A Successful Wednesday...so far anyway....

My day has gotten off to a great start.  Had my morning shake at 830am and then because I was heading into an hour long workout with Coach Rita I had a quick hard boiled egg white on my way to the gym too.  Had a great workout - she had me doing 30 reps of everything and light weight or no weight depending on the exercise.  That is exactly the way I like to work out.  Deadlifts, shoulder press, shoulder bridge, plies with abs etc....and we talked the whole time about fitness and nutrition and what she does.  I always leave so inspired by her.

I just finished my lunch and today I made an egg white egg salad sandwich with tons of egg and a bit of mayo and pepper on whole grain bread.  With it I had a 100 calorie bag of chips.  So for me that is huge process - I haven't had regular chips in the past 3 days and I am so proud of myself.  Last night I made myself my salad plate with chick peas, egg whites and chicken and tons of veggies and on the side I had cold quinoa with yellow and orange peppers and a few craisens and squeezed lime juice on it.  Perfect supper and I was satisfied but without that gross full feeling.

I'm off now to run errands - get my nails done, pick up some stuff and then for dinner I"m serving a roast in the crockpot with potatoes and carrots. I will eat just the roast and then on the side I am doing a new recipe of quinoa, cherry tomatoes and some bocachini with olive oil and balsamic.

Today was also a weigh in with Rita - my first one since before Vegas.  I knew my weight hadn't really changed and I wasn't surprised that it was the same.  So in 3 weeks I haven't gone down at all so I really need to get strict about the food.  But the great news was that 3 weeks ago my body fat was 33% and today it was 27% which made me really happy.   A lot of that has to do with the amount of water I am drinking now - probably 10 glasses/day.  So I'm happy to see that number going down.  Now if I can just get my weight down 4 or so lbs that would make me happy as goal number one.

Part two of today

So I took my dog for a walk this morning but the conditions outside were less than ideal so I only lasted 25 minutes.  I am now about to my my Brooke Burke lower body DVD - 30 minutes - perfect.
My sister sent me some great new quinoa recipes today so I'm going to do a side of quinoa with my salad plate tonight.  Im doing a cold quinoa with chopped yellow and orange peppers, lime juice and craisens.  I think it will be delish.
So once I do my workout, run to the grocery store, prepare my supper and take the kids to swimming - there goes my day!!

And Plans - they are always changing

Of course when I make a weekly plans, things never cease to change.  My trainers poor little one is sick today so no training session which really sucks.  With the weather the way it is its so easy for me to stay in my pajamas and have a movie day but I need to stick to some kind of schedule.  So I'm going to drop Jack at daycare and then bundle up and take my dog for a long walk.  She probably has cabin fever after yesterday and at this point its not raining here, just tons of wind.  My arms feel broken from my crazy upper body workout with Rita yesterday.
I'm drinking my morning shake right now.  Lunch is going to be a small veggie sub from Quiznos today because I have to take Avah a sub at lunch.  We have swimming class on Tuesdays so I don't cook so I 'm going to have my salad plate for supper.  So I think I have healthy meals covered for today.
Off to brave the winds now.

Got My Game on Now

So I'm feeling great about today and that's why it's so important for me to plan each day and really follow a schedule.
I had my morning shake at 830am this morning.
Then I did 45 minute step class and it was a doozy today - a new release - it was so fun,the music was great and it was hard.  I know that you can burn up to 620 calories in a 1 hour step class so its a great workout.  Following step I had a 15 minute break so I had a protein shake and then a 1 hour workout with Rita.  She always gets me motivated.  Well, she actually damn near killed me today - mostly upper body, I'm surprised I can still type right now.  I worked my upper body to fatigue today.
I just finished my lunch and it was my salad plate with chicken, egg whites, chick peas, all colours of peppers, a bit of swiss cheese and carrots.  I had a very small handful of those vegetable chips (baby steps).  I'm feeling great right now and very proud of myself. Ive had two bottles of water so far today and this time of day is when I start most of my water consumption.
Rita convinced me to change my dinner menu for tonight so I am now making chicken in the oven, quinoa and roasted asparagus and peppers.
We also had a great chat today about ways that people choose to lose weight and why those various ways just don't work.  And also how healthy eating really helps with so many other things beside just losing weight.  Skin tone, glowing healthy skin, good mood vrs bad mood, energy vrs lethargic.  So many benefits to eating clean and exercising.  I also re read Oxygens Off the Couch magazine cover to cover last night in bed - the one with Rita on the cover.  There are so many inspiring stories in there of real women and how they overcame their unhealthy eating battle and how amazing they look now.  Its such a great magazine and really helps me be motivated.
So I'm feeling great about today and already planning tomorrow.  I have an hour with Rita again tomorrow so I need to start thinking about meals.

A full weekend of bad eating....resolve to start over tomorrow

How many times have I said this in the last year but I mean it this time - tomorrow is the day.  We officially have no more trips before Christmas, we don't have plans the next few weeks, our schedule is finally done.....its time to focus and be serious.

Yesterday of course was our family Thanksgiving and we had appetizers, turkey dinner - of which I didn't consume much since I sort of hate Thanksgiving dinner but then I had to have a piece of my sisters amazing apple pie.  And to make things even worse, I need to get groceries this afternoon and we literally have NO FOOD so I just had easy mac for lunch after eating nothing for breakfast.  Combine all of that with no exercise since Thursday and I have FAILED big time.

So I've made a list of meals for this week Mon until Thurs and I"m going to get all my groceries today so that I am planned ahead.  I'm not buying any chips besides Vegga chips.  I'm getting lots of greens for my salad plates for lunch.  I'm hard boiling eggs today for my salad plates.  I will be totally organized food wise this week.  So I'm feeling motivated going into this new week.

My menu of this week is:
Monday - chicken breasts, quinoa and roasted peppers and asparagus.
Tuesday - swimming lessons so the kids and I generally just eat something quick and Tom works late.
Wednesday - chicken and pepper fajitas and wild rice
Thursday - roast in the crockpot with potatoes and salad.

My workout schedule at this point for the week providing no one gets sick including kids, me and trainers and if that actually happens it will be a record for me:
Mon - 1 hour step class followed by 1 hour training with Rita
Tues - 1 hour with Rita
Wed - 1 hour with Rita
Thurs - 1 hour pilates reformer
Fri - 2 hours tennis

If I get all that in and eat well this week I'd say I should get down 2 lbs and that would make me really happy.

SO wish me luck.

A Crazy Day

Its 745pm and I'm sitting down for the first time today.  I dropped Jack off at daycare this morning at 915am and from there I was nonstop busy.  I skipped breakfast as I am known to do when I'm not working out and just had a handful of red grapes.  I drove to Port Huron to pick up some packages and had lunch at Ruby Tuesdays - the salad bar with spinach, romaine, lots of veggies, hard boiled egg and sunflower seeds.  Unfortunately I also had the queso and chips......and my day just kind of went downhill from there.  I drove then to Strathroy to Tom's shop to pick up a big box of discontinued kids stuff to drop off at Merrymount.  Quick stop at home to let the dog out and pick up Avah, then we drove to Merrymount, dropped the clothing off, stopped downtown to pick something up and ended up at Masonville to do some shopping for Avah.  Dinner in the food court - we both had Chinese.  I had the noodles, grilled shrimp and veggies and the new grilled chicken - it was excellent.
Now I'm downing water since Chinese makes me so thirsty.  And really it wasn't a good day - I really only ate two meals and neither were stellar choices.  Tomorrow is going to be tricky too since we are celebrating Thanksgiving at my parents house and the menu will be snacks in the afternoon, turkey, mashed potatoes, etc....all the trimmings.

So not my best two days.  I'm really going to try and get to the gym tomorrow morning and do that treadmill routine again - I know it will make me feel so much better about the weekend - although I generally don't work out on the weekends.  So we shall see.

All in all, probably my worst day since I started blogging.

Feeling more positive today

I tell you, its all about weather for me - add a little sunshine to my day and I can see things so much clearer.  My day actually changed a bit yesterday but was still good.  My trainer was sick so I still went to the gym and did a 30 minute step class - better than nothing.  And for lunch I ended up doing my usual salad plate again instead of the soup along with some of those Vegga chips which I'm really enjoying.  Snack yesterday afternoon was almonds and red grapes and dinner was that new spaghetti and meatball recipe.  I actually only had about a half cup of the pasta - it was okay, not my fav recipe, along with some chopped chicken and a spinach and romaine salad.  So it was a good day for food.

Today as I write this I am enjoying my morning shake.  About to take my dog for a quick walk around the block and then pilates at 1015am.  I haven't been to pilates in 2 weeks and I miss it so much.  I love being on that reformer, feeling the burn and stretch of my muscles - by far my favourite of all my weekly workouts.  Lunch today might be a Quiznos veggie sub to change things up a bit and because Tom's not home tonight I will likely do build your own tacos since its easy and the kids love them - I eat mine vegetarian.  I will likely make wild rice with it as well.  Keeping busy is key to me not eating bad food.  If I eat a quick lunch and have to rush out the door then I can't linger and keep eating.

Thursdays along with Mondays are my favourite day of the week - I always have some type of maintenance on Thursdays along with errands and it's magazine day - it's kind of always been "Sarah "Day.  Today I get my eyelashes filled so that means a 1 hour nap.  I have promised my husband to stop spending money so no shopping from now until Christmas for me....I can do that.  I will pick up People and US Magazine and I'm going to hit the Gap for Avah because my girl still doesn't own a single dress for fall/winter yet - where are all the cute casual dresses this year???

So off I go to enjoy some of this nice weather while it lasts.

Planning my day and feeling beaten....

Planning my day of food is so important and now that all my travelling is behind me I need to get really on to of this.  I am supposed to have a weigh in with Rita today but I know my weight is prob about the same after being in Vegas - even though I chose healthy options for the most part while we were away, eating in a restaurant still means a piece of bread to start, extra wine and champagne, maybe a bit of dessert, etc.....so I'm paying the piper now and feeling pretty down about myself.

So today, my meal plan is as follows:
My every morning fruit and greek yogurt shake which I will be having shortly, followed by a 1 hour intense session in Rita's House of Pain.

Protein shake after my workout.
I am serving lunch at the school today so that protein shake will take me though that and keep me from diving into the Dominos pizza I will be serving the kids (which is my all time fav).
For lunch I believe I will have the last of my leftover homemade chicken noodle soup along with some of those Vegga chips.  They are the only kind I will buy with my groceries today.

My afternoon snack always depends on how I feel so not sure about that yet.

Last night I went through a bunch of cookbooks looking for new ideas that everyone in the family will eat.  I found this great looking spaghetti and meatball recipe.  I actually don't eat meatballs but everyone else in my house loves them so I'm making them from scratch with whole wheat flour, ground beef and brown bread crumbs.  The sauce is fresh tomatoes and basil with smart noodles.  I really really hate whole wheat spaghetti and the Smart noodles are a good alternative.  I'm going to make a huge fresh salad with romaine, tomatoes, carrots, all colours of peppers, cauliflower....so I will have a small portion of the pasta and a big salad.  No bread served on the side.

So I look at that day and go okay, I think this is a great well balanced day.....am I deluding myself?? Is that why I'm not losing any weight?  How come when I did Herbal Magic last year and ate pretty much like this I lost 15lbs without any problems and with Herbal I was allowed to have a 100 calorie bag of chips at lunch, I had to eat much less protein and I took their herbal pills.  So, whats the best decision for me?  Do I do Herbal again and pay the 100.00 per week for their pills because obviously they must have been doing something for me?  Do I keep going the way I am and hope that the switch to Vegga chips helps?  I can't really exercise any more than I am doing.  So what am I doing wrong?  Do I really need to live on quinoa and veggies and no carbs for the rest of my life to weigh a healthy 130lbs?

I am feeling frustrated and beaten down today - maybe it's the weather, maybe it's the damn scale.  Lack of sunshine does this to me every time.  Gotta run now, hit the grocery quick before my workout. Would love some feedback from someone other than my mom who just kind of tells me to stop eating shit - not that easy MOM!!!!  If it was I'd be skinny as shit.....haha...

As Said by Tosca Reno

I read Tosca's latest blog today and she wrote the following - I find her so informative - if you aren't friends with her on Facebook, join the Eat Clean Facebook page.  It's great.

Good Carbs, Bad Carbs - White Carbs

There is a lot of confusion when it comes to "White" carbohydrates. Many people automatically think that white = bad. I think this requires some clearing up...

White carbohydrates are generally given a bad reputation because they are processed. These are the BAD carbs if you will. White flour and white rice and the things made with these ingredients (white bread, cookies, cakes, etc) fall into this category. It's best to keep these things to a bare minimum. Maybe a treat here and there, but not a regular food in your diet.

Other white foods that fall under the GOOD carbs category include white kidney beans, white potatoes, popcorn and cauliflower. Potatoes and popcorn are starchy carbs that don't offer as much nutritional value as other things, like sweet potatoes, so I would limit your intake of these as well. Kidney beans and cauliflower are great options. You can eat these as much of these as you like.

My Personal Best Today.....

Just back from the gym and I am so proud of myself.  No trainer today, just me on my own.  I decided to hop on the treadmill, which I hate and stay there for 30 minutes.  I ended up really getting into it and did the whole 30 minutes and just over 2 miles.  A personal best for me.  For each song I did something different - I either walked at an incline of 12 and a speed of 3.4 or I ran at an incline of 1.5 and a speed alternating between 5.7 and 6.3 depending on the song.  A great workout because my heart rate was all over the place.  I have my playlist set and its always the same songs and I have to have those songs or I can't do it.  My songs are:
Numb - JayZ/Linkin Park
Uprising - Muse
Wataya Want from Me - Adam Lambert
Just like Paradise - David Lee Roth
Welcome to the Black Parade - My Chemical Romance
Lose Yourself - Eminem
Papi - Jennifer Lopez
Starships - Nicki Minaj
Its Time - Imagine Dragons
Lots more but you get the idea.

So I'm sitting here freshly showered and still sweating - ewwww...takes a while for my core temp to go down.  Todays breakfast was my usual morning shake.  Lunch is going to be my leftover chicken noodle soup with a few whole wheat crackers and swiss cheese, not sure about snack yet but likely an apple and nuts as I take the kids to swimming lessons and tonight Tom isn't home for supper so I will be having my salad plate with chicken and egg whites.

I am doing a weigh in with Rita tomorrow but I can't imagine I will be at my goal after the weekend in Vegas - too much alcohol.

I'm on my computer for the day booking travel and organizing.  Picking up the kids by 415p and then to swimming lessons.

Back to Reality

Getting home always feels good - your own bed, your own routine.  I've spent the whole day today putting my house back together, doing laundry, organizing, computer work etc....  Our trip was so great - the perfect amount of time to be away.
I won't even discuss my food on travel day because with the flight, time difference, being on the road, etc....its always tricky - so bleep.....just erasing yesterday from my memory....haha...
Today has been a good food day for me.  I didn't go to the gym this morning since I had so much to do so I didn't do my usual shake.  I just had a big handful of fresh red grapes with a glass of water.  Lunch was my salad plate which after my trip I was totally craving.  And I had a handful of chips, not half a bag...haha...
Right now as I type this I have just made Avah and I shakes with diet cranberry juice, 2% plain greek yogurt, frozen peaches, banana and a spoonful of flaxseed.  Great snack.
Dinner tonight is again going to be my homemade from scratch chicken noodle soup.  Again after all the big meals we had all weekend I"m craving something easy, nutritious and homey.  So that will bocachini salad.  Perfect.
Tomorrow will be totally back to normal - back to pilates after 2 weeks off - I really miss it.

God I love it here...

So yesterday was a perfect day from start to finish.  Kari and I did the pool from about 1030am until almost 400pm.  It was literally like Spring Break Daytona Beach down there - I think the average age at this hotel is 25-50 - very young crowd and crazy partiers.  It was a ton of fun.
A great thing about Vegas is because its so dry I drink a ton of water, like probably double what I drink at home.  Love that.
We met Kari and Todd (for anyone that doesn't now this is my step nephew and niece in law who just got married in Sarasota two weeks ago and we LOVE THEM) for drinks at the chandelier bar and then taxied over to the Venetian - wayyyy to far to walk in heels.
We wanted a restaurant last night that wouldn't be 200.00 per couple so we went to this pretty little Italian place (after I said I wouldn't do Italian on this trip) and I had one glass of wine, the tomato and mozzarella, basil salad and I did the healthiest pasta - the angel hair with tomatoes, olive oil and garlic.  Delish.  Our reservation wasn't until 900pm - nothing like a pasta dinner at 1000pm.
Today is sort of a repeat of yesterday.  All 4 of us are meeting at a different pool today and spending the whole day getting as much Vitamin D as possible.  Tom and I just had breakfast by the pool - egg white omelette with peppers, tomatoes and cheese and I even splurged and had a mimosa with it.  Dinner tonight is at STK a famous steakhouse so I will be ordering up some read meat for sure!!
So, off to the pool and I won't be blogging again till Monday once we are home.

Viva Las Vegas

So we are here and as always I LOVE VEGAS.  Everything is just so decadent and over the top - how an a person not love that.  I am stressed though as a mom - my poor little baby Jack is sick and has been since just before we boarded the plane yesterday.  Nothing is worse than leaving your kids and finding out they get sick.  Thank GOD for my mom - she has totally stepped up and was at my place all afternoon yesterday and back again for the day today.  My poor babysitter works full-time and didn't bargain for having to miss work of course.  Sometimes leaving the kids is just more work than its worth.  Thankfully we don't leave them often and just take them most places with us.

So on to my day yesterday - in my world it was a great day.  We woke up in Detroit at the Embassy Suites and I had an egg white omelette with peppers and tomatoes with one little slice of bacon.  Perfect breakfast for a travel day.  Our flight was at 1100am and there really wasn't anything we could find to take on the plane for that duration to eat so we figured we'd just order the food you pay for on the plane.  This was our first time flying Spirit in years and guess what?  They only offers crap to buy, like not even a sandwich.  So the only thing that wasn't chips or crackers was a Mr Noodle chicken noodle soup soI got that.  Once we got to our hotel, which by the way is pretty fab, Tom and I went directly to the pool and ate at the outdoor restaurant there.  It was a bit of a strange menu for me - I was hoping for a great Cobb salad or sandwich - nothing like that - beef kabobs, fish tacos....ewwww. So I ended up with a chicken caesar salad which was excellent, very lightly dressed, tons of chicken.  Perfect.  And the great thing about Vegas is its so dry you drink water, water, water all day long.

For dinner we went to one of my favs The Palm which is at Caesars Palace at the Forum Shops - my all time favourite area to shop.  Made a pitstop with hubby at Chanel where I picked out my Christmas gift.....you know your husband is the best when you pick out your beautiful necklace and he sees the price and goes, "that's it?  for a Chanel necklace?  That's pretty good".  God I love him.  Another little pitstop into Jimmy Choo for the gold clutch I've been dying for and a gorgeous huge coffee table book for my living room.  Dinner was so wonderful.  I had a glass of wine, Tom and I shared the beefsteak tomato, mozzarella and basil salad and I had the lobster Cobb salad for dinner.  This salad was amazing - chunks of lobster (if you eat without butter nothing wrong with lobster), greens, peppers, tomato, cukes, egg, no cheese and tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette - I felt fantastic after dinner.  No dessert and then we walked probably 3 miles.  I'm such a nerd, I always pack my flip-flops in my bag in Vegas because no way am I walking all over the place in 4 inch heels.

So by the time we got back to the hotel I was about 80% full, we had gotten a ton of walking in, shopping was a HUGE success - it was a great day.

Today Tom is off to his trade show so Kari and I are sitting at the pool all day and then Tom and I are having date night tonight.  Hoping to eat at The Venetian tonight because then we want to hit David and Goliath - the tshirt store for some ideas plus to get Jack some hilarious shirts.  Then another huge walk back to the Forum Shops for some more shopping for Avah and back to our hotel.  Can you tell we aren't gamblers???

Frustrated....

So I'm frustrated today on so many levels and this is what my journey is all about - the highs and lows.  First of all I get an email from my youngest sister last night who is now about 8 weeks post partum with her third baby in 3 years and the email is very excited and tells me what her weight is (and which is about 20lbs less than mine).  Now let me first say, of course I am thrilled for her, 3 babies and she looks like a million bucks.  But I can't help but think to myself how is this possible and how is this fair?  She gives birth 3 times, doesn't really ever work out, she eats healthy but she bakes like a mad woman and eats it and manages to lose all this weight.  I work my ass off at the gym and anytime I put something even somewhat bad in my mouth it goes right to my hips and ass.  How is this fair?  I know we are all built differently and I'm shorter and curvier and I have to embrace my curves, but frig....I just throw up my hands some days and go really???? is it all worth it?

The second part of my frustration is my own damn fault and it really proved a point to me.  I went to a London Club ladies event last night - a wine tasting event.  60 ladies and wine - dangerous combination....so damn fun.  We were served 4 different wines and when we were told that,  my friend and I looked at each other and said "shit, we should have taken a cab, what were we thinking?"  Luckily 3 of the 4 wines were red which I detest so I ended up having a Cosmopolitan to start and then a glass of white.  Phew...no hangover today thank god.  Once the wine tasting was done it was close to 800pm and then they had a dinner that you could stay for with a little menu of items to choose from.  I started with the caesar salad because theirs is the best in London.  I ate half and pushed the rest away.  For entrees the choices were salmon (hate), 8oz steak but it wasn't filet and I'm really fussy on my steak, I think a chicken dish (I never get chicken at a restaurant because I eat chicken every single day at home) and the last dish was a pasta which of course I zoomed right into.  Now I haven't really eaten a meal of pasta in - well I don't remember the last time and this is coming from the woman that made pasta at least 3 times/week.  Now when I do make a pasta dish, I make just one and its the smart noodles with fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, garlic and olive oil.  Delish.  But that has become a treat that I make maybe once or twice a month and I always combine with with chicken on my plate so that my portion is small - but I digress.....
So back to last nights pasta.  Turns out it was these amazing homemade almost lasagne looking noodles - the freshest pasta that has ever crossed my lips, with tomatoes, garlic in a rose sauce.  Nothing healthy or good about that dish.  I ordered it and ate half of it but I could easily have eaten the whole plateful.  It was like heaven on my lips I will say, HOWEVER as we got up to leave I noticed something.  All of a sudden, I wanted my bed, I was lethargic, my pants felt tight.  I got home and I HATED the way I felt and I realized hey, I haven't felt this way in a long time and I HATED it.  I realize how when I eat protein and veggies at my meal how much better I feel afterwards.  And even this morning I am sluggish and lazy.  I am so happy now that we have our reservations at two different steak houses in Vegas and I will definitely stick to my meats and seafood.  Feeling like I did last night didn't even make that fabulous pasta dish worth it AT ALL.

So right now as I type I'm drinking my shake and today while I get laundry done and get packed and organized I will drink a ton of water and try to cleanse myself of last nights mistake.  I'm having my salad plate for lunch with chicken and egg and that will help and for dinner tonight I am making my homemade from scratch chicken noodle soup which is chock full of good stuff.  We will eat that quickly before we leave for the airport.
Here is my soup:
I boil a whole chicken for 1 hour and sprinkle in some pepper.
Remove the pot from the heat and take the chicken out and put onto a cutting board.  Remove the skin and let cool. (this part is kind of gross).  I usually have to fish some bones or skin out of the broth water.
After it cools a bit, I cut all the white meat off and put back in the pot of water.  I add two cups of hot water with two tsps of low sodium chicken broth.  More pepper and just a small shake of salt for flavour.
Simmer for another 45 minutes.
About 30 minutes in I add chopped celery and carrots and most people would also add onions (I hate onions).
Simmer for another 15 minutes.
About 10 minutes before serving add the noodles and I use the no yolk egg noodles.

My kids and husband and I all love it and its filling and delish on a cold night.

So I'm off to Vegas and won't have my laptop so I will be back in the land of blogging on Monday.  Viva Las Vegas baby!!

Tuesday

Got up today after a long night of being up and down.  Something upset my stomach last night starting around 800p and lasted throughout the night and today lets just say "Ring o Fire" and leave it at that....haha...Feeling better now though, cranking lots of water to keep hydrated.

Wasn't feeling like eating anything this morning and I cancelled pilates just in case my body wasn't quite ready for it after the night.  So i did have a red pear (which I adore after they sit out on the counter for a few days and really soften) around 930am.  Not a great breakfast but better than nothing.
Lunch was early today - around 1145am and was the same as yesterday - a multigrain 3" bun with ham and some Miss Vickies chips.  Whatever.  The afternoon was spent on maintenance which I HATE - nails done, pedi, snatch wax, etc....all in preparation for Vegas this week.  I saved a tiny portion of last nights stir fry and I will eat it around 500pm - its really small.  Tonight I am going to a ladies night at The London Club with a girlfriend and I"m sure they will have nibbles so i plan on having 2 glasses of wine and since the stir fry will satisfy me, hardly any snackies.

Once I'm back from Vegas my house will finally be back in a routine that has been missing since the first of Sept - no more trips for me until Feb.  I can get my fridge stocked with tons of healthy foods and be home everyday to prepare meals.  I find that preparing ahead of time is mandatory for me to stay in line.  When I'm home and really on the ball my fridge is filled with the following:
1%milk for the kids and for cooking with - I don't drink milk.
Diet cranberry juice for my shakes, OJ for Tom and the kids, sometimes Almond Milk for shakes.
DIet pepsi of which I drink one per day and is certainly not allowed on the Eat Clean plan.  Remember I'm not perfect - there are some things in life I will never give up - designer shoes, bags and diet pepsi are those things.
2% plain greek yogurt for my shakes (none of this fat free filled with other crap in my fridge)
Regular yogurt for Tom and the kids, applesauce, YOPS, chocolate pudding - all kiddie stuff.
Green grapes washed and pulled off the stems.
Raspberries washed and in a bowl
Various cheeses - light medium, swiss, cheese sticks for the kids.
Tons of produce depending on the day - always a variety of green, red and orange peppers, cucumber, broccoli, lettuce - sometimes romaine hearts, sometimes iceberg, garlic always, Macintosh apples since Avah has a new love for them and it thrills me every time I see her bite into one, oranges.

That's a good overview.  And I always love when I open my freezer and see that it's barely half full - I hate frozen meat so I always buy fresh, I don't buy frozen pizzas anymore unless its a babysitter night, we very rarely have ice cream in the house now.  My freezer does have frozen berries, french fries (you never know), frozen yogurt treats, corn kernels....not much else really.

If anyone has any great snack ideas for me or my family I would love to hear them.

Part 3 of Monday

Well, this is probably a record - 3 blogs in one day but part of my blog is to make myself accountable and I did something so totally stupid this afternoon and I'm so pissed at myself.  So I had my tiny little ham sandwich for lunch which was great, no chips and I was happy with that.  Drank 4 glasses of water through the afternoon.  Then at 430pm I started to get hungry and when I would normally grab an apple,nuts whatever, my brain just didn't even process - I grabbed tortilla chips and salsa and had a little pig out.  It was like something overtook my body.  I regretted it the second I was done scarfing it down and now I'm so mad and disappointed in myself.  I'm back to chugging water to try and repair the damage.  But these are the stupid things I do sometimes and why I can't make the progress I want too.
So I'm making our stir fry now at 630pm because of course I'm not hungry and I will eat the veggies and some chicken and skip the rice entirely.
So mad.

Part two of Monday

Now that I'm back home and my 2 hour workout is done (Im exhausted) I wanted to finish my blog for today.  Spending that time with my trainer Rita is so damn motivating.  I worked it hard today and as she put it "Sarah, you didn't even complain today".....haha...  More and more I'm starting to think of future ideas for me to get me back into the world of fitness.  Teaching for sure.  Getting myself to the best Sarah I can be is first and foremost.  And I"m so lucky that I have Rita to help me with this.  And Larissa, my pilates instructor who is amazing and so knowledgeable as well.

What I really wanted to talk about today is my daughter Avah and how proud I am of her.  We adopted Avah when she was 10 days old in a private open adoption.  Avah descends genetically from a 6 ft 4 father built like a football player and an average size birth mother, two very overweight bio aunts and overweight by a product of their lifestyle bio grandparents.  So she has a genetic battle there that we have to fight together.  My girl is 7.5 years old and she's definitely big for her age.  Would you call her fat?  No.  Not even really big boned.  Just a big girl.  She's very tall - much taller than her friends, she wears a size 3 shoe, has big hands, a belly and a HUGE personality.  She is the most wonderful little creature and I am so lucky to have her.  Making good decisions food wise isn't easy for Avah and over the past few months as I have switched to a clean eating lifestyle she as well has switched with me slowly.  We never use the following words in our house - skinny, weight, fat.  We use words and phrases such as healthy, heart healthy, clear pee, beautiful skin, muscles, energy and so on.  I am very careful about how I approach her.  Avah wants to eat ALL the time and she craves sugar ALL the time and I know how hard that is for her.  We have gradually started satisfying her cravings other ways and luckily she is normally willing to try new foods.  She has started taking yogurt for morning snack at school (and she would never eat yogurt before), afternoon snack at school might be an apple, raisins and goldfish, oriental rice snacks.  She is allowed 1 unhealthy dessert for lunch which is usually a snack pack of cookies and dessert after supper.  She is willing to try new things at meal times and she loves the rule of try something once and if you don't like it you don't have to eat it, but you have to try it.  I'm proud of her everyday because I know she really struggles.  And of course my son Jack who is 5 and has the same bio mother but a different father is a teeny tiny little string bean that can eat whatever he wants but loves healthy food and never craves sweet.  Life is unfair sometimes!!

So I'm off to eat my ham sandwich and then chop veggies for tonights stir fry.

Love Mondays

Unlike a lot of people Mondays are my favourite day of the week.  After a relaxing weekend I love nothing more then sending my kids off to school and having a very productive day on my own.    Today I am heading to Step Class at 930am, followed by an hour with Rita - not sure how I will be feeling after all that torture.  Racing home to shower and then meeting Jamie to do a little shopping at Masonville for the afternoon.  Race to pick the kids up from school, grocery shopping at some point in there, dinner, homework.....a scheduled routine is what I need everyday.

Have I mentioned that Tom and I leave for Vegas this Thurs?  Vegas is one of my favourite places on Earth - the best shopping, great eating and relaxing around the pool.  I am so excited.  And I know that in Vegas my healthy eating will not be a problem at all.  We have a reservation Friday night at the Capital Grille which is my all time favourite steakhouse and Saturday night we reservations at STK which is a very famous celebrity steakhouse.  A huge change in my life is that I very rarely go to Italian restaurants anymore when that was all I went to "before".  Now I seek out great steakhouses or seafood restaurants where I can get a beautiful filet and veggies or cracked crab, ahi tuna salad....yummy, i can taste it now.

Todays food:
Up at 730am - got kids up and ready.
845am - my morning shake.
Between step class and Rita I will have a protein shake to keep my energy up.

For lunch today I will be on the run which means I likely won't even miss my potato chips - I will likely have a sandwich today - a 3 inch whole grain roll with off the bone ham which is real ham and a piece of cheese.

Not sure about what I will snack on today - it's been apples and nuts for the most part this past week.

Supper tonight is going to be a chicken and veggie stir fry which we haven't had in ages.  I do it with long grain and wild rice, chicken, all colours of peppers and broccoli - yummy.

So a great day.  and if I get a chance later I am going to blog about my little girl and how proud I am over the choices she has started making on her food.

Feeling great today

So yesterday was actually a really great day for me in the land of food - after my purging of the potato chips in the house the rest of the day went great.  We watched a movie in the late afternoon and I made a plate of cheese and wheat thins, sea salt popcorn and tortillas and salsa for the family.  I had a handful of the popcorn and a couple tortillas and that was it.  Supper was a great meal.  I grilled shrimp for Tom and i with tomatoes and a garlic in olive oil and served them with asparagus and my moms homemade mac and cheese (that part is for the kids).  I had 2 small spoonfuls of the macaroni.  And no snacking last night just lots of water a a mug of hot chocolate later on.  So I was pretty happy with that.

Today as per usual for a Sunday morning Tom made the kids pancakes while I puttered around upstairs and avoided breakfast.  I don't usually eat it on Sundays.
So just now I had my awesome salad plate with chicken and egg whites and NO CHIPS and I'm still alive.  I feel deprived to be honest but I'm going to keep busy and just not think about it.

Last night before bed I put a pork tenderloin in the crockpot with garlic, water and an onion and turned it on low all night.  Turned it off when I got up and then around 400pm today I will pull it all apart, add Diana Smokehouse sauce and let it simmer for 2 hours.  I'm serving it with my homemade rice and a salad for dinner.

All in all I'm happy with how my weekend has gone.

Saturday - a day of rest

Ahhh, our first Saturday home as a family since August - no joke - either I was working at the Fair, , I was in Florida with Avah, then Tom at the Hunt Camp, then Tom and I in Florida.  So this weekend finally we are home before we leave for Vegas on Wed night.  Woohoo.
We went to The London Club last night and had such a nice time.  I love getting dressed up and going out with friends.  I'm feeling it a bit today - never fails that I end up with a headache the day after.  I had two glasses of champagne upon arrival and 2 glasses of wine at dinner and then switched to water and still the damn headache.  The food was amazing - food stations,which is my favourite.  Huge jumbo cold shrimp, sushi, crab cakes, chicken, cheese, I had just a tiny tiny portion of the pasta (maybe 3 mouth fills), we shared some samples of dessert.  All in all a great meal. Today I'm back to chugging 8-10 glasses of water minimum - love my clear pee.

Today I was in bed until 900am and then just a banana for breakfast.  I try not to have my shake on weekends so that I don't get sick of it and normally we sleep in on weekends and I'm not working out so not a big deal.  Avah and I ran errands and did a big grocery shop this morning while Tom and Jack were at hockey.  Lunch was a buffet like normal - PB and J for Jack, one kind of sandwich for Avah, another for Tom and my usual salad plate with chicken and egg for me.  With a side of chips which I have to tell you I then threw in the garbage and told Tom tomorrow - NO CHIPS - lets just try a day and see if I die.  haha.  I got some salsa and tortillas for movie time this afternoon that I will serve with veggies and cheese.  Supper tonight is grilled shrimp that I do with olive oil, fresh tomatoes and garlic, roasted asparagus and homemade mac and cheese for the kids.  I got some seasalt popcorn for tonight since we are doing two movies today.  Tom went out and bought ET which I'm so excited to watch with the kids this afternoon - one of my fav childhood movies and for tonight we bought Rock of Ages which our whole family has anxiously been waiting for.  We saw it twice at the theatre with our kids and we all LOVE it.  So a very lazy day of movies and comfy clothes and snuggles on the couch.  And maybe if Tom's a good boy he will get lucky.....I told him he has to be on his best behaviour...haha...the one aspect of our relationship that I have total control over...hehehe....

Body Fat and what it means

My sister sent me this article today and I think it really breaks down what body fat means for women and what category we should fall into.  I am currently just over 30% body fat which is too high for me. I need to get down to closer to 25% and in fact in my prime I was more like 20%.  I will talk about my day today and then post the article.
So up today at 740am to get the kids off to school.  Had my morning shake that I have basically every morning as I described yesterday.
930-1130am - back to ladies indoor tennis.  This is such a great workout and so much fun.  I am pretty good at tennis and have played most of my life so I really look forward to Friday mornings.  There are usually 8 ladies, 2 coaches and we do drills for the first hour and then play for the second hour.  I woke up this morning sore from head to toe from two consecutive days with Rita, I think the tennis loosened me up for a while but I will pay for this tonight and all weekend. I will try and walk the dog a lot this weekend to get rid of the aches.
1200p lunch - today was Quiznos - one of my fav treats for lunch that I do about once every 10 days when I just can't face another salad.  Today was a small veggie sub and small broccoli soup.  Now that actually isn't the ideal meal after 2 hours of tennis - I need to get some protein in their stat to start repairing the muscles so I will have a protein shake shortly.  Yesterday I managed to consume close to 10 glasses of water and by 1000pm last night I was having the most amazing clear perfect pees.  I love to see crystal clear pee.  That's always a good sign.  So I'm chugging water now and then I will take a break before our event tonight and then chug some more later tonight.
Now going into the weekend, most people that are trying to Eat Clean worry.  Not me - weekends are sooo much easier for me.  Tom and I tend to go out to dinner a lot and thats when I eat my healthiest meals - almost always a protein and veggie.  Tonight we have a big event at the London Club and I'm not worried at all about what I will eat and as I don't want to be hungover tomorrow I will limit myself to 2 or 3 glasses of wine.  This afternoon I have ZERO plans until Avah gets home at 400pm so I am planting my ass on the couch and catching up on shows before I jump tubby to get ready for tonight.
I also want to say I have had the nicest emails from people about my blog.  Thank you so much everyone.  its always nice to know you aren't alone in your battle.
Here is the body fat article.

Body Fat Descriptions Of Women

Body Fat Percentage Women 10-12%

This is an extremely low body fat level typically attained by female bodybuilders. Essential fat for women is round 8-10% compared to 2% for men. Why the difference? Women have more fat in breast tissue and the area surrounding the uterus. This level of body fat is not considered safe, or healthy for women who will be unable to menstruate. Striations of muscle, separation between muscles, clear vascularity are all noticeable at this level. The women in the photo is likely at the higher end of the range at 12% body fat because she is not too vascular.

Body Fat Percentage Women 15-17%

This is still considered a very low body fat for women, which is similar to the 6-7% body fat for range men. Many bikini and fitness models will reach this body fat level and some may not be able to menstruate. Muscle definition in the abs, legs, arms, and shoulders is apparent, there is some vascularity and some separation between muscles. Hips, buttocks, and thighs generally have a little less shape because of the low body fat.

Body Fat Percentage Women 20-22%

This is body fat percentage is usually in the “fit” category of most body fat charts and is typical of many female athletes. Some definition in the abs is apparent, there is body fat on the arms and legs, but it’s not too pronounced. There is minimal, but some separation between muscles.

Body Fat Percentage Women 25%

This is on the low end of what’s average for most women and is characterized by a shape that is neither too slim, nor overweight. Curves in the hips are usually more apparent along with more fat in the buttocks and thighs. A 5’4” women who weighs 130lb and has 97lb of lean body mass has 25% body fat.

Body Fat Percentage Women 30%

While most men have fat funnel into their stomachs, as the body fat of most women (but certainly not all) increases, this fat tends to accumulate in the hips, buttocks, and thighs. At 30% body fat, the hips, thighs, and buttocks are more pronounced and round. This is considered the high end of average for women in many body fat charts.

Body Fat Percentage Women 35%

The hips become even wider at this level of body fat and the face and neck will appear rounder and more full. Hip circumference can start approaching 40+ inches and waist circumference of 32+ inches. Some belly fat may start protruding over the waist as well.

Body Fat Percentage Women 40%

The hips and thighs grow larger so that hip circumference can reach 42+ inches, waist of 35 inches, and thighs over 25 inches.

Body Fat Percentage Women 45%

The skin may begin to lose its smooth appearance as more and more fat accumulates. Hip Circumference can may reach 45 inches+ and waist circumference 35+ inches. The hips may become noticeably wider than the shoulders.

Body Fat Percentage Women 50%

The will likely look like it has dimples more fat accumulates. Hip Circumference can may reach 45+ inches and waist circumference 40+ inches and thighs above 30+ inches. The hips will likely be noticeably wider than the shoulders. To put it in better perspective, a 5’4” women who weighs 200lb and has 100lb of lean body mass has 50% body fat.

Thursday

So where do I start today??  I want to start off with a quick paragraph about me.  I'm 37 years old, married to an amazing man with 2 gorgeous children - Avah who is 7 and Jack who is 5.  We live in a beautiful home in London, I work here and there are various jobs and I still feel like even at the age of 37 that I"m discovering who I am.  My focus today will be on my body and what has happened to me.
I was that girl growing up that was tiny  and I mean tiny.  Like 100lbs in high school and college and pretty much until around age 25 or so.  I could eat what I wanted, I was very active, I figure skated all my years growing up, I exercised, I loved to dance, ride my bike etc....In my early twenties I became Can Fit Pro certified and began teaching kickboxing and other fitness classes 2 and 3 times a week and loved it.  Then I moved to London, got married and started on the baby train.  Turned out the baby train took us 2 years of fertility drugs, 4 rounds of IVF with nothing to show except for frayed nerves, stress and an additional 25 or pounds.  The just before I turned 30 we found out we were able to adopt our baby girl Avah and less than 2 years later we adopted our son Jack and by age 32 I had the perfect world.  Only, it turned out to be not so perfect when I developed a raging case of post adoption depression (and yes there is such a thing).  All of a sudden the happy go lucky girl that I had been for 30 years was gone and instead was left with this shell of a woman that didn't know how to be a parent and for that matter didn't know if she wanted to be a parent.  Fast forward a few rough years, things got better and then they got worse again and I finally went to my doctor and found out that I was borderline bipolar - a prescription for an antidepressant and an anti anxiety pill later and I was a new woman.  A different woman, a woman that has to work every day at being happy and confident and scheduled and not too crazy.  At the age of 36 I found myself at close to 140lbs from a combination of laziness with exercise and nutrition, remnants of too many hormones from all that IVF and weight gain from the antidepressant - enough to make me depressed again right?
In March of 2011 I joined Herbal Magic and was determined that I was going to get back to the old Sarah.  It was hard - I lost weight and got to about 127lbs and looked great but as with any weight loss program it was not to be and I gained it back.  I spent most of fall 2011 and winter 2012 ignoring what I knew was happening to me again but only worse.
In the spring I met one of the most influential people in my life and I thank god for her every day.  Mrs Rita Catolino, trainer at Goodlife, but not just any trainer.  This woman had also gone through what I had been through, the ups and downs and 5 years ago got her shit together and never turned back.  She is an amazing role model.  So I plunked down a crazy amount of money in June for 6 months of training with her and I haven't looked back.  I was at my heaviest when I started with Rita and just totally disgusted in myself - just bordering on 150lbs.  After a summer of ups and downs and much learning from Rita not just fitness but so much about my body and how it works and how EAT CLEAN is the only way to live I have found a new Sarah.  I no longer want the old Sarah - I will never be 125lbs again and nor do I want to be.  I want to be 135lbs, I want to wear my designer clothes with pride and look fabulous and most importantly I want to be healthy and a good role model for my daughter.  So with all that in mind as of today I am down to 142lbs.  My goal with Rita is to hit 140lbs by Oct 21st.  It is a battle for me every second of the day because you see I LOVE POTATO CHIPS - I crave them, I am addicted to them and I can't give them up no matter what I have tried.  So in my posts you will see my struggles and what I do and that I live the 80/20 rule - 80percent healthy and 20 percent not so much and I am happy with that.  Here is my weekly workout schedule and it's a biggies:
Mondays - 45 minute step class followed by 1 hour with Rita where she focuses on low weights, high reps, constant movement.
Tuesdays - 1 hour pilates reformer - I am a certified pilates instructor and its my passion - I love it and my body responds amazingly well to it.
Wednesdays - 1 hour with Rita
Thursdays - 1 hour pilates reformer
Fridays - 2 hours ladies tennis at the University
Weekends off - walks with my family, take it easy.

Today here is what I have done and this is basically what my blogs will look like from now on:
Up at 740am to get the kids ready and off to school.
830am - my morning shake which is diet cranberry juice, 2% plain greek yogurt, a banana, frozen strawberries and peaches and a spoonful of flax seed.
900a - hourlong workout with Rita and by the end I am shaking - she is a tyrant my girl.
1030am - protein shake which is just a scoop of my chocolate protein and about 3 ozs of water.  I also drink about a glass of water while workout out.
From then until my lunchtime I ran errands, dry-cleaning, alterations etc...
100pm - lunch and my most difficult meal of the day where I generally eat potato chips.  Today I had a salad plate that I make with chopped chicken, 2 hardboiled egg whites, chickpeas, green, red and orange peppers, cucumber and some swiss cheese topped with a sprinkle of olive oil and balsamic.  I also had regular ruffles potato chips with it and a diet pepsi.
For the after I am at home today on my computer (obvi) going over my calendar, emailing people, doing some travel stuff for clients, pretty easy day.  Meeting with Avahs teacher at 330pm.  I have consumed 3 more glasses of water while sitting here and peed twice since 100pm.
I will have an apple in about 30 minutes and a handful of cashews.
For supper tonight its just the kids and I  and I'm making tacos.  I eat my tacos veggie style so mine will have lettuce, tomato, green pepper, some low fat cheese, a tiny bit of low fat sour cream and I will eat two of them.  I no longer make rice with my tacos.  I will still have another 3-4 glasses of water today.  If I need a snack tonight I will have popcorn.

SO thats my day in a nutshell.  Tune in tomorrow if you are interested and if no one reads this Im fine with that too - this is basically my diary and my way of being accountable.

S

A Brand New Me

Well, here I am blogging which I didn't think I would do again but I feel it will be something that is going to help on my ongoing journey towards a healthy clean life.  I know there are so many people out there blogging about fitness and nutrition these days and that's exactly what I am going to do but FOR ME, not for anyone else.  This is going to be like my daily journal of what I"m eating, exercising, my battles for the day, my struggles, my ups and downs.  I am a self described high maintenance woman who loves all the good stuff in life - champagne, cars, beautiful clothing and I'm not afraid to admit it.  But dig below my superficial self and you will find a total insecure, loving, fun great mother, sister, daughter and friend who knows that I am sooo unbelievably lucky to be able to live the life I do.

What will you find in my blog?  Pure honesty, meaning my weight, my food, my fitness, maybe my bathroom habits (well, just kidding on that one), my bad habits, my great habits, my very vocal opinions, my loves, my hates.  So I warn you now, don't read any further if you don't have anything nice to say!!!!  haha......

So I will post this and then start off an official blog for today!!

Off to enjoy this journey of being the BEST SARAH that I can be.