Killer Kickboxing

Hey guys,

Just wanted to come on and let you know that I had an amazing Kickboxing session yesterday!! Wow!! I was drenched and my arms are still a bit sore today!! I am really liking the class...it really is a good workout.

I had a JuJitsu class today but unfortunately was not able to make it...stuck in a meeting at work. By the time my meeting was over, I had already missed 1/2 hour of the class, so I did not go. I will make up for it tomorrow.

On another note, I really wanted to thank all of you for the wonderful comments on yesterday's post - it's certainly given me a lot to think about!!

The past two days were very good days food wise!! Today I ate:

Breakfast - 2 eggs & a turkey sausage, 2 cups of water
Snack - 1/2 cup of cantaloupes, 2cups of water
Lunch - steamed broccoli and lemon salmon grill, 3 cups of water
Snack - handful raw almonds, 2 cups of water
Dinner - sweet potatoes, broccoli, roasted chicken, 3 cups of water
Snack - granny smith apple, 2 cups of water

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

NO PLAN, NO SPECIAL DIET...Just Trying To Live & Enjoy Life..

Hi everyone,

Well, I never anticipated the number of responses (especially via email) my last post would illicit. So many questions about what I am eating and how the food is prepared, which diet plan I'm following, etc., etc. So I decided that I would use this post to address all those questions and some of the comments.

As some or most of you may know, I LOVE TO EAT!! Let's face it, I wouldn't be in this predicament of needing to lose this amount of weight if I didn't truly ENJOY my food!! When I first starting talking to my trainer/nutritionist (Rob), prior to embarking on this journey, one of the things that I stressed to him was just how much I loved eating and enjoyed my food. I did not want to do yet another fad diet, where I had to deprive myself of certain things and would leave me feeling guilty if I ate certain foods. I didn't want any crazy restrictions and/or rules. I just knew I wouldn't be able to stick with it! I'm really glad my trainer listened to my requests and provided me with guidelines that would work for my situation and gave me proper tools to address the real issues I have with food, like portion control and just overall irresponsible eating!!

Being overweight all my adult life, I had tried pretty well every diet under the sun and quickly (as well as after a lot of disappointment) came to the realization that all these quickie diets DON'T WORK. The only thing that will work is eating sensibly and responsibly while incorporating proper exercise and taking care of yourself mentally and spiritually. With regards to food, it would be more about control and balance than anything else. I wanted to feel free to eat whatever I'd like. Of course I realized that I wouldn't be successful on this journey if I ate burgers and fries with pop, seven days a week; yet at the same time, if I felt like having a burger, I wanted the freedom to plan and incorporate that meal into my lifestyle.

I want to be successful on this journey and for me, success doesn't only mean achieving my goal of losing 101 pounds in 1 year following a set plan and then when I get there - "start eating real foods again!!". That's garbage. Success for me is changing the way I view foods, my habits and overall, my lifestyle. I want to be able to control my food portions and intake for THE REST OF MY LIFE!! Not just during this one year timeframe!!

I really don't believe I can achieve that following any fad "diet" or "plan". Don't get me wrong, I know that a lot of people have had success with some of those prescibed plans and I am happy for them but I just know that those won't work for me. If it works for you, then great. I just didn't want anything too restrictive with crazy rules like no eating after 7pm, for example. I don't think there's a be all and end all plan. I think it's more about living your life, enjoying your food BUT making smart, responsible choices and not beating yourself up when you "slip up". I wanted to eat normal foods; I didn't want to always be cooking seperate meals for myself than I would for the rest of my family!

My trainer provided very clear guidlines of what to eat, but everything I eat is what I'd normally eat anyway. So what's the difference? How am I losing weight now and not before eating pretty much the same foods? A few answers:

1. PORTION CONTROL & FREQUENCY -I eat much smaller portions than I used to. One of my meals pre-journey could have been split up to make 3 of my current meals!! No kidding or exageration!! I am also eating more often (I eat about 5 small meals a day!). In the past, for example, I would bake a whole chicken (the same way I do today), the difference is that back then I would it most of that chicken in one serving whereas now, I have the breast or the leg with my meal. It makes a huge difference.
2. WATER CONSUMPTION - I am drinking about 3-4 litres of water everyday. That helps a lot and has also improved my skin!! (bonus).
3. EXERCISE - I am following a progressive exercise plan which is helping to keep my body strong and healthy.
4. SMART CHOICES - sticking to whole foods, very little to no process food.
5. PREPARATION - everything I eat doesn't have to me super creamy, or buttered or sugared!!!

To me, there is a huge difference between deprivation and moderation. I don't believe you have to deprive yourself of something to learn that moderation is the key. Maybe we wouldn't feel the need to eat something in excess if it wasn't "restricted" from our "plans" in the first place. Just my thoughts on this!!

I know that I have "scale" issues. YES, i like to see the number decrease on a weekly basis and when that doesn't happen, it angers me a bit. I just need to accept that it will take a bit longer to fall off than if I followed a more "super clean" or even a more "restrictive" diet. My overall goal is to have long lasting success and I think that can only be achieved if I work on training my mindset as well.

So to answer those initial questions, I am following the guidelines of my trainer/nutritionist in the gym and the kitchen BUT, I am also trying to exercise common sense by making more sensible and responsible choices about my food as well as exercising that ever-important portion control. Most of my foods come from the whole food group. Rob told me to avoid processed foods altogether because they have little to no nutritonal value!! Once in a while, I will have something from the processed food group, but not too often at all!

Anyway, hope that answers the questions. Remember that these are just my personal views on the matter and I know some or maybe all of you would disagree but so far it's working for me. It's not perfect, but what is???

Looking forward to your comments!!!

Until next time...

Joania (2KMINE!!)

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!!!)

I'm 35 and Feeling FINE!!

What an interesting birthday!! I must share all...I must come clean...I must be honest....so here we go....



What did you eat Joania??????????


Well, we all have only one life to live and my philosophy is, "You better enjoy it!!"


Below you will find a list of statements of events that occured on my birthday. At the end of the post, you will find whether these statements are true or false.....

1. I started off my day by skipping my morning workout - slept in an extra hour


2. I had my regular healthy breakfast.


3. I had a special birthday lunch with my colleagues at work (including my friend Kim who was "BORN TO BAKE").


4. At work, I ate a piece of cake so large, it could qualify as a small cake to some.


5. I went to my favourite restaurant for dinner and "went wild".


6. I had more cake (this time DQ Icecream cake) when I got home.


7. I worked out in the evening!


8. I cracked a bottle of wine, had a few glasses and went to bed drunk!


9. I decided that a chocolate bar wouldn't hurt..yummmy.


10. I ENJOYED my day!

So what do you think? How did I do? Well here are the facts.

1. TRUE - I did skip my morning work out...one of my birthday gifts to my self was to sleep in and it felt awesome. I gave myself a one day break...back on schedule though, just finished my workout.


2. TRUE - I did have a healthy breakfast - I figure, why not start the day right!


3. TRUE - Now, although I did have lunch with my girls, and Kim did bake this chocolate chip, cream, graham cracker crumb number which looked amazing and smelled even better, and there was also some sort of poppy seed with cream icing cake, I RESISTED!!!! I had a grilled chicken wrap with a bit of gralic sauce and water for lunch - it was delicious! I still can't believe I resisted those desserts, but I did - it wasn't easy.


4. This one could be TRUE and FALSE. Had I eaten a piece of cake, it WOULD have been as large as a small cake. I did not have any cake at work!!!


5. My favourite (well one of) is a little Italian restaurant on Preston (Trattoria Cafe). The lasagna made fresh daily with home made pasta and sauces is to die for. 1 half order of lasagna, 1 half order of creamy fettuccine alfredo, warm freshly baked bread, a glass of white wine and chocolate mousse for dessert - is what I would have ordered had I gone there for supper but I didn't so the answer is FALSE!!!!


6. FALSE - I HAD NO CAKE!!!!!!!( yes, i am a bit pissy about it - but whatever!:0(


7. FALSE - I decided..no working out on my birthday..I already wasn't having any cake so no working out!!!


8. I FRIGGIN WISH!!! FALSE - Not only did I not have any cake, I ALSO had no alcohol!! I'm making all impossibilities seem possible. I know a few of my friends were betting against me on this one!!


9. TRUE -I had a creamy, gooey Caramilk and it was awesome...THEN I WOKE UP FROM MY DREAM!!!!I had NO CHOCOLATE!!


10. TRUE - Even without my usual vices of chocolate, cake and alcohol, I still enjoyed my day. I received so many wonderful birthay wishes and hugzzz, it was great. My team at work took me to lunch on Thursday (where I had a wonderful meal- grilled chicken breast over salad), great company and just a nice time -all in my honour - thanks guys. I also enjoyed lunch with my lunch girls yesterday - as always, wonderful conversation and great company. My husband and son were the first to wish me happy birthday and give me my cards and gifts...what's sweeter than a two year old singing "Happy Birthday to Mummy", it was awesome. I received my birthday telephone calls from my friends and family abroad -spoke on the phone for 2 hours with one of them - we laughed so much. It was great. It was relatively warm for a February Winter day! I have no complaints..truly enjoyed my day! Different, but enjoyable nonetheless!

So there it is. I'm a woman of my word. I put up the Birthday Poll two weeks ago and said that majority would rule and it did. 42% of you wanted me to stay true to the journey and I did and it felt great doing it. But, more importantly, I did it for myself. I really feel that I am at a point where I no longer feel the need to sabbotage my progress - it takes a whole lot of effort and determination, but also wonderful support and encouragement!!

So I am 35!!!!!!!! 35!!!! I feel amazing and happy to be going full force on this journey.

Until next time.

Joania (2KMINE!!!)

To Eat or Not to Eat (My Eating Plan)

Hi everyone,

I previously outlined my workout / exercise plan and now it's time to tell you what I eat or at least try to eat on a daily basis. First off my trainer stressed the importance of eating properly to the success of this program and to my journey as a whole.

I am a carbohydrate-sugar addict. No surprises there - I've always known. I don't care much for chips or pretzels, french fries (except McDonalds)!! I could do without the salt. But when it comes to the sweets, and I mean anything from cakes, cookies, donuts, ice cream and not to mention chocolate - chocolate anything!!! That's my problem, I'm weak!! So of course I knew all of those goodies had to go if I wanted to see any success with this program. They wouldn't be gone forever, I just have to be disciplined for a while until I learn how to properly and moderately incorporate some of these foods back into my diet. Let's get real, THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL that I plan to live the rest of my life without ever having chocolate or sweets again. That just wouldn't work for this girl!!

So what am I eating??

Well right now, I'm eating a lot of veggies (spinach, lettuce, broccoli, cucumbers, green peppers) and lean meats (chicken, turkey, beef, fish). I'm on a low carb diet. The carbs that I do ingest are from healthy foods like sweet potatoes and broccoli. I've been trying (so hard) to stay away from sugar, flour, salt, breads, white pastas, rice, potatoes (regular), processed foods, fast foods, fruit juices, soda, alcohol (that was hard). What's left??? Suprisingly a lot. When I say "low carb"I certainly don't mean "NO CARB" because as my trainer says, we need carbs to live, function....
Above is a pic of what I pack to take to work. Morning Snack - 1 hardboiled egg; Lunch (a spinach and cucumber salad with tuna fish and EVOO, vinegar and red pepper flake dressing - which I made myself); Afternoon Snack - cucumber slices and almonds...the only thing not in the shot is my water (I have four 800ml water bottles- one in my car, one at work, one at home and one in my purse).

So here's a sample of a day in the life of the new and improving Joania:

• Wake up and workout ( one day 1hr 15 mins, the other 20mins and I just keep alternating)
• Drink Water - I usually drink about 800mls by the time I'm done the workout
• Make Breakfast - {2-3 egg omlette with chopped green peppers and onions (very little)- YUMMY (really it is) and 500ml of water.
• Off to work
• Morning Snack - {Celery sticks with Almond butter (I'm loving almond butter - never thought I would)} about 500 ml of water
• Lunch - usually a salad (baby spinach, spring mix or romaine lettuce base) with a lean meat (chicken breast, turkey, or lean beef, sometimes shrimp) and 800ml of water
• Afternoon Snack - a few almonds (raw,unsalted, unsweetened, unchocolated - *heehee*) or some cucumber slices, some cheese or even a few slices of lean meat. Just enough to get me to supper time AND about 500 ml of water
• Go to daycare to pick up son and then home
• Dinner - This is my favourite meal of the day. This is where I can pretty much have what I want as long as it's a whole food and the portion is balanced. I usually have baked or roasted chicken with steamed mixed veggies and a baked sweet potato - YUMMY and this meal is really good!! Seriously!! Sometimes I make a 3 egg omlette and load it with veggies (mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes and some cheese - really good). This is where i have pasta some times but it's whole grain pasta and a very small amount!! Also 500ml of water
• Evening Snack - Usually a cup of peppermint or cinnamon tea (unsweetened of course)...
• OFF to bed to do it all over again the next day.

As you can see I try to drink at least 3.5 to 4 litres of water. I'm not sure that you have to drink all that water but for me, I use the consume that much liquid in a day (just that most of it was either juice or pop and probably only 500 ml of water)!! So I decided to just sub water (around the same amount) every where I'd normally have a drink. DRAWBACK: Frequent Bathroom Visits - I visit the bathroom more often than when I was pregnant!! Question: How come I never had to pee as much when I was drinking soda and juice???

There are so many other different options of what I can eat that were provided by my trainer Rob (http://www.laganafitness.com/). Contact him if you're interested and the best part is that the plan is individually customized for you and it's also progressive...so it will change (can't get bored !)

I hope that helps a bit and sheds a bit of light on HOW I'm losing the weight. I must say that this is very difficult to do but it's a matter of living a healthy life or not for me!! So I just try my best to stay focused and not stray....SPEAKING OF STRAYING.....please see my next post titled, Cinnamon or Cinnabon!! :)

Joania (2000 MINE!!!)