I can be mindful; I hope I can pay attention to what I'm eating and how I'm feeling.

Speaking of Husband coming home...I only have two more nights of sleeping without ear plugs, 2 more days of blasting the 80's station on the car radio. Since it means I get my husband back, I'm okay with that. :)

First Snow Day of the Winter

Wednesday I woke up to radio announcers talking about snow fall warnings and school cancellations. When I looked out the window there wasn’t much to see but I decided better to be safe than sorry; I can work from home when I need to so why take chances?

Around 8:30 am the view looked like this:

By noon, snow was piling up.

By 4 pm I was extremely happy that I was safe at home.

Our driveway didn’t get plowed until almost 7pm. I did drive in to work on Thursday and  a lot of the roads were still pretty messy.

By Friday the weather was starting to warm up again. Yesterday was a beautiful day, nice and warm.

So we’ve now gone from this…

To this…

Which makes me happy. I’m not ready for winter to set in quite yet.

Had a lazy morning at home yesterday, then went out and did some shopping. Today puttered around the house, finally packing away the rest of my summer stuff and digging out the rest of my sweaters.

I had Spicy African Peanut Stew from the Peas and Thank You cook book cooking away all afternoon in the slow cooker.

It was quite tasty and I look forward to the leftovers that will feed me for the next couple of days.