Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Day 12

Okay, so almost at the 3 week mark and I'm feeling great. I have been sleeping well, my skin is nice and I've lost 3.5lbs. I'm really into the routine of it all now and I'm starting to change things up. Yes, I can only eat certain things, but I'm learning how to make them interesting, thanks to my friends on the Food Network (Michael Smith). Last night I made a burger and wrapped it in lettuce, it was so delicious! I'm allowed 5oz of cheese, so I melted it on top with mushrooms, divine. I have another one for lunch today, I'm a little bored with the salads but I have to eat them everyday, so dinner will be a salad with salmon on top. I love all the veggies though, no problems consuming them.

There were 2 cakes at work yesterday and I didnt even want them. I pretty much never eat cake anymore at work, we have them so often and its unecessary calories. Even before this cleanse I refused cake. I don't know what I'm going to do about my birthday, especially if I try to stick to the 5 sugar free days a week...

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Week #1-Complete

Well, I survived. It actually wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. The evenings are definitely the worst, when I'm used to snacking on whatever I want. I lost 2.5lbs and I feel pretty good. I did crash Wednesday night, for 3 hours I was very moody and I hated the diet and all the food and I just ended up going to bed early and renting a movie off iTunes. But I was fine the next day. I've learned how cheap and delicious things like yams, sweet potatoes (yes, two different things) and squash are. They don't even need anything except cinnamon for flavour, but I'd sure love it if I could have margarine. I'm allowed butter, but I don't have any because I dont like it. I was raised on margarine and its margarine I want. I have been tracking my calories on an application on my iTouch and I'm allowed up to 1,600 calories a day but I'm lucky if I get 1,000 and I only hit that because I eat pure almond butter everyday. I'm only allowed 2tblsp but its so delicious. I never have to eat peanut butter again, this is so much better tasting and better for you. It's my dessert every night now. Today is the first day of week 2 and I'm allowed one portion of grains or one portion of fruit a day. I already had mine, a piece of whole wheat rye bread with almond butter on it. Tomorrow I can have a cup of strawberries or raspberries or half an apple. It's Georgia's birthday, so when everyone is eating cake, I will have some fruit and plain yogurt. And I don't think I will even mind.

I didn't run at all (except for the short run on Sunday) but I did do some exercises and I'm hoping to run today or else start fresh again tomorrow. Next weekend is the long Easter weekend and I'm cooking dinner for my brother and our 92 year old Great Grandfather. It should be really fun and the only hard part will be dessert. I will have my almond butter and maybe raspberries and I think I will serve them chocolate cake. 3 more weeks and counting!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Day 4

Well, I'm on day 4 of the cleanse and I'm doing pretty good. I decided to start on Saturday, that way I will finish the program on a Friday and celebrate on a weekend (I won't binge). I had a splitting headache for the first day and a half (die-off) but since then I've been just fine. Now that I know I am ok with everything, I put in a second order for the rest of the supplies, which will arrive tomorrow.

I have never seen my fridge so full of food! Yogurt (plain), pellegrino and every veggie you can think of. It's crazy. I find my food very plain but then I discovered I can eat salsa. I eat it with my eggs (way better than ketchup) and with the meatballs I had last night. I love yams, they beat potatos any day! They are like a hidden treasure. Unfortunately, I get full a lot faster on this stuff and last night I couldnt even eat my yam and it was only 1/4 portion. Lunch is my favourite meal of the day because I make a gigantic salad of romain, spinach, and lots of different veggies including avocado and for a dressing I use freshly squeezed lemon juice. I usually put canned chicken, salmon or tuna on the salad-heaps! I bought 5oz cans of V8 (reduced sodium) and I usually hate V8 but at this size it was easy to chug. I eat almonds, pickles or celery with peanut butter on them as a snack and things are good. Dinner is usually chicken or pork chops with a portion of yam and lots of steamed veggies (broccoli, beans, mushrooms, carrots, etc).

I had cravings for cheese buns and cookies the first 3 days but none today. I drink so much water, 8-10 glasses a day and the biggest pain so far is that I have to pee every 10mins, its ridiculous! But oh well, it will be worth it in the end.

Monday, March 22, 2010

A different kind of run

Yesterday was a gorgeous spring day, so I decided to go for a run. I always run the same route, Galloping Goose in Colwood. It's a great path and there is even a place for me to park my car. Anway, I decided to go in a different direction than normal, since I'm not runing for time I didnt think it would matter to hit the lights that come with the other direction. So I took off down the hill and up ahead of me was a cop car, two cops and plenty of yellow tape. Uh-oh, I assumed some kids had gone joyriding and had crashed their car into the ditch. Not even close. The cop stopped me and said that they were doing an investigation in light of the recent event. I didn't know what he was talking about and when he asked "didn't you hear about it on the news?" I shook my head. I never watch the news, I always read it online and never on the weekends. Anyway, he told me they had found a body in the creek by the bridge and they didnt know if it was a suicide, natural causes or murder and wouldn't classify it until they got the coroner's results. At this, I stopped the clock on my NikePlus. He then asked me a bunch of questions such as "how often do you run here, when was the last time you ran across this bridge, have you noticed anything suspicious lately, etc." Of course the day I decide to run the bridge route! I told him I hadn't as I just started running again recently and always in the opposite direction of the bridge. He was really nice and took my information and then told me I could proceed across the bridge ( I saw on the other side there was another cop car and cops). I told him I would rather not and he smiled and said it was 'perfectly fine,' but it was anything but. I told him I would stick to my normal route (and find a new one ASAP). Anyway, needless to say I had a shitty run.

When I got home later that night, I called Jan to tell her and she freaked out because Colin said it was a 20 year old female (BS as the age has not been identified as anything but 'young'). She told me that from now on when I run, I should text them before and after. It sounds rather extreme to me and uneccessary as I always run in the day and there are plenty of people around. However, for the next little bit I will run closer to home.

I looked up the news online late last night and the papers are eager to call it a 'homicide.' I dont know if that is truth and the policeman didn't want to freak me out or if they are just assuming it. It was a young women's body but nothing more has been said.

This afternoon I went on facebook and noticed a Victoria friend of mine had joined a club about a missing girl. The date caught my eye because it was within the time period. I clicked on the link for more information and an 18 year old girl from Colwood has been missing since the 18th. I feel completely sick about it and I really, truly hope the body is not this girl. I guess in the end its someone's daughter or friend or sister. I hope they find whoever did it so the family can have some closure. I know a few girls through friends who are missing right now, it's so very sad.

*Update: The missing girl has been identified as the one I mentioned above. I removed her name so that I would not offend anyone. My deepest condolences to her family and friends.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Eliminating the sugar bug

For the past few months I have been working up the courage and mentality to attempt a ‘sugar cleanse.’ I eat (and enjoy) sugar as much as everyone, but it’s not the treats I am worried about. It’s the everyday processed sugars found in the food we eat, such as bread, pasta and condiments. Even fruit is loaded with sugar and I love fruit! However, I love my body more and it’s not happy with me. I’ve struggled with many personal health problems over the past year and I have confidence that this cleanse will cure a lot of these issues. So, starting Sunday, I will be killing the sugar bug. It’s called Candida and you can research it if you haven’t heard of it before. I’m not going to go into great detail on what it is, but to give you an overview; it’s going cold-turkey without sugar. Eventually the program works sugar back into your diet, but naturally (eg. a piece of fruit) and with the assistance of herbal supplements to help rid the body of the ‘sugar bug’ that lives inside of you. I am not an organic freak; I do not think sugar is bad, I just think my body is riddled with too much of it. For the next 4-6 weeks, I am going to use this blog to chronicle my journey/challenge in killing off my sugar bug. I think the first week will be the hardest but I am determined and I just feel like this will be really good for me. Wish me luck!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Vancouver Weekend #2


Another fun weekend in Vancouver! I took the 1pm ferry on Saturday and my nice brother came and picked me up. The weather wasn't great-it rained all weekend, but that's ok. Sean lives in Gastown, not far from the Olympic Torch and so I made him take my picture in front of it. The fence is really tacky but Sean said it used to be on the street but after complains they moved it closer to the flame.
Sean and I met up with Jyo and Harj in Surrey and some of Harj's cousins had dinner with us. It was fun and the Canucks won the hockey game-bonus. Afterwards Sean, Jyo, Harj and I went to a hotel beside Jyo's apartment and visited with Harj's best friend whose fiance works for the Paralympics. They had a nice room and we chatted until about 3am. Of course the boys were hungry so we took them to McDonalds. I absolutely hate that we lost an hour with the time change, so we didn't get to bed until after 4am.
On Sunday I went with Jyo to her hair and makeup consultation, as she is getting married at the end of July. She liked her hair but didn't like the makeup so she will go back for another consultation with a much more natural look. I think she looked gorgeous but she hardly wears any makeup and wanted to keep it norm. Jyo's parents arrived in town and us ladies went fabric shopping and we looked at Saris for me (for the reception). We didn't find one but we did find material for the bridesmaid saris. It's a really pretty gold. Jyo's wedding dress is amazing, she is going to look fantastic. We went to her aunt's house for yummy Indian food and I got to visit with her aunts, cousins and grandma. I have known her grandma as long as I have known Jyo, she is so sweet and 92 years old although she looks 70. We had a good time and Jyo's youngest brother Rajeev came back with me on the 9pm ferry. I dropped him off and got home around midnight. Another late night (I feel old) but totally worth it.
I'm glad we got so much wedding stuff done and Jyo answered my bazillion questions so I feel like I know what is going on now. I also got to meet the majority of the wedding party. There are 300 people coming from as far away as India and Australia, so I'm really excited.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Vancouver Weekend #1

I went to Vancouver this weekend to spend time with my cousin Megan. She lives in Kitsilano, one block from the beach and maybe 3 blocks from some incredible shopping. She has a Safeway just up the road, along with a Cobbs and a Shoppers Drug Mart. If I lived in that area, I would never have money. Sean was supposed to hang out with us, but when I was boarding the ferry Saturday morning, he sent me a text stating that he was at the airport going away for a job and that he hoped we would have fun. I replied asking him where he was going and what he was doing but I never heard back from him. It is now four days later and I still have not heard back from him. This is not unusual for Sean, but I can’t help but worry about my brother. I assume he is in an area with no cell reception, probably in a remote oil field in Alberta. What a stinker.

But Meg and I had a great time. We did so much shopping (I’m scared to get my VISA bill) but I finally got some new jeans and a coat. The weather on Saturday was gorgeous, so we walked from her house to Granville Island and wandered around. Then we took a ferry (see pic) to Yaletown and shopped around and then had drinks on the roof of the Keg. We went out for dinner later that night and we did more shopping on Sunday. It was a lot of fun and so nice to get out of Victoria for a weekend and I got to see the remains of all the Olympic celebration sites. Meg is now on her way to Portugal for a friend’s wedding, so I’m trying not to be jealous. Meg’s husband Mike (a pilot for Air Canada) was out of town all weekend, so we had the house to ourselves. They haven’t lived in it very long and they are renovating it bit by bit but it’s a very nice condo and they’ve done a great job with it so far. I absolutely loved my room, it was bright and the bed was super comfy.

It sucked to come home, but I plan on going back to Vancouver next weekend to see Jyo, so there will be another fun weekend. I went for a run yesterday afternoon and about halfway through it started to hail. It was very cold, so I’m not surprised. By the time I got back to my car, my hands were blocks of ice. By the time I got back to my house, the hail had turned into giant snowflakes! They didn’t stay but it was very odd weather. I can’t help but remember that it snowed on Jamie’s birthday last year (as I was leading groups of girls on a scavenger hunt outside for her birthday party), but it was much worse then, as the snow actually stayed. I remember I had to put 2 dozen 9 year-old girls’ socks in the dryer once we went back inside for cake. Of course no one thought to dress for snow! Anyway, it was a fun weekend and I hope to visit her again soon. In fact, Janice and I are planning to go to Vancouver to visit Meg one weekend in May, so that will be a crazy fun time.

Friday, March 05, 2010

Starting over yet again

Okay, it really sucks to start running again. Everytime I stop, I kick myself because I know how hard it will be to start again. It doesnt matter how good of a runner you were before, starting after 4 months off really kills a person.

I had my first run in a long time on Sunday. I only ran 3k and I was breathing heavy. Pretty disappointing. I ran again on Wednesday, which was a horrible run filled with cramps. I figured that I was starting off too fast. My pace was 5'30 and that is ridiculous for a beginner! So I slowed down to 6'00 and that was difficult too. I couldn't find a steady pace. One second I was running 6'40, the next 5'30, but finally I managed to get into a good 6'00 pace. And it was a good run. I'm almost up to running 5k, hopefully this weekend I can manage it. By the end of next week, I should be fine running 5k. I'm not too worried about my pace right now, I just need to get comfortable running again. The pace will improve eventually.

This weekend I am going to Vancouver to spend the weekend with my cousin and great friend Megan. She's been running her whole life and can hold a conversation with you while she runs a marathon-she's that good! Anyway, she's promised to do a short run with me this weekend and we will probably meet up with Sean at some point. I really need to get out of Victoria for the weekend, it is so boring in this city, no one ever wants to do anything but stay at home. I'll try to remember to take pictures and then maybe post a blog about our weekend. Her husband is out of town, so we may get a little crazy!

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Calvin & Hobbes

Some of my favourites...

















Thanks Bill Watterson!