Foodie Pen Pal

During the month of May I was a Foodie Pen Pal!

What's a "Foodie Pen Pal" you ask? Well, let me explain. 


On the 5th of every month, you receive your penpal pairing via email. It is then your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need. Then you get to shop (with a $15 spending limit) for your penpal. You then have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail to send to your penpal. On the last day of the month, you post about the goodies you received from your penpal! For full details, click here!






I saw this appearing on a few blogs that I follow and it sounded so cool! Who doesn't love receiving packages in the mail?! The lovely Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean came up with this fantastic idea and she organizes it every single month!


I decided to sign up for May. My penpal ended up being the wonderful Helen from What Happened Next.... So I sent her a quick email to let her know that I would be sending her some goodies and to find out what her likes and dislikes were. She sent me back a lovely email and we've been corresponding via email every so often ever since! 

I forgot to take a picture of the box that I sent her, but she'll be adding a post just like this to her blog today, so feel free to check it out to see what I sent her :) I really enjoyed shopping for her, but it was tough to stay in withen the 15$ limit.. I may have went over a bit ;) 

A couple days later I received an email from Amie at Running on Healthy letting me know that I was her penpal and a few weeks later I received a great package in the mail containing a bunch of awsome goodies! 

Love Snail Mail :)

Amie is a vegetarian and I told her that I was perfectly OK with Vegetarian products and that I enjoy trying new things. Everything in the box was new to me and I've enjoyed everything that I've tried so far. I may have ripped open the bag of "Salty Dog" chips as soon as I opened the box.. they were so good!

Yum! I could go for some more ;)

Tasty and easy!

I haven't tried this yet, but it sounds good!

I got two of these babies, but I've already eaten the other one. It was tasty! I believe the flavour was a coconut combination :)

These taste like sushi :)

Homemade energy balls. yum!

Looking forward to trying this!

I really enjoyed the Foodie Pen Pal experience and I've already signed up for June! I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys new food, receiving snail mail and "meeting" new people. For more details on this program or if you'd like to sign up for June, click here!! You won't be disappointed ;) 

Holy Heat Wave, Batman!!

It has been HOT the past couple days here. Yesterday we broke a record from the 1978! With the humidity it was 38 degrees (100 degrees fahrenheit !!). May should not be that hot! Makes me wonder what July is going to feel like. 


The weather has been crazy all over the province this past week or so. 




State of Emergencies declared because of out of control fires about 7 hours North of me in Timmins, ON. 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/story/2012/05/29/sby-timmins9-fire-update.html

State of Emergency in Thunder Bay, ON (2 hours from my hometown) because of a flash flood yesterday. 

Roads washed out

http://www.chroniclejournal.com/content/news/local/2012/05/28/state-emergency-across-thunder-bay-and-region

And here we are dying of heat. Mother nature is out of control! 

Yesterday was our scheduled run after work. My boss is hardcore and is willing to run in rain or shine, so she gave us the option of running after work in the heat or waiting until today. Stupidly  Surprisingly, most of us said we'd attempt running in the heat. We were all dreading it, but mostly wanted to get the run over with. Running in the heat is very hard and I find that it really hinders my breathing. However, my run yesterday was actually pretty good! The last 6 minutes were tough, I felt sooooo hot, but breathing was fine. I didn't run as far as I have been, but considering the circumstance, I think I did pretty well!

My first 5k is in 20 days!! I'm still really nervous about it, but I'm confident that I can complete it :)

Weekend Recap!

This weekend was nice and relaxing after a very busy 10 day visit with my mom. 


Saturday I decided that I was going to dust off my "30 Day Shred" video and do that as my workout. If you've never done this workout before, you should! It's a 20 minute butt-kicking workout that makes you feel like you've been working out for hours. I get a better workout in those 20 minutes than I do after an hour at the gym. I forgot how great of a workout it is. I was literally dripping sweat. Proof is in the picture, people!

Add caption

Saturday night we headed to our friends' place for a bbq. They cooked us a great dinner or pork chops, corn, potatoes and a lot of grilled vegetables. I didn't realize how much I enjoy grilled vegetables. I filled half my plate with them! Yumm! It made me even more happy that my parents bought me and my boyfriend and BBQ :)






We currently live in a basement apartment with limited outdoor space. Luckily for me, and sun enthusiast, there's a huge park right across the street. Living just outside Toronto, renting a condo is crazy expensive and we're not quite ready to buy yet. However, there are tons of beautiful basement apartments in our area, so we lucked out. The apartment itself is great. It's 1100 sq. ft., 2 bedrooms, ceramic floors, fire place, laundry room, full bathroom, 2 parking etc. The only downsize is the outdoors space, but we can deal for now. 


I spent my sunday afternoon putting our BBQ together. I love my boyfriend, but he's not a "handy guy" and has no patience for stuff like that. I on the other hand actually enjoy it and I like the sense of accomplishment I feel once I have completed the task. My dad taught me well growing up and I've always taken things into my own hands and did things myself. I prefer doing it on my own anyway. No one to get frustrated at if they do it wrong ;) 

Outdoor space, thank goodness for the park!! :)

Ta-Da!!

On Thursday we went to a buffet-style restaurant for my mom's birthday dinner. We got fortune cookies after our meal and my fortune couldn't have been more perfect. 

Right?!

 Hope everyone had a great weekend and a fantastic long weekend for all you Americans :)

Saturday Weigh In

I've been staying at my sisters' house all week so I could spend more time with my mom before she left. My sister doesn't have a scale so I couldn't weigh in yesterday, so today was my weigh in day. 


Last week: 259.5
This week: 261.5
+2lbs :(


So the good news is that I technically maintained my weight while my mom was here visiting. Which is a huge accomplishment for me. In the past, I have always gained weight during family visits. And this visit included a potluck, a weekend away, dinners out, buffet dinner and 4 nights at my sisters' house. The fact that I'm up 2lbs this week isn't surprising to me at all and considering the circumstances, I think I did ok. 


That being said, I really want reach my birthday goal. So I need to start focusing and staying on track. I've been doing well with getting my 3 runs in each week, but I need to get some strength training in. I haven't been to the gym in quite a while and I honestly have to desire to go. I think during the next few weeks I'm going to use my 30 day Shred video. It's a quick video and it really kicks your butt, perfect for the days that I don't run. I'm aiming for a really good loss this week to make up for the past couple weeks. Fingers crossed!

Birthday Goal

Ultimately, my goal is to weigh somewhere around the 150 mark. I've never been skinny and I honestly can't remember ever being in the 100's, so that goal may change once I reach Onederland. When that time comes, I will revaluate how I look and feel and set an actual goal weight. 


For now, I feel like I need another goal to work towards. Something to keep me motivated over the summer months. My 25th birthday is on September 1st, which also falls on the Labour Day long weekend. My goal is to lose 30 lbs which works out to be 2lbs a week... totally doable! 


So if all goes as planned, I will weigh 229lbs by September 1st. A friend and I were thinking of going to Buffalo, NY in the fall to do some shopping. If I reach my goal, then I will allow myself to splurge and buy a mini fall wardrobe (definitely boots and a coat!) :)


229 seems so far away, but knowing that it will only take 2 lbs per week gives me hope that I can do it!

Long Weekend Recap

Happy monday everyone!


I'm off today as it's a long weekend here in Canada :)
It's also going to be an extra short week for me since I'm taking Thursday afternoon off for my mom's birthday and friday is my scheduled every other friday off.. woo hoo!


We surprised my mom this weekend with a weekend away at her best friend's place. They have been friends since they were babies and haven't seen each other since '99. So needless to say, she was pretty excited and surprised when she realized where we were headed on friday. 


The weather this weekend was/is fantastic!! I've lived through many camping trips on may long weekend where it's been below freezing, snow, rain etc. Not this year. This year is was +30! (86F for you americans :P). Did I mention that my mom's friend has an in ground pool? Yeah, it was perfect. We basically spent the entire weekend by the pool and I have the tan to prove it :)

First thing saturday morning! 

sorry about the wrong rotation - but doesn't it look lovely!

Tan and summer hair :)

We headed back home Sunday around dinner time. We decided we'd check out the fireworks at Wonderland which we could see from about two blocks from my place. 

I woke up this morning and hopped on the scale. I was expecting to see a gain. I didn't eat horrible, but it certainly wasn't great. I was up 2.5lbs.. which sucks, but I was actually expecting more. I know if I work hard this week and eat well, maybe it will come off by friday, but I'm not expecting a loss this week. Shortly after I headed out for a run and it was HOT. It's still 30 degrees out and I find it so hard to run in this heat. It really effects my breathing and I feel like I have asthma and end up having to stop. This doesn't happen when it's cooler out. I hope when race day comes along, it won't be too hot :s

We're heading to my sisters in a couple hours for a bbq. I'll be staying there until thursday so I can spend some time with my mom before she leaves on friday. It's going to be hard to stay on track with y eating while staying at her place, but I think I can do it. :)

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Friday Weigh In - May 18th

Good friday morning!!




Previous weight: 261.5
Today's weight: 259.5
Weight loss: 2lbs




I'm FINALY in the 250's, barely, but it still counts :) 
I even survived a potluck yesterday at work and didn't go overboard, which is huge for me! I had a plan for the potluck and I stuck with it pretty well. I took one plate and had some veggies, a few different salads, 3 small meatballs, a piece of jerk chicken, brie cheese, 2 crackers, one of my strawberries and a piece of a lemon square. I passed up buns, cheese, pasta salad, sliders, chili and brownies! I would've taken a picture of the delicious food, but I would've got strange looks from my coworkers ;) For the first time after a potluck, I actually felt satisfied and not stuffed! 


I normally run every monday and wednesday right after work with some coworkers, but I was off wednesday so I wanted to make sure that I got a run in before the weekend. I decided to change into my running clothes at work so I could go directly to the trail and not make any excuses. I had such a good run! Probably my best one yet. I'm not sure how long I ran because I was at a local trail, but I do know that it was over 3km, but not likely over 4.. so pretty good! 

Family Visits and Weight Loss

My mom arrived yesterday, which is exciting! My parents live in Northern Alberta, which is three provinces over from us, so I only get to see them about twice a year. It's been like that since I moved from home 7 years ago, so I've gotten used to it. It would still be nice if they lived closer though.. hopefully that will happen in a few years when my dad can retire. 


In the past, I've always gained weight after visits with my parents. They have weight issues too and my sister is the only naturally skinny one in our family. I'm determined to not gain weight during this visit. I made us a nice dinner last night and today while we were out, I think I did pretty well. 


We decided to head downtown Toronto and check out China Town and Kensington Market. 


Our first stop was for lunch at the place called "Fresh". We had never heard of it, but it looked pretty popular and it ended up being really good! I ordered the "Soho Felafel"...

Felafel balls, Pita, Couscous, hummus and three dips. So good!!

We then made our way over to China Town and the Kensington Market. The Kensington Market is a really cool area and my mom loved it. We'll be going back during her next visit. 

Kensington Market

Everything is so colourful!

Random

<3 Graffiti 

So much character 

By the time we got home, it was time for dinner. Lunch really filled me up, so I ate a chocolate and a small piece of bread that we got from Cobb's bread. Not much of a dinner, but I really wasn't hungry.


Tomorrow at work we're having a picnic themed potluck. I came across these cute strawberry cheesecakes on Pinterest and decided that they would be great for a potluck. They look so cute too!! 

Finished Product - Yum!

I used a no-bake cheesecake filling which included 1 brick of light cream cheese, 1.25 cups of light cool whip, .25 cup of sugar and some lemon juice. Blend it all together, scoop out the strawberry's and fill them with the filling. I also crumbled some graham cracker crumbs on top. 

Ta da!

Super easy and totally cute! I think they're going to be a hit. 

I had too much cheesecake filling left over and normally I'd eat it by the spoonful, but I came up with a brilliant idea and fed it to my mom and sister instead ;) I filled two small bowls with blueberry's, topped them with some whip cream, cheesecake filling and graham crumbs. Delish! 

Mom and sister approved!

I licked the spoon of course, but I wasn't even tempted to eat this! 

Did I also mention that my mom works at this chocolate store and she brought us a box of specialty chocolates?! I think I ate three today, but that's it! I'd say that's pretty good considering they're sitting in our cupboard along with the Jelly Belly's that she brought...

So far I'd say that I'm doing pretty well. Tomorrow I'll be going for my run and hopefully seeing the 250's on friday. Fingers crossed!!!

Weekend Recap!

I really focused on staying on track this weekend, counting my calories and allowing myself some treats. And guess what? It worked! Imagine that!? ;)
I hopped on the scale this morning to make sure I didn't do any damage and I was actually down a little bit! As I was getting dressed for work I noticed that my pants felt a little more loose, so I dug out my measuring tape. I always find it hard to measure myself. I can never remember exactly where to hold the tape measure to get an accurate reading, but it looks as though I'm down an inch or two around my waist. 
Needless to say, it was a good start to my week! :)


I allowed myself to indulge in a few treats this weekend and I think that was the reason I was able to stay on track. I made myself a small homemade pizza on friday (and saturday, it was good!) followed by a small bag of mini eggs. Saturday I made some delicious low fat banana chocolate chip muffins from the best site ever www.skinnytaste.com and only ate 2! Sunday my boyfriend and I cooked dinner for his mom, Fajitas and no bake cheese cake. And after all of that, I was still down on the scale this morning! It was a great reminder that you don't have to be on a strict, limting diet to lose weight. 

New Look?

I changed the look of the blog...I don't think it's a keeper though. 

The creative side in me always finds something wrong, I do the same with my paintings.

But it will do for now :)

5k Training

My first official 5k race is on June 17th and I'm nervous about it... especially after my past few runs. 

I really want to run the entire race at a decent time. I'm not expecting a fantastic time by any means, but around 40 minutes would be great!

I went for a run jog Thursday evening. I was planning on going right after work, but I wasn't feeling up to it. Instead I ate some dinner and went and picked up the boyfriend at work...then I went for a jog. During the final stretch I got the worst side stitch I've ever had.. it hurt to inhale. So I cut my jog a little short. I was disappointed, but I knew that it was likely from eating dinner shortly before my run. 

This morning I had another run planned and I was hoping that this one would be the longest one yet. It wasn't.

I woke up and had eggs, toast and a big glass of water. I waited about an hour to let everything settle. When I got outside at 10am I noticed that it was pretty warm out already. Halfway through my run I felt SO hot and I eventually felt like I was barely moving so I stopped to take a walking break. As soon as I stopped jogging I felt dizzy and light headed and super hot.. not fun! I decided it would be best to cut my run short and run/walk home. I just checked the weather channel and it's already 23 degrees  out (74 for you American readers)! I'm not used to running in the heat yet and definitely think I needed more water. I do drink a ton of water, but I hadn't drank any since 9pm last night. 

Anyway, I'm pretty disappointed with both of those runs and it makes me nervous that the 5k is going to be really hard for me. That being said, I still have a month to train and if I keep running 3 or  4 times per week, I think I can do it! :)

Friday Weigh In

Previous weight: 261.5

This week's weight: 261.5

No change...

The 260's are seriously taunting me and sick of it!!

That being said, it's completely my fault and I know exactly what the problem is. 

Weekends.

I've been really struggling with my weight loss in the past few months. I do really well during the week, then the weekend comes and I go completely off track and I spend the following week working my butt off so I don't have a gain on the scale at the next weigh in. I really, REALLY to stop this cycle. I think if I allow myself a treat or a meal out during the weekend I won't feel like I need to binge on junk or eat out multiple times. 

I want to achieve my may goals and at this rate, it's not going to happen. I am determined to reach the 250's and never see the 260's again. On tuesday my mom is coming to visit for 10 days. We're also going away for the entire weekend while she's here. I always gain weight while she's here (that's a whole other blog post that I'll write another time). I only see my parents about twice a year so I'm pretty excited to see her. There will be a lot more dinners out, tempting treats and food in general... but I'm not letting this visit sabotage my diet like it normally does. My goal for those 10 days is to actually lose weight... even if it's just one pound i'll be happy. 

Anyway, today is my day off and it's supposed to be beautiful out. I'll  be heading out shortly to run some errands, buy some canvas for a new painting and then spend some time at the park across the street :)

Hope everyone has a great friday!

Feelin' like blahhh and my first 5k!

Last Thursday I woke up feeling like crap and extremely tired (I'm rarely tired in the morning once I'm up). I never rarely get sick. I've been at my current job for 3 years and I've used maybe 3 sick days on actually being sick. It wasn't even that I was overly sick, but just extremely tired and worn out and just needed some rest. The last time I had a flu was 3.5 years ago and the last time a got sick (i.e. threw up) was in the 6th grade! I think it's safe to say that I have a pretty good immune system :)


Anyway, my coworker that fills in for me on my fridays off was pretty sick about a week ago and of course she sat at my desk during this time. So when I woke up feeling crappy on thursday and again on Friday I thought for sure I caught whatever she had. Then saturday and sunday came around and I felt perfectly fine and forgot about it. Then monday and tuesday happened and sure enough, I felt like crap again! My head felt like it weighed 30lbs, my throat felt funny and I just felt off. I skipped my runs and my eating hasn't been great. 


Today, I feel MUCH better! I don't feel tired or off and I'm looking forward to my run after work. Oh and the sun is back out and it's supposed to stay out all weekend - I love me some Vitamin D! 


I'm guessing my body was just fighting off whatever bug I may have come into contact with. My coworker suggested that it could've been the weather too as it's been gloomy/humid the past little while.. who knows, I'm just glad I feel better. 

Weekend Recap

This weekend was filled with good food, lovely weather and great company!


I would've like to take some picture for you all, but my camera broke last week :( 
Luckily, my dad is sending me his because he just uses his iphone now. So I'll have a new one in about a week :)


I didn't make the best choices food-wise this weekend. My sister and I went to Wild Wing on friday and I may have had some deep fried pickles... and a few wings. Not a good choice at all, but it was delicious! We then headed to the movies to see The Lucky One (pretty good movie) and I enjoyed some Yogen Fruz (yum!). 


Saturday I spent the morning at my sisters prepping our dinner and dessert for sunday (ribs and no bake cheesecake!). The boyfriend and I headed back home and hit the sack pretty early (especially for a saturday!). 


Sunday we went to pick up my aunt and uncle from the airport and headed back to my sisters. It was such a nice day yesterday, I even got a tan! :) We headed down to the waterfront to find a patio and eat some lunch. The patio I wanted to hit up wasn't open yet, so we settled on Hooters. They honestly have the best view of the lake... We soaked up some sun for a view hours and took my aunt shopping and then it was time for dinner. Everyone loved my ribs and cheesecake. The cheesecake was a no-bake healthier version compliments of www.skinnytaste.com (love this site!).
Around 8pm we said our goodbyes and headed back home. It was so great to see my aunt and uncle! My family all live very far away so getting to visit with any of them, even if it's just for the day, is always so great!


So I didn't exactly eat the best this weekend, but I certainly enjoyed myself and I'm just going to work extra hard this week to make up for it :)


Hope everyone else had a great sunny weekend! 

Friday Weigh In

Previous weight: 262 
Today's weight: 261.5
-.5 lost


Honestly, I'm disappointed with today's weigh in. I was really hoping to be out of the 260's... they've been taunting me for WAY too long. That being said, I was actually surprised to see a loss today. I had a small binge last night... I have no idea why. I went to the cupboard and grabbed a licorice and before I knew it, I had eaten 6 (I think?) and then some dill pickle crispers... what a combination, eh? I managed to stop it by chewing some gum before it got out of control. I was pretty disappointed with myself and I thought for sure that it was going to show on the scale this morning.  


Today's a new week and I really, REALLY want to be out of the 260's... so that's my goal for this week. 


This weekend is going to be a bit of a challenge. I'm not going to be home for most of it and on sunday I have some family visiting and we're heading over to my sister's house for a bbq on sunday. I did pretty well last weekend and I think I can do it again this weekend! I just need to stay focused and get my run in on saturday :)


Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!!

May Goals

I've been inspired to type out my goals for each month and revisit them the following month after reading Ashley's blog @ www.coffeecakeandcardio.com/


April was a pretty good month now that I look back...




We spent Easter weekend up North where Ross got to meet more of my family..

I went to my very first Toronto Blue Jays game and actually enjoyed it! (way better than watching on TV)

Saw one of my favourite bands in concert!

And I started running!!

As far as weight loss goes, April sucked! 

May is going to be another busy month. My aunt and uncle are visiting this weekend and my mom is coming to visit for 10 days. I'm very excited about this...all my family lives very far away...but family visits always means lots of food. 

Anyway, here are my goals for May:

- Run 3x per week

- Run 5km straight by month end

- Track consistently on MFP

- Gain NO weight while my mom is here (this will be the toughest!!) 

- Continue to exercise while my mom is here

- Try tennis with the boyfriend

- Try a class at the gym

- Weigh 254 by month end 

- Enjoy the month because it's going to be a good one! :)

Hooked on a feeling!

It's amazing what eating right and exercise can do to your mentality!


I'm sitting at my desk, eating the salad I put together last night and it just hit me...I'm feeling really good! 


The sun is shining, the temperature is heating up (finally) and I have family coming to visit!


Life is good :)


I wish I could bottle up this feeling and take a swig of it on days that I feel like giving up or binging. 


The scale may not be co-operating with me this week, but I know that will change soon enough. I just have to remind myself that the small losses do add up! 




I almost forgot to mention... I'm looking forward to my run after work!! Crazy, I know ;)




That's all I got today. I just felt the need to write this down :)

I wish I was here right now. NYC <3