2016 - Day 7

Bad news first: I ate more than I should have today.

It started with a hungry morning, meaning I consumed my homemade, sort of healthy cookies before lunch. (They have some butter and sugar in them, but whole wheat flour and then a whole bunch of good stuff like pumpkin, sunflower and poppy seeds, flax, chia, dates, etc.) Then my healthy lunch plans were derailed when my fave little place was out of baked fish, but did have shepherd's pie front and centre. (Note to self: Work on If/Then!!)

These two things would have been fine, but I had forgotten that it was Tasty Thursday at work. I've been very good lately at not eating Tasty Thursday stuff just because it's there. However, today was really good stuff and I did not try hard to fight it. I had two different cookies. However, they were both AMAZING! So I'm not beating myself up. I did ignore the enormous box of Timbits that my team was sharing today. Every time I looked at them, I tried to think about how they're made in a factory. That helped.

Finally, I came home to awesome homemade pizza and ate a bit more than I should have, because of news coming later in this note.

Good news next: I made a plan for an evening gym class and I did it!

It's the endurance weight training class that I used to do twice a week in my healthy years. I really like it, despite the fact that I did it a week and a half ago and could barely walk for a couple of days. THIS is why I ate some extra pizza. My intention to come home and make a big salad to go with a small slice of pizza was forgotten when I got home late and hungry.

Now I'm feeling a wee bit old and broken because of the class, but trying to see this as a good thing. Finishing this post and hitting the hay ASAP.

Oh, and planning ahead: Physio appointment near my favourite cookie in the whole city tomorrow, but I will NOT BUY A COOKIE! You read it here. No cookie.

Stats
Exercise: 4/7 (Tomorrow I will rest!)
10, 000 steps: 4/7
Food tracking: 3/7 (Tracked, even though I ate a bit too much.)
Knee exercises: 2/7 (Physiotherapist will give me stink eye tomorrow.)
Flossing: 6/7 

2016 - Day 6

I got into the groove today!

Totally feeling it.

My gym visit today involved another Sh'Bam class, with the same totally insane teacher, and I loved every minute. I am not ashamed to admit that I sang my heart out — while dancing awkwardly — to the following tunes:

Shake it Off
I Wanna Dance with Somebody
Time of My Life (the one from Dirty Dancing)

The last song, which was the pinnacle of the class, also involved twirling and leaping. Awesome. (Although, I watched myself in the mirror and wondered how on earth I ever earned money doing jobs that involved dancing. I must be a better singer than I thought!)

Stats
Exercise: 3/6
10, 000 steps: 3/6
Food tracking: 2/6
Knee exercises: 2/6 (BOO! Why can't I make this a priority?)
Flossing: 5/6 (Crissy! I totally forgot to do this yesterday! Thanks for the reminder!)

Totally going to look in If/Then planning, as per my awesome accountability partner. So much good support!


Me at Sh'Bam. Obvs.

2016 - Day 5

There was a moment this morning when I was faced with a decision.

I was ten steps out the door when I realized that I had forgotten to put my Fitbit back on after my shower. Not only does my Fitbit count my steps, but I also use the accompanying app to log my food. And, based on how many steps I take, my food "allowance" changes, which helps me keep my calories at the right level for the day.

It's a great tool and I find it helps me stay on track.

So, did I turn back?

Sadly, no.

But why? I was still so close!

Alas, I had two small, snowsuited people holding my hands. They were cranky, because Tuesdays seem to always be harder than Mondays in my house. My partner/husband/co-parent was also in attendance, so I could have briefly abandoned the entire family on the sidewalk to dash back, but I was afraid to upset the delicate bit of forward momentum that we had captured.

Things got off-track pretty quickly. Not because I wasn't wearing my Fitbit, but because I have a terrible ALL OR NOTHING mindset. Either I am totally in it to win it or I am eating the chocolate chip banana bread with maple glaze that my new team member brought in. Before 10AM!

So, food wise: Thumb's down. BUT I did get to the gym for a workout, even though I was in a meeting until 12:40pm. So that's a thumb's up.

How do I snap out of that mindset?

2016- Day 4

I was pretty determined that I would dive into my 2016 healthy habits immediately, but - of course - I spent the weekend at various fun events eating all the things and didn't come CLOSE to my step count or any actual exercise. Alas!

However, I forgot to mention the ONE thing I intend to do every single day this year: floss. Happy to report that I'm 4 for 4 already :-)

Other stats:
Exercise: 1/4 (excellent class at the gym today)
10, 000 steps: 1/4
Tracking my food: 1/4
Flossing: 4/4!!

A happy side effect of tracking my food and aiming to eat healthier is that I drink the free coffee at work way more often rather than spending $7 at Starbucks on a latte and a treat. Bonus!

2016 - Day 1

Okay, okay, okay. Obviously December was a write-off. In so many ways. But I've been looking forward to today for a week and a half, totally ready to get back on track.

And it started so well! I weighed myself (oof!) and tracked my food (yay!). I was making smart food choices, feeling good. In all honesty, I had been gorging myself on every sweet thing in the house for a week, so I was pretty over it all.

But then, as I was prepping dinner, after having to tell my eldest child not to scream in her sister's face for the 1,254 time today, a vision appeared at the back of the fridge. A big chunk of Nanaimo bar that I'd forgotten about.

There's no story here. I caved.

BUT overall, I ate about three tons LESS food today than I have been, so that's a step in the right direction.

And I'm feeling very positive about this new year, wanting to not only track my progress weekly, but also monthly. I want to set some actual weight loss goals to hit each month. Like, 4 pounds a month. That is totally achievable. And since I don't need or want to lose 48 pounds in total, I can just start with the first half of the year and then work on maintaining in the second half.

A couple other goals:
- Commit to one evening workout class each week. I think this will be Thursday evening Body Pump. I did a Body Pump class the other day for the first time in ages and I loved it. It's true that I could barely move for two days afterward and there was no comfortable resting position for my biceps, but that will go away quickly enough.
- Less social media time. Period.
- More time talking to or watching something with my lovely husband.
- More interactive, positive, playful parenting. Less repeatedly (and uselessly) telling them not to do something from across the room.
- Create something.

Here we go.

Not Quite Better Than Before...

Here's how my past week played out:

Huge container of Christmas cookies
+ Crazy, intense work deadlines
+ Prep to host 5th birthday party in my home
+ Christmas gift buying
+ Christmas tree decorating
+ Birthday party that included 7 other 5 year olds
+ Gymnastics/dance lessons
+ Letters to Santa
- Gym visits
- Full food tracking
+ Weird stomach bug
= A not very good week for creating new habits.

Seriously. However, I'm not giving myself a failing grade, because I did manage to stay really on track food wise from Monday through Thursday, between the hours of 6AM and 6PM. Not perfect, but still quite good, considering all of the things.

Things slid seriously downhill on Friday, which was a "vacation" day for me. I used it to never sit down once and clean the whole house from top to bottom so that the kids could trash it the next day. Since I never sat down - and felt slightly sorry for myself that I couldn't do so - I pretty much grabbed any food within reach that looked yummy and could be eaten while vacuuming.

On party day, there were chips and cake and the like. You understand.

And Sunday, before the stomach bug knocked me over at the end of the day, I was not yet ready to get back on the healthy eating road. And so I didn't.

Today, tummy bug. Ate plain, starchy things for most of the day. Started to feel better, so then I ate the yummy stuff.

Tomorrow I am hoping to tiptoe back to the healthy habits. However, I have not figured out dinner, since I'll be running from work to a gymnastics show. Plus, we get our "Christmas Boxes" tomorrow at work. It's my first year and it's a big deal, apparently. I've heard popcorn is involved. If that popcorn is covered in a caramel-type substance, I can't make any promises. And then Wednesday is my daughter's ACTUAL birthday and she has requested hotdogs and French fries for dinner. Plus cupcakes.

I'm trying!!

Better Than Before - Day Fourteen

WHY DID I THINK GOING TO AN EVENT CALLED COOKIES AND COCOA WOULD BE OKAY!?

Cookie exchange. Roughly 10 different, delicious treats to sample. Plus homemade ice cream. Plus I brought home a huge tupperware full of treats.

Let me state the obvious - I don't feel well!

BUT - I will say that I made sure to have my raw veggies for a morning snack, a big healthy salad for lunch AND then turned our taco dinner into a taco salad for me. So even though I know very well that I didn't entirely balance out my serious indulgences, at least I kept some of the healthy habits going.

Better than Before - Day Twelve and Thirteen

Okay, quick post because it's late, I'm tired, and my to-do list for the night is not yet done.

Friday - Did great food-wise all day at work, despite sudden overwhelming pile of work. Motivation was helped by the fact that the scale rewarded me with a good, positive number first thing in the morning.

Things deteriorated a bit once I got home. Basically I stopped tracking what I was eating, baked two holiday items with the girlies, and then sampled said holiday items. Sigh.

Saturday - I packed too much into this day. Swimming/gymnastics lessons first thing, followed by a super quick turnaround time to go to a moms and kids holiday party. (Side note: Why are there never dads and kids parties? My oldest asked me that today. I feel it is a brilliant idea.) Potluck-type parties are a weakness of mine, because my favourite thing is to eat small amounts of a large variety of things. So any virtuous thoughts I had going into the party quickly flew out of my brain.

Dropped the kids back at home early afternoon, so I could turn around and run a couple of errands on my own. (This is when I realized I needed some water. The sugar from the party was giving me a headache!) Came home for about 1.5 hours (various household chores) and then the girls and I went to hang with my bestie and her daughter while Jamie grocery shopped. Then home for dinner (and wine!) followed by bedtime routines, more baking (for tomorrow's event), kitchen clean-up and then two hours of work, to give me a head start on the insanity of next week. And while I did my work, I ate the last piece of chocolate mousse cake from the fridge. It was a pity treat.

No tracking, no exercise, lots of sugar (including some eaten furtively, without enjoyment or other people present). Weekends - particularly during the holiday season - are going to be tough.

Better Than Before - Day Eleven

Good story from my morning: After a rough night (My children have night terrors. They are not as bad as some of the ones I've read about, but they are as awful as we've experienced, so they feel pretty craptastic.) and a rough morning routine (We woke up late - we were all tired from aforementioned night terrors - and I was stress-y, yell-y mommy, trying to get everyone to MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!), I started my day downtown at an appointment with a physiotherapist that I trust, to get a second opinion on my knee issues and put a plan in motion to fix me up before I fall apart. To get there, I had to get off the streetcar beside the French bakery that makes my favourite cookie in the entire city. I contemplated going off plan and enjoying the gooey greatness. The scales were tipping in favour of the cookie, but then I remembered my rule to not scarf down treats all alone, in secret. That treats should be enjoyed with people I enjoy.

AND I RESISTED! Cue the trumpets. Throw the confetti.

But, a small confession. While we were waiting for our pizza to be delivered (a veggie pizza that I totally accounted for in my food log), I grabbed the very last of my homemade oatmeal cookies and snuck away from my children to eat it. I didn't even remember the rule! Two steps forward, two steps back, and all that...

As usually happens this time of year, I am suddenly very BUSY! Lots of happy, good stuff busy and then an absolute avalanche of work stuff busy. I'm feeling sort of overwhelmed, which is normal for me when I'm at the bottom of the mountain of stuff to do. I'm going to set the alarm for tomorrow, go to work early, and start climbing the mountain, so I feel better.

Sad truth - the gym isn't happening at the moment. There simply aren't enough hours in the day. But I did make my 10,000 steps. And tonight I will do my new and improved knee exercises.

Better Than Before - Day Ten

It is 9PM and the littlest child has been in her bedroom, but crazy chatty, for more than an hour! Mama is TI-RED!

After a slight lull at work, my to-do list has exploded. My planned lunchtime workout did not happen. But my eating was totally on-track, with plenty of healthy snacks consumed. I also got off the bus early, to fit in extra steps, but my FitBit has yet to vibrate, so I'm not quite at 10,000 yet.

My evening plan for post dinner/playtime/bedtime/kitchen cleaning was supposed to be some sort of workout here at home, followed by more work. Usually the children are asleep by 8, but since we've only just reached that point in the evening a whole hour later, I cannot bring myself to do the workout OR - to be honest - the work! Probably better to get to bed soon and wind down, so I can get a good sleep in and be fresh tomorrow.

Interesting note on the food front. I have been really good about eating really healthy, whole foods, so I haven't really been hungry. I've WANTED to eat, but not out of hunger, just out of habit. But tonight we had pasta with homemade spaghetti sauce for dinner and I only had white pasta in the house. Well, I'm totally hungry! The white pasta is so empty! Good thing to learn.

Better Than Before - Day Nine

Major fail with my sleeping goals last night. I stayed up way too late. Do you know that weird feeling when you just can't stop looking at the Internet? Like, nothing is interesting and you're tired, but you feel compelled to just keep looking? That was me. And then, because they have radar for this sort of thing, June decided to crawl into bed with us at 3AM. I don't fight it when our kids want to be in our bed, but with Violet we can just play musical beds and one of us can take over her single bed. Because our queen is not big enough for both of us and a kid. But June is still in a converted crib, so there's no switch to be had. Last night reminded me that this little girl needs a big bed pronto!

Felt super back on track this morning and packed up my healthy snacks to face the day. Slung my gym bag over my shoulder with all sorts of lunchtime workout resolutions. BUT, I had totally forgotten that we'd planned a team lunch today to celebrate a birthday. So instead of the gym, we went for delicious Middle Eastern food.

I studied the menu carefully and chose a fatoush salad with falafel. I knew the deep fried balls were not going to look good on my food log, but I also knew that the majority of my lunch was veggies and I was legitimately enjoying a meal out with lovely people. And man, it was SO good. I also had half a pita and was super sparing with the tahini. Seriously, I'm still thinking about all the yumminess.

I entered everything into my food log on my Fitbit and - lo and behold - I was all out of calories FOR THE DAY! It was 1:30PM. So I made an alternate plan. I asked my husband to get the kiddos and I went to an evening gym class! A step class which was very high energy and I burned a bunch of calories. Yay me!! (My knee is a little unhappy, but I'm icing it as I type.)

Sometimes, when I'm away from it for too long, I forget that I actually really love high intensity exercise. The adrenaline rush and the feeling of accomplishment when it's all done really works for me.

So, home to a healthy dinner here. I have yet to enter those calories - and I may not have earned enough to counteract them, but I'm still calling it a win. My teeth are also brushed, so I can't have any of the treats in the house. (We have good treats right now...)

Better Than Before - Day Seven and Eight

I think I let the wagon roll too far ahead. I'm having trouble jumping back on!

A busy day of mom-ing, including dance class attendance, laundry, cleaning, playing, getting one kid's hair cut, buying the same kid new boots and shoes, buying the other kid birthday party supplies, wrangling both kids solo on busy city streets after they'd each consumed a lollipop and got the sugar crazies, watching "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas," making dinner, cleaning up after dinner, and listening to my two year old have exactly 1000 ear-piercing tantrums. My resolve to get back on track started strong and then went downhill quickly. Many yummy things were eaten. Too many. And so, in my all-or-nothing sort of brain, I went ahead and ate some more.

Listen, I cannot have baked goods in my house. This is not news to me, but it's one of those lessons I have to learn over and over (and over) again. It's one of the lessons that I can't seem to learn and that makes me crazy.

But today was a new day, right!? A new day that started with a three hour meeting that involved snacks... Oh, but I was good. For the first 2.5 hours, I was good. I had a single piece of cheese (because everyone was raving about the cheese) and a bunch of fruit. Then I had my veggies I had brought with me. And then, when noon was looming and it looked doubtful we were going to wrap up on time, I had a small, factory-made croissant. It was the lesser empty calorie bomb of the baked goods present - I checked the label - but it was my gateway drug.

Noon arrived, meeting adjourned, my planned gym visit got pushed, because I had actual work to do before my NEXT meeting. And I didn't even get out to run errands (AKA get my steps in) or pick up some healthy snacks. So I got hit with the afternoon hunger and consumed even more bad-for-me stuff that was close by. A big ol' X for me today.

As previously mentioned, I need to more clearly define the habits I want to make, in order to succeed in this endeavour. Therefore:

ACTIVITY

1. I will walk at least 10,000 steps a day. (Last week I averaged 12,658 per day, so this should be an easy win most days.)

2. I  will work out at the gym four times a week.

FOOD

1. I  will track ALL my food, every day, even on the days that I know I'm eating more calories than I'm burning.

2. I will avoid sugar and white flour 90% of the time, only indulging for truly amazing things that are part of a shared event. No eating these items alone in my cubicle.

HEALTH

1. I will get at least seven hours of sleep each night.

2. I will do my knee exercises every day.

3. I will drink 64 oz of water every day.

Okay, that list feels daunting. But doable. I want to create these healthy habits and stick with them! Bring on tomorrow!

Better Than Before - Day Five and Six

I missed blogging last night, but for a good reason! I overcame a mental hurdle and did an evening gym outing for a Zumba class. Since so few locations have 7:30 classes on Friday nights, I ended up at Dufferin and Finch (!!!) at this weird, mega, 24-hour Goodlife that was SO busy. Seriously. I have never seen a gym so enormous and it was hopping on a Friday evening. Even crazier was that the Zumba class had, like, 40 people in it and this total party atmosphere. Clearly plenty of regulars and a truly diverse group of people, including several men.

Shortly after the class started, I noticed the guy behind me was wearing a mock turtleneck, dress pants and jazz shoes! Mysterious! So I started to give him a backstory, which was some serious multitasking as I tried to keep up with all the shaking and shimmying. I imagined he was in the corps of the National Ballet, but they said he was too stiff, so he was taking the class to loosen up. And that he travelled all the way up north so he wouldn't run into any of his fellow dancers. Later in the class, after I'd had to trek way across the club and down a level (Hey, look! A pool!) for a bathroom break, he ended up in front of me and it was clear he knew what was what with the latin stuff. So then I decided he was a professional ballroom dancer who had been banned from competition after a forbidden affair with a "straight" dancer from his arch rival team. And he was hitting up a Zumba class as a way to get his sad groove on. Either way, he had really amazing posture and could do that swoopy latin arm thing like nobody's business.

Okay! But this is about habits! My habits! Focus!

Yesterday took a potentially bad turn, but ended up good. Steps were easy to get in, because I was home with June, who needed to go to the doctor and we were on transit. So lots of walking. Plus the Zumba class. Food overall ended up good - like my Fitbit told me I was at the right calories in/calories out level. BUT I did eat sugar. I baked. And I ate batter while I baked and then had a cookie at the end. But I accounted for all it, so a win in the end.

Today was a crazy day, starting with a party at 8AM. Read that part again. Ridiculous, right? But worth the very early start to the day, because it was my company's kids carnival party and hardly anyone else was dumb enough to get up that early, so it was like being at a carnival with no lines for anything. Awesome! Since that was all done by 10AM, we hit up the Swedish festival at Harbourfront, since Violet and I just finished reading Pippi Lockstocking last week. This was very busy, but fun, and we got to watch the original Pippi movie.

But, all this off-schedule insanity means that I tracked nothing, ate several treats and generally just hopped off the wagon and let it roll away. And then, because I grocery shopped very late in the day and did not want to make dinner and couldn't get a fresh pre-made pizza at the grocery store, we had frozen pizza for dinner. I can't remember the last time I made a frozen pizza, because I think they're kind of yucky. And this one definitely had a yuck factor. Also a yum factor, but the guilt pushed it further into yuck. I did, however, make us all side salads.

Back to things tomorrow. I feel really good about my progress this week and I do not want to let it all slip away. Also, I want to better define exactly what habits I'd like to make. Stay tuned!

Oh, and C - I keep trying to make comments on YOUR blog, but then Wordpress wants me to sign in and things get messy with passwords and then my comment disappears... This is a small glitch, but sort of insurmountable in my brain right now. I will try again tomorrow. But I AM reading!!

Better Than Before - Day Four

Egads. As suspected from our very late night out last night, my darling children were CHA-LLENG-ING today. So a rough morning led me to thinking about treats, instantly. Any other day, I would have been lining up at Starbucks for a big latte and a piece of lemon loaf. Or coffee cake. Or a chocolate croissant...

Side note: Although I have managed to eliminate many "fast foods" from my diet, like I haven't been to McDonalds in more than a decade (my kids had no idea who Ronald McDonald was in the Santa Claus Parade) and I have maybe three cans of pop a year, I will still eat factory-made baked goods. Why is that? I can't figure it out.

Anyway, I sidestepped the temptation and got to work. Had a very good day of eating until it was time for Tasty Thursday. This is a weekly tradition at work, where we all take turns bringing in yummy stuff. I told myself that I wasn't going to miss out entirely, but that I should assess the quality of the offerings before making a decision. Well, the store bought croissants were easy to ignore, which left me with baclava or homemade brownie with icing. That brownie was CALLING my name! So I cut off a very small piece. Like 1/4 of what I'd normally take. And then I made myself a cup of coffee, sat down at my desk and enjoyed it. It was good. Not fantastic, but I knew I had the calories within my budget for the day, so that was fine.

Got all my steps in, but no workout today. Used my lunch to go and buy another sports bra. Still have a bunch of calories to use up tonight, since we just had soup for dinner, so I am going to make myself a yummy fruit smoothie with almond milk. I feel like I have to amend my rule about not eating after dinner, because as long as I'm tracking calories and not going over, it should be okay. Years ago, doing ye old Weight Watchers, I ate frozen yogurt every single night (within my points range) and managed to lose a whole bunch of weight. So there.

Better Than Before - Day Three

Okay, quick post because we were out all evening with the kiddos and I am TIRED. So here's the fastest recap that my naturally chatty nature can handle.

Killed my 10,000 steps before I even had lunch! That's because I did this cheesy fun dance-based workout class called... wait for it... Sh'Bam! It was silly. They played Lady Marmalade. We were supposed to pretend to be sexy. Enough said.

Had a very good eating day, but not as perfect as my last two. That's because some sugar/white flour was consumed. At first it was totally unintentional. I did my very best to pick only the healthiest options at my salad bar lunch spot, bypassing the ridiculously delicious noodles that I love, but the little scoop of curried chickpea salad tasted on the sweet side... And so did the two little falafals I had. But, not so bad, right? Well, then we went to see Rudolph onstage tonight. (The reindeer, don't ya know.) My girls and husband split a cookie before the show. None for me! But then they split an ice cream bar at intermission and I had a teeny bite. Truly, very small. So I was still feeling good!

HOWEVER, when we got home, I saw from my Fitbit calorie counter that my calories were low for the day. So even though I wasn't HUNGRY and I'm trying not to eat after dinner, I had a slice of this yummy whole wheat bread with pumpkin seeds (flour and sugar, for sure) with peanut butter (natural stuff, so no sugar there). That JUST happened. I don't feel bad about the calories, but I do feel bad that I did it even though I didn't feel hungry...

Anyway, I also drank all my water and made it to 7 hours of sleep last night. So pretty damn good overall.

Better Than Before - Day Two

I am going to make some sort of contraption, so I can high five myself and my accountability partner because I had such a great day! And she is doing so well! And she emailed Gretchen!

I have not eaten any added sugar (fruit is a-okay) or any white flour in TWO DAYS! Friends, I am a major sugar junkie, so this is big news. Also, I'm maxing out all the features on my Fitbit. Hence I hit my 10,000 steps today, helped by the fact that I had to go back home TWICE while trying to get my girls to school/daycare, because I forgot money/tokens and then my work computer. I also did a yoga class at lunch and then got off my bus early and walked an extra three blocks to get home. Take THAT!

I've also been using the food tracking/calorie counter on my Fitbit and stayed within my happy range these past two days. (My teeth are brushed, so nothing more tonight!) Woohoo! We had taco night tonight, but instead of having tortillas, I put all my fixings on a big salad. Which is not a sacrifice, because it's crazy yummy. My body has that light, contented feeling rather than bloated, yucky, worn down blahness.

I also drank 64oz of water each day. Woohoo!

Sadly, I went to bed super late last night. And my pre-bedtime time was spent looking at bad-for-me screens playing super dumb games on my iPhone. Boo! So my sleep tracker tells me I did not even hit 6 hours, which is really not good.

Hitting the hay with a book early tonight. Have to think ahead about tomorrow night, because we have an unexpected windfall of free tix for the fam to see a show. On a school night. Could be a really awful idea...

One more thing - even thought I have episode 7 of "Master of None" paused in front of me, waiting to start. I had a rough start to the day - see above about having to turn back twice. And later in the day I forgot my ATM card in a machine and it got cancelled. Normally I would have let those annoyances lead me down the path of treats, treats and more treats. But it didn't even cross my mind. Because I'm on this train, strapped in, ready to drive!

Better Than Before - Day One

Okay, this blog has been dormant for ages. Like, literally years. However, I'm reviving it for a very specific reason (and likely not publicizing its resuscitation). I want to have a spot to touch base every day regarding my Better Than Before goals that I'm working on with this awesome pal.

Anyway, on to the meat of this post. Namely, how my day went.

I didn't eat any added sugar! (Woohoo!) Even though there were brownies in the house. With salted caramel. I put them in a cupboard and ignored them while I worked from home. Take that, brownies!

Also despite working from home, I'm currently at about 9,500 steps, thanks to a mid-afternoon walk I snuck in. And I wasn't wearing my Fitbit when I walked the girls to school this morning, so I'm going to say I made it to 10,000. (Woohoo!)

I did not, however, do any sort of formal workout. (Boo!) Will pack my gym bag for tomorrow.

Also, I have not done my knee exercises yet. (I am 40 and falling apart.) I'm going to go and do those as soon as I post this.

I also met my sleep goal last night, clocking in at more than 7 hours! (Woohoo!) This was made possible by the fact that we all inadvertently slept in this morning.

And that's that! Blog resurrected!

PS. I'm calling it day one, because I can. Last week was practise.

10 Months

Planning ahead

During our outing to the Riverdale Art Walk this past weekend, I couldn't resist buying a couple of gorgeous little dresses for Viv. Normally I find the prices from independent vendors a little too steep for our budget, but these ones were both on sale for less than half-price!



They're not going to fit her for quite awhile, but she's going to be damn cute (and chic!) when they do!

36 random things about me at 36

Happy birthday to me!



1. I’ve learned all the words to 6418* songs.

2. I’ve come to terms with the fact that long hair does not suit me. But it can't be too short, either.

3. I fulfilled my dream of being paid to sing onstage.

4. I had the good sense to realize that being paid to sing onstage was no longer my dream.

5. I fulfilled my dream of working on a fashion magazine.

6. I had the good sense to realize that I didn’t enjoy trying to keep up with the fashion magazine crowd. (Rarely wore the latest trend/had nice nails/liked after-hours events. The swag, however, was pretty awesome.)

7. I realized there are other magazines out there.

8. I recognize the value of weight training and actually quite enjoy it.

9. I’ve given up on finding high heels that don’t make me want to cut off my own feet after 30 minutes. (Not that I’ll never wear them! Just that I’ll likely complain to the Husband about them the entire time.)

10. I can own the fact that pineapple is my favourite pizza topping.

11. I’m totally proud to have a song on iTunes.

12. I’ve accepted that a well-fitting bra costs (a lot) more than $19.99 and can make more of a difference than a ten-pound weight loss. Also that I need a professional to help me find it.

13. I’m never going to be a great housekeeper or a handy person. That’s okay. I’ve got other things to do, anyway. (I can, however, tidy and organize like a mofo!)

14. I love the following feelings: putting warm boots on after skating or skiing, drinking cold water after having a mint, being enveloped in a hug by the Husband, and putting my cheek on Vivi’s warm head.

15. My biggest challenge in life is inertia. Momentum is my friend.

16. I love to cook and bake, but I need the roadmap of a recipe. Although I'm getting better at taking some detours.

17. I do best with schedules and routines. Sometimes I really suck at going with the flow. Obviously this is a bigger problem now that there is a child in the mix.

18. I would rather be up early than stay up late.

19. My chocolate chip cookies are the best.

20. I keep thinking I should make a bucket list and then cultivate a plan to cross some items off of it. (See #15.)

21. I used to force myself to finish every book I started and read every magazine from cover to cover. I’m over that now.

22. I am too easily swayed by other people’s opinions. Always have been. Still working on that.

23. I miss blogging regularly.

24. If there were parallel universes, I would also pursue the following careers: photographer, shop owner (stationary store/bakery), broadcast journalist, television producer, bon vivant.

25. I’d like to stop caring so much about the unchangeable “unattractive” (according to the media) parts of my body, such as having short, wide nail beds and translucent skin that shows every little vein and pore. How do I do that?

26. I love, love, love buying art. And since discovering Etsy and the million other awesome websites that sell original art, I can’t imagine ever purchasing art from a chain store again.

27. I’m currently suffering from my first true health issue that gets in the way of doing everything I want to do. It’s stupid foot pain that may or may not be plantar faciitis. Physio is helping, but I still limp first thing in the morning, wear ugly Crocs around the house, suffer after long walks and cannot even conceive of going for a run. This is a good reminder that I better take care of this body or things could go downhill very quickly.

28. Vivi inspires me to sing every day, multiple times, which I hadn’t done for many years. Feels good.

29. Every time we buy a lottery ticket, I really, truly think we’re going to win.

30. I have a couple famous-ish friends and plenty of famous-ish acquaintances. I have no shame about namedropping.

31. I don’t have the vision to turn other people’s garbage into my treasures. I wish I did.

32. Shopping for pants is incredibly hard on my self-esteem.

33. I’ve cultivated friendships that keep me happy, challenged and, most importantly, sane.

34. I found one of the good guys and tricked him into marrying me, buying a house with me and bringing me flowers now and then.

35. I gave birth to a cute kid. I hope she always likes me as much as I like her.

36. So far, every year has been better than the last. Bring on the next 36!

*This number could be a little high or could be grossly underestimated. I’ve never kept hard data, but turn on a car radio and I can probably sing along.