A Fun Day ...Lessons Learned

Hi guys!! I had a GREAT time on Parliament Hill yesterday celebrating Canada Day with my family!! It was wonderful.

So yesterday, I decided that I was going to eat whatever I wanted. It would be my "free" day where food was concerned. I don't believe in "cheat" days, I never want to feel guilty for eating something. I realize that all things must be consumed in moderation but it's also important (very important, actually) for me to be able to live and enjoy certain foods from time to time without any burdening guilt attached. And I did just that!

My family and I usually have a jumbo grilled italian sausage with a poutine (a combination of fries, gravy and cheese curds) on Canada Day..it's become tradition and this year would be no different. Here's what I had to eat:

1. A medium poutine (I so wanted to get a large one but thought better of it). It was delicious (see picture below)
   
2. A jumbo grilled italian sausage - I thought I would load it up with all sorts of toppings (saukrout, hot peppers, onions, pickles - but I ended up just adding ketchup). It was so yummy.
   
3. I also washed it all down with a can of Coke and my goodness was that ever sweet!! I don't remember coke tasting so sweet..it was "almost" disgusting...almost! LOL!!
4. On our way home that evening, we stopped off and picked up Chinese food - chicken fried rice, chicken balls, garlic spare ribs...YUMMY!! I had a pretty decent-sized plate and OMG....yum-a-licious!!!
5. We put the kids to bed and my girlfriend and I capped off the night with a few (3 or 4) cocktails - chopped pineapples, chopped strawberries, VODKA and tropical flavor five alive juice with ice....YUMMMMMMMY!!!

So it's fair to say that I had a great time yesterday and surprisingly, my stomach held up...for now....

So here's my annual "Canada Day Face-stuffing" shot. I put up last year's pic to compare. I can really notice the weight loss, especially in my face. Check it out...





Canada Day 2008

Canada Day 2009

Now that I've posted these pix side by side, I notice a huge change in my arms and face. Wow!! What a difference 57 pounds make!!

We do a lot of walking on Canada Day. My husband always thinks we're nuts for walking so much..he's always so tired after! :) We spend the whole time (about 5-6 hours) walking around from place to place, checking things out (vendors, shows etc)...so I think I got a good amount of cardio in for the day! :)

Back to my stomach holding up.....So how did I feel after eating all that greasy, yummy, fatty, sweet, wonderfully tasting food??? I FELT GREAT and SOOOOOOOOOOOO satisfied......until about....4 in the morning when I was awakened by serious stomach cramps....oh my goodness, I FELT HORRIBLE!!! Let's just say, I spent a whole lot of time on that "porcelain throne". It was not good!!! I made a number of "frequent visits" to that throne right through the morning. I started feeling better around 11am!! MY BODY LET ME DOWN, Y'ALL!! I felt awful!! I did go a bit overboard yesterday (lessons learned) but that's in the past and I'm back in the groove....back to business!! I have no guilty feelings about it!!

Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)

ST. PATTY'S & MY GIRLFRIEND JB....

This individual has been my friend for 20+ years and together, we've done a lot of fun and crazy things which will bring us to tears as we laugh about it, to this day!! It doesn't take much to get us going! I cannot imagine my life without her...anyway, this is not intended to be a sappy post. I can just see her face as she reads this laughing to herself and probably saying, "I can't believe she's writing about me and our craziness in her blog!!" or something to that effect!

Anyway, JB and I absolutely LOVE St. Patrick's Day!!! Well, maybe it's more the festivities that we like because if any one of us were quizzed on the history or origin of St. Patty's - we'd fail miserably!! I'm certain all of our responses would include either "leprechaun" or "green beer"!! It has been our longstanding tradition of just getting together and "doing it up right" on St. Patty's Day. For us, the festivities usually starts very early in the afternoon and goes strong until the wee hours of the morning!!

In the past, this involved the consumption of "a few" beverages, followed by a few more and so on and so on until very early the following morning where we'd ALWAYS end up asking the taxi driver to take us to the 24-hour drive thru McDonalds, where we ordered a massive amount of greasy, fatty food. I'm talking, double Big Macs, Supersize Fries, Coke and Apple Pies!!! I swear, it's the only thing we wanted to eat after a day on the "liquid diet" and it was just AMAZING! Can anyone relate to this, or are we just nuts?? Anyway, that's how we would normally spend St. Patty's Day, in the past!

This Year...

I will be in Edmonton on business on St. Patty's Day!! This year, on St. Patty's Day, I will have just completed my third straight month on this wonderful journey following a highly effective, customized diet and exercise plan which does not include my traditional "St. Patty's Day Food and Beverage Choices"!!!! THIS YEAR, on St. Patty's Day, although I will be in Edmonton, SO WILL MY GIRLFRIEND JB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know if was fate or if it was planned (I WILL never tell!!) but we will BOTH be in Edmonton on St Patty's Day and I think it was meant to be...

Oh, what to do????

First off, my girlfriend in no way wants to sabbotage my journey and has been extremely supportive from the very beginning and even before!! So "what I do" will be totally my decision...we could have a good time either way..Honestly, there is no pressure from her at all!! I just don't want anyone thinking that she's sabbotaging me in anyway!!!

So here are some facts:

1. I have been just amazing on this diet and exercise plan, and for the most part (except those 4 choc eggs recently), I've stayed true.
   
2. I didn't have cake or alcohol on my 35th birthday!!
   
3. I didn't have any chocolate on Valentine's Day!!
   
4. So far this year I've done very well and 3 months is a very long time.
   
5. I have all intentions of remaining on this journey and reaching my goals by Dec 2009!

I've always said that I don't want this new lifestyle to consume me and I also don't want to miss out on my life and things I enjoy doing because of it even though I realize and accept that I do have to make a lot of sacrifices and give up certain things....so I'm in yet another position where I have to make a huge decision regarding either food, chocolate, alcohol or all of the above!!! I also don't want to always have to be in these types of positions. I want to be able to just live and enjoy my life while respecting the boundaries of my program. It's all about finding that balance and learning how to live within it....I think that's a bigger struggle than losing the weight, itself - for me anyway!

So that's it for now....as always, I will be honest in whatever I do; with whatever decision I make regarding St. Patty's Day!! You will be informed...either way!!

Until next time...

Joania (2KMINE!!!)