Stable

I've been pretty stable this week - no real change. I keep fluctuating between 0.5lbs (up and down). I did work out the three times as was my goal and I have been trying to eat fairly well, but I have indulged in some father's day cake. Perhaps I had a few more slices than I should have. I really need to learn how to say no. Caffeine might also have been a factor. I was working fairly late this past week so I needed plenty of that to stay up late at night. Coffee has only been something that I've only recently started drinking. I find I drink it mostly when I am working late nights or early mornings. The rest of the time I normally stick with peppermint tea. I also need to go back to drinking ginger tea.

The solution for me may be to cut my sugar intake. A few years ago I did that and it worked wonders. I used to add tons of sugar to my cereal, juice and tea. I don't add nearly as much as I did back then, but I think that I can cut back some more and still have them taste good. We'll see how that goes. I'm going on vacation in a few weeks so I probably won't be checking in. We'll see how well I did when I get back. Hopefully all the eating I plan on doing will be balanced out with all the walking I'll be doing.

Creepy does not equal attractive

It is time that some guys come to learn and fully accept this important fact - creepy doesn't equal attractive. All that happens is that you scare women off, especially drunken creepiness. This is why I sincerely believe that, at least for me, clubs are some of the worst places to pick up. People behave differently at clubs than they would elsewhere and sure a guy who is creepy at a club could just be drunk and turn out to be a really nice person, but I'm not going to hang around to find out. Maybe my loss, but I call it self preservation.

I'll find some other avenue for meeting nice guys. I'll have to cast that positive energy off into the universe for me to find them/vice versa and for the planets to align.

Check In

Yesterday, I had the wonderful experience of using a tighter notch on my belt. So things are gradually coming along. I really need to take my measurements. Yesterday, I also went to the gym after work and did mostly strength training. Next trip to the gym will focus more on cardio and floor work I think.

Food wise, I've been using allrecipes.com to make all kinds of delicious recipes. I've been substituting and adding more vegetables to the recipes and they have turned out well. I've also been using the leftovers for my lunch/dinner at work which saves me time. I'm still eating some not so good things once in a while (small bag of fruit snacks or a handful of bits and bites), but now I'm coming to realize that I have to allow myself some of those things otherwise I'm more likely to fail. The nice thing, I think, that I've realized is that when the really bad food tempts me (i.e. Big Mac and Large fries with Mayo and Ketchup or a big bag of chips) I just think of all the hard work that I've done and how it would suck to start all over again (which is essentially what I am doing now after gaining everything I lost last year). Not fun. I've also made a commitment to myself to see if I can go until September before I touch a small bag of chips. Wish me luck!

A day of rest

So far I'm doing fairly well with my desire to go to the gym three times, minimum, a week. I've gone twice for the week and planning on going tomorrow. Yesterday when I went (it was pretty much empty - yay!) I was even adventurous enough to try a new machine. It works your butt and thighs, both of which are my target areas. It was fun and a lot less intimidating than I thought it'd be. For the longest time I was always weary of the weight machines, but now not so much. It is a little awkward when there are a whole bunch of people there and you're trying to figure out how to use the machine properly, but after you figure it out it isn't so bad. I credit two friends of mine with helping me overcome those insecurities enough to try the machines.

Anyway, I'm still a little sore from my workout yesterday, which is good I guess. I decided to try a new routine. Normally I do 1/2 hr of cardio and then try to squeeze in weight machines for the remaining 1/2 hr, but I find I am normally rushed for time and don't get to do what I want to. So this time I flipped it. I mostly spent time on different weight machines, then did 15 min of cardio and a little floor work. They say you need to switch it up, so we'll see.

Trucking along

Check in - this is going to be brief. Heading to the gym tonight after work for sure! I prefer it when it is less crowded (see previous post). I've been eating fairly healthy this week with the exception of one pulled pork sandwich, which was delicious and three ribs. Otherwise it has been mostly vegetables on my plate with a little meat/seafood and rice or pasta. I try to eat the veggies first before the other stuff that way if I get full, at least I cleaned the veggies off my plate. This morning when I weighed myself (heard somewhere best time to weigh yourself is in the morning, before you breakfast - I wonder how true that is though) I had gone down approximately two pounds. Not sure how accurate it is, but slowly dropping, which is the healthy way. Plus, when I went to the doctor to find out how my cholesterol (good and bad), sugar and blood pressure was, she said it was excellent:) I'm very happy about that since heart disease, high blood pressure and cholesterol runs in my family. So yay! Now I just have to keep working on being beach ready in the summer. But let's face it, I don't know when I'll ever be completely comfortable in a swim suit.

Oh Oprah, what will people do when you are off the air?

Pic from zzzack
So I was watching Oprah a few nights ago and it was a rerun about her whole debt diet thing. She brought up the point about how people are swimming in debt and need to get a handle on it. There was one lady in particular who kept shopping and shopping, forged her husband's signature to buy a car and who doesn't open any bills. As a result they are 170k in debt, even though they make 102k together a year. They have a very nice house, very nice cars (all high end), she said she likes to buy designer jeans, but they have had their utilities shut down because of their not paying bills. Quite frankly, I wondered if the only reason they were still together was because of the kids and the fact that it'd be more expensive to separate.

Anyway, it had me thinking about my own spending habits and how I really need to change them. I admit, I often worry about getting a handle on things, so much so that I am considering adding this to my healthy challenge. As with many people my age, that I know, I have the student loan and car payments which are the bulk of them, but there's also the credit cards and a few other traditional bills to pay. Sometimes I must admit that it can get pretty overwhelming when you're trying to put away for retirement, savings and still have a little extra for entertainment. Which often makes me wonder, how on earth do single people afford homes, especially in this economy?

I've asked several friends and colleagues this question over the past several months and the ridiculously high housing prices have also popped up in conversation from other people as well. From those of us who are considering buying, especially those of us who are single, the prices are just ridiculous if you want to live near the city or even in the suburbs. In order to buy a house/condo in a decent neighbourhood you're lucky if you get mid $200,000s. Mid $200,000s are rare in my area now. They recently said that the average price of a home in Ontario (Canada) is mid $300,000s. Not surprised - all I have to do is look in the paper and see all the new homes that are being built and see the starting prices at $294,000 (for a townhouse that is maybe 1400 sqft)! While many other places in the world saw a housing crisis, we up here in the Great White North didn't really see a drop, thanks to our banks/big time government regulation. While it is nice to know that our banks and economy did fairly well compared to other countries, the price of homes is ridiculous and in my opinion needs to come down and be a little more realistic - especially since people's salaries haven't gone up as much as house prices have. It really needs to balance out.

Anyway, I was just thinking that I couldn't imagine paying a mortgage, paying back my student loan, paying off my car, property tax, utilities, gas, food, etc and being able to sleep well at night with house prices the way they are. I already kind of stress over the fact that I am not where I'd like to be financially and how I need to make some real changes, I just can't imagine being house poor (working just to make mortgage payments and not having much left after that) on top of that. I guess you could always, if lady luck is on your side, win the lottery.

Seriously though, how do people do it? I guess most have two incomes. How do single people do it with those kind of prices? This is why I keep teetering towards renting, but everyone keeps saying how you're essentially throwing your money down the drain by paying someone else's mortgage. I see their point, but who wants to be paying their mortgage until they are in their 70s anyway? I guess most people don't go into it signing up for 40 year mortgages. 20 years seems bad enough.

Side note: just after posting this I had an "aha moment" (yes, I'm using that cheesy Oprah line which I cringe whenever I hear celebs and other people use). One of the reasons why I eat/binge (especially with food) is because it is a nice way to escape money and life problems. Life problems as in general boredom and dissatisfaction of the way my life has been for the past few years (i.e. not happy with job, social life, spending habits/debt, physical appearance). It is so much easier to eat because, like Toni Collette's character said in the movie In Her Shoes (but referring to shoes) shoes don't disappoint you in the sense that unlike dress sizes, shoe sizes rarely change which made her feel good. It made more sense in my head for as to how that relates. The point I'm trying to make is that, food can be comforting to eat during the moment. It's a means of escape. Essentially, I know how good a bag of chips tastes while I'm eating it.

It provides me with a moment of bliss.

There's no disappointment.

It's an escape from reality...

That is until the bag is finished and I've realized that I've just inhaled a whole big bag of chips...again.

SATC 2, alone time and "pretty" people only gyms

I saw the new Sex and the City movie. I liked it. It wasn't the best movie, but I was satisfied with it. It probably helps that I had zero expectations. This coming from someone who watched the show from the very beginning, before all the hype. Don't get me wrong, I loved that show, but it isn't the same Sex and the City. I still love it though.

Speaking of HBO, True Blood comes back in 9 days! So excited! Oh HBO, you've brought us such wonderful shows - Sex and the City, Six Feet Under, Hung, True Blood etc. Thank goodness for PVRs!

There was one thing the movie made me think about. Me time. Now, I have said that when I'm not at work I prefer to read, watch tv, go to a bookstore and sip my favourite drink, so it makes it seem like I have plenty of me time and yes, compared to some people (especially moms) I do, but what I lack is alone time. 99.9% of the time there is someone home. It would be nice to come home one or two days of the week and have the house to myself for a few hours. At times I cherish the time it takes me to get home from work because I know that is the only alone time I will get for the day. Sometimes on my days off, even when I don't feel like going out, I force myself to go out so that I can get some breathing room. In a year or so that should all change. But until then I guess I'll have to keep doing what I am doing - otherwise it doesn't make for a very happy camper (little things are more apt to bother me). I guess the gym will become one of my new refuges, even though there are other people around.

Speaking of gyms - confession: One of the reasons I hated going to the gym was because it felt like a fashion show/meat market, especially during university. It doesn't make for a very comfortable atmosphere when all you want to do is wear your most comfortable (and in my case, least flattering) sweats and sweat your heart out.

There is this one gym that is pretty popular among some of my friends and one day I went to drop something off there with a friend. After finishing up with my friend one of the sales managers tried to steal me away from my current gym. I explained that I felt that their gym had too many "pretty" people. The sales manager laughed when I said that. I told him that his gym seems more like a place where people go to be seen. Sure there are a lot of people who go there to work out, but very few of them are wearing oversized sweats and baggy pants. Instead all I ever see are lululemon workout/yoga gear and men who look like they are either trying to be body builders or on the next season of Jersey Shore. A tad harsh? Perhaps, but honestly I need to feel comfortable to go there otherwise it is just a big waste of money. I guess I shouldn't judge, but I'd been there and done that in university. That kind of gym wasn't fun. I guess when you're confident and done dealing with your insecurities you don't worry about such things as too many "pretty" people at your gym or the fact that it is open season on the meat market.

Excuses, excuses, excuses!

Pic from visualpanic

So last week I said that I was going to try to go to the gym, but I failed miserably. Sure I went at the beginning of the week, Sunday and Monday, but I didn't manage to drag myself there any of the other days of the week. I did go for a walk by the lake with a friend and chilled out outside while enjoying all the sunshine and hot weather that we got, but I didn't really do any real exercise or weight training. Why?

A mixture of laziness and exhaustion. I tried setting my alarm for earlier than I had to wake up to go to work, but I just turned it off and went

back to sleep because I was still tired. I think the first day I left my gym bag at home and when I got home I didn't feel like leaving the house. The next day I went out with a friend instead of going to workout and did the same the following evening. The following two days, I just admitted to myself that it wasn't going to happen and fell asleep on the couch soon after I came home. So that's the truth. I still ate fairly well - with the exception of a couple slices of pizza, two caramel macchiatos and some sweet chili rice cake snacks (the last of which I had today after going to grocery shopping when I should have been eating lunch). That and my lack of sufficient exercise might explain the fact that I didn't really make any real headway this past week, but I did maintain and I must say that I did enjoy myself.

Pic from neloqua

I love sunshine and I love spending time with a good friend. So that is something.

Goals for the month of June:

1. Go outside and enjoy more walks/runs outside (ideally by the lake) instead of just indoors at the gym.
2. Find some great healthy and delicious easy to make recipes that I can add to my menu. I'd started getting kind of bored with my present menu (some healthy, but tasty snacks would be nice). Suggestions/recommendations are always welcome:)
3. Make it to the gym three times a week, no matter what shift I am working.