Day 10

This morning, I woke up at 5:30 sharp. What time was my alarm set for? 7:00. I have so much energy I can’t even finish sleeping in the morning! Seems a little strange…

So the first thing I did was drink a cup of water. Time to start getting the body hydrated!

For breakfast, I had an organic mini seedless watermelon. Almost halfway through the melon, I started wondering how I was even going to finish the thing. It was a beautiful red flesh, sweet flavour, and very little white flesh melon. So delicious. Somehow, I just kept eating and ate the whole thing!

I got ready, went to my chiropractor and acupuncture appointments, and then starting thinking those food thoughts again… I wanted so bad to stop and get sushi. Oh my goodness, it took the whole drive home for me to talk myself out of going. Not that it’s not vegan (cucumber rolls, avocado rolls, etc…), but it’s definitely not rawtill4 and I really don’t need to spend the extra money.

Somehow, I did it again! I beat my mind, came home, made a sandwich with Silver Hills Squirrely bread, an avocado, some lemon juice, cucumber, this raw ranch dip, and some salsa. I then had another fifth of my fresh mango cake with some vanilla coconut yogurt on top. Not the best raw meals, but it did stop me from spending extra money and it will tide me over for now.

For supper tonight, I’ve asked my husband to go to our stir fry place where I can get different fruits and veggies that I want, served with rice and noodles. I can’t believe I’m craving rice! I used to dread eating it. I have such a craving for it today!

After my husband came home, we got ready and went to our stir fry place. Oh, it was so good! I made a mix of carrots, bean sprouts, cauliflower, chick peas, tofu, mini corn-on-the-cob, pineapple, dried cranberries, peanuts, kale, noodles, and coconut rice. I use sweet and sour sauce and coconut milk as a topping. Oh it was so delicious. I even indulged and had a green onion cake. It was just so good and so filling! I couldn’t eat it all.

After we came home and let the food digest a little, we got ready and went to the gym. I did 30 minutes of treadmill cardio, followed by some variations of lunges, walking high kicks, stretches and the chiropractor exercises. It was a good energizing workout.

When I got home, I finished that fantastic stir fry. In fact, I wished I had more. Maybe next time I’ll make my stir fry bigger! 🙂

That was basically it for the day. I’m feeling good!

Week 12 Day 6

This morning, I was on fire! I think that rest day was exactly what I needed.

I got up, got ready, took care of the animals and made it out the door, to both banks and the post office before arriving on time for my chiropractor and acupuncture appointments. The engine light is still on in my car, but the car runs, so I’m going with it! It was nice to get things accomplished and it was nice to be able to get to my appointments.

After my appointments, I went to the gym for some good cardio. I then went home, got my dogs ready, loaded them up, and took them to the vet. It was the day to get rabies shots, and the dogs all passed their exams with flying colours. I was very proud of them!

After we got home, my husband came home shortly after and was able to come with back to the vet (forgot the food and treats I had purchased) and to my oil change appointment on time. Seriously, I was on fire today!

We basically went home, ate, and got ready for the gym. I had an awesome, gruelling shoulder workout today, and was able to get in another cardio session when I was done with the weights. The challenge ends soon and I want to make sure I get all of the workouts and cardio sessions in!

Week 9 Day 6

As one can only imagine, I felt awful when I woke up today. After having so many dreams last night, I felt like I had lived several nights in one. But I got up, ate some breakfast, then took care of my babies, took a shower and got ready for my chiropractor and acupuncture appointments that I was really looking forward to today. After this week, I needed the relaxing and adjustment times. But that’s when the problem began.

My car would not start. I don’t think it was just that the temperature was almost -30 Celsius, but something that won’t even allow the motor to really turn over more than once. The biggest thing is that I remember my car doing this last winter, I just don’t remember how we fixed it. But what really stressed me is that I missed my appointments. I called in of course, but this week I could have really used those appointments, so I was very upset.

I came in, and decided that since my car wouldn’t work, I should at least try to finish my work. But to no avail. My eyes were burning, my body just in a hateful mode, and my head had the worst headache I’ve ever had. So really I had no choice but to try and keep sleeping it off.

But wouldn’t ya know, this would be the day my dogs would decide to be whiney. I walked them twice as much as normal, even though I felt terrible, and I was just miserable with my body begging me to sleep.

I eventually did sleep and went through several more dreams as my brain continued to try and filter through the last few days, and as much as I hoped I would get rid of the headache, it was still there when I was woken up by my husband coming home.

He took me out for supper, and he graciously took me to the gym, even though it was his designated day off. I powered through as much of my workout as possible, and had to quit half way through. My body wanted to workout so badly, but as much energy as my body had, my head pounded harder with each exercise I did. I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t stop, but I also knew how unhappy I’d be if I didn’t get at least something done. I hated it. My body was going through the exercises with ease, only being stopped by the pain in my head. I just want to workout!!!

So I’m back home now, and laying in bed with my pounding head. Medicine doesn’t seem to touch it. I will be back at the gym tomorrow. I need to workout. My body needs the energy release and is tired of being dormant, and sitting, and grading. But for tonight, sleep in on the agenda. Hopefully, I’ll finally feel like a normal person again.

Week 7 Day 6

It was so hard for me to get up this morning. I normally get up with my husband since he still has to work Fridays. But this morning, I couldn’t. This whole week has be energy-less and tiring.

In fact, I barely made it to my chiropractor and acupuncture appointments this morning. I was ten minutes late (versus the minimum of 5 minutes early I usually am). Thankfully, my chiropractor was also running late so it worked out just fine. But as I was sitting in the waiting room, my acupuncturist came out and mentioned how tired I looked. And then as I responded to her, I noticed my voice even sounded tired. I think it’s a sign…

I felt good after my appointments, but of course was ready to go back home and sleep. Unfortunately today’s workout looked a bit long so I went and did half of my chest workout at the gym so that I could go back and finish the other half with my husband later. However, I found this to be a mistake.

I didn’t know that my husband would be coming home exhausted as well. So upon taking a nap, then followed by going out for supper, the workout didn’t get finished this day. But I did go to sleep early and that was a bonus.

Week 5 Day 6: A Fantastic Day

Today I woke up on top of the world! I had quite a few things to get done, and I wasn’t sure how it was going to go, but I got up and got ready anyways. I took care of the animals, and tried to eat breakfast. I don’t know what to tell you, but it filled me so much I couldn’t finish the thing. This was breakfast:

Huevos Rancheros. So filling.

So it ended up being two meals for me today. This is the first meal I’ve found to be so filling. But hey, at least that means I’m not going hungry!

After taking care of home things, I went out. I first stopped at the registry to provide them with a copy of my husband’s work permit to extend his Health care. I then went to the bank to get a new bank card. I hate the chips they put on the cards. This is my third card since it has begun. I miss the swipe cards. I also took out the cash I needed for a later appointment.

I then went to the strip mall and looked in Wal-Mart for pyjamas for pyjama day but wasn’t really impressed with any of them. I went next door to Mark’s Work Wearhouse to see what they had for pyjamas but they did not carry any women’s sleepwear at all. So I put this task aside for now.

I then went to the DollarStore to pick up a few things for my classroom. I then went to the health food store to get liquid B12 for a morning drink. And after all of these things, I still left the mall at the exact minute I knew I needed to and got to my appointments on time. It was a morning for the books!

My chiropractor appointment went well today. She didn’t even have to use the little kicker thing on me. So I count this as a success. I then went to my acupuncture appointment and my acupuncturist was so impressed she said I should come one more time in two weeks and if things are still this good, I can be released until I feel I need to come back. Yes! Improvements are important!

I then went to the car and ate my second meal that I had brought with me. This was another Simply Whey Protein bar in chocolate mint flavour. This was pretty good and it helped to keep me on track!

After I quickly ate the bar, I drove straight to my physiotherapy appointment. I went to get that popping rib muscle checked out. I had a bit of time before, so I went to that Dollarama to find a couple more things I needed. I then went to the appointment, she assessed me and unfortunately had a hard time diagnosing me due to the area it was located on my ribs. However, she gave me some exercises to do and some stretches and told me to come back at any time that I felt I needed to.

Following this, I came home and did a few things while trying to get in my nutrition for the rest of the day. My meal three was the chicken salad snack (which I’ve had before). Veggies and a scoop of the chicken salad that goes on the chicken spinach salad. Delicious and again, filling.

When my husband came home, we had a bit of dramatic evening where my brother-in-law told us some awful news pertaining to their cousin, and some great news pertaining to himself. Of course this took up way too much time, and Fridays are always time-restrained because the gym closes early. So we went out to Pizza Hut where my husband had the usual amazing things and I had a salad with chicken. I did leave enough room for half of a breadstick, and that was my treat for the night. I fought any and all urges to eat the rest. A small, but important success.

Then we raced home, got ready for the gym, and had a phenomenal workout. It consisted of two circuits again, mainly for back, legs and abs. I pretty much died doing plank-ups and exercise ball planks with circular motion. Oh my. My abs will never be the same! And my legs were in so much pain because the gym was getting close to closing and I had to fit in hack squats, leg presses, and side chops. So my rests were basically non-existent and my legs were crying in pain. You know what they say, no pain no gain!

After the gym, I had two more meals to fit in. I couldn’t do it. I just was not hungry. I’m not sure what’s going on with my body. But I did eat one last meal.

Chicken Stir Fry.

And with that, I went to bed. Hopefully my appetite comes back!

Week 3 Day 6

What an exhausting day today! I’m so ready for bed.

This morning, I got up with my husband to help him get ready for work. Of course, I had the day off, so I stayed awake, got a few things in the house done, then went to the gym for some fasted cardio. I did 25 minutes of steady state cardio on the stationary bike. Then I went home very quickly and took a very quick shower before racing off to my chiropractor and acupuncture appointments.

My appointments went well, and after returning home for a few minutes, I went back to the gym to do several exercises to start catching up on the workouts I missed while sick. I did many of the exercises and then left so I would be home before my husband came home.

Turns out he worked a little later than expected, so I was able to do a little more around the house.

After my husband came home, we ate, and then went back to the gym. My third time for the day! I was so worn out and tired, on my second or third coffee, but managing to still power through. I got quite of few of the exercises done (only 3 left to catch up on the next day) and completed 12 minutes of HIIT cardio on the stairs.

We came home and I was so exhausted. So worn out. My macros were proper today, so that was a good thing. But I’ll be happy to be completed caught up and then able to start week four out fresh.

Those People That Make Me Smile

I do not know who you are, but you may recognize yourself in this blog post. And if you do, I want to personally reach out and thank you!

A couple weeks ago, as I was leaving my normal chiropractor/acupuncture appointment, I was left in a state of nowhere; nowhere to be emotionally. I neither felt happy nor upset. I was a blank slate, ready to adapt to whatever the world had to offer. And as I was in this stage, I drove down one of the few streets in the city where the branches of the trees meet each other creating a canopy over the road. The trees had already begun to change colours, and so the landscape was a beautiful yellow and orange blanket covering the sky. It was so beautiful! I noticed a few freelance photographers taking pictures of the view; moments of time frozen in the eternity of the digital world.

Wish I had gotten a picture, but the trees were almost this colour. So beautiful.

I continued to drive and noticed a woman at a bus stop. The weather was not the warmest, and yet she had her headphones in and was dancing and smiling to the music being played in her ears. Now here is someone that was enjoying every moment whether good or bad; doing with life what each one of us should do. And that’s where I began to smile.

I think we all could take a lesson in learning to dance in the rain.

We live in such a messed up world. There are so many bad things that we are bombarded with everyday. And yet these simple things are still there for us to find. These people, who really have no idea they’re influencing others, are there showing us that life can still be enjoyed, that life is still meant to be fun.

And so to you, if you are one of those people, I applaud you. Keep doing what you do because you never know whose day you make enhance just because you chose to enjoy that moment of life!

Week 2 Day 6

Oh how nice it feels to sleep in… those were my thoughts today! Of course, when I did wake up, I realized that I needed to get my butt in gear and get ready for my appointments. I had a massage, a chiropractor, and an acupuncture appointment back to back. I’m telling you, it was like being pampered in a spa!

As I was leaving, the fact that I had not eaten anything yet was starting to bother me. A few times, earlier in the summer, I would stop at the convenient drive-thru A&W on the way home. This thought crossed my mind again. But I began to mentally challenge myself. Do I really want something so greasy? Do I really want to waste my macros? Or possibly have a chance of going over? Is my body really being rewarded by eating that burger?

Then it hit me: It wasn’t the really the taste I was craving, it wasn’t really a love for the food, it was convenience, it was habit. How awful is that! Sure it would have been so easy to turn in, grab a burger, and satisfy my hunger sooner than later, but that’s not really what I wanted. I want to look good, to feel good, and to be in control of my body and the nutrition I feed it. So I kept on driving.

The rest of the day went well, until supper. My husband had to drive around to various tool shops looking for the right tools he needed for work. We had already driven around our side of the city, and decided we might as well drive to the other side of the city and get all the tool shopping done. So we planned on eating out (macros allowed for it).

Our favourite East Indian restaurant was on that side of the city. This restaurant has a buffet so it is very easy to control what gets put on your plate. But something happened that has never happened here before.

When we get buffet, the hostess always expects you to get up and start serving yourself. Then they always bring you a jug of water for your table. Well, this time, there was no jug of water when we got back. In fact, despite my trying to catch a waitresses attention (they were very busy), we probably didn’t have water for at least 15-20 minutes. When the waitress came over and realized, she gave me a look of horror and apologized so sincerely. I kept telling her it was ok, and she had a fresh jug of water rushed over to us. But that wasn’t the end. She also came over with a plate of 3 desserts. Oh boy…

The lady told us that as an apology she had picked out her top three favourite desserts from their storefront bakery and that she hoped we liked them. I felt so horrible. I could not eat them and run the risk of hurting her feelings, or I could eat them and let her know I liked them and that everything was good. Main point of the story, I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, and I felt really bad that she felt so bad, I tried to eat them. Half way through, she brought us a fresh, straight out of the kitchen dessert. Now don’t get me wrong, they were delicious, but FOUR DESSERTS! My husband took a couple bites to help me, and I tried to get them all down, but needless to say, I was STUFFED and managed only a bite or two out of the last one. This was the worst thing I could have done.

See, upon reflection, I could have politely ate one and then asked for a box for the rest. I could have figured out other ways of not hurting her feelings instead of just going to the worst alternative. Because afterwards, I felt SO SICK.

I did make it to the gym that night, but managed to only complete half of my workout which was a circuit of four exercises. I felt so awful. Not to mention I haven’t had processed sugar in quite some time, since starting this challenge. All I wanted to do was sleep so that I didn’t have to be awake and feel the way I did. It really was that awful.

What can I say to sum up this day? Lesson learned!

Week 1 Day 5

What a day! Just another insane day to add to list of burdens to carry on my shoulders. Ugh.

Throughout all the stress, and changing my day plans, etc… I managed to stay proper with my nutrition. Not necessarily the times I normally would have, but no stress-eating food choices for me! My water intake was also slower today, but I’m still getting it all in regardless.

I also had a chiropractor and acupuncture appointment today. Of course your body undergoes a lot of bad changes with stress, and this week had a high dose. But she was also concerned about my embarrassing but damaging fall at Wal-Mart the weekend before. So thankfully, my acupuncturist also targeted my stress points. Funny enough, when I was done, my wrist no longer hurt, but the pain had gone into my hand which is what I’m guess the needles have done. I am kind of glad the pain has left my wrist, but the aching pain in my hand is still not great.

I want to just take a moment and fill you in on a couple goals I had for this challenge. Aside from excelling in the workouts and staying on track with diet, I also wanted to increase my water to 3L (12 cups) a day. I know I don’t get enough water, so by purposely adding it to my challenge, I have been able to do this successfully each day. As a side note, try going from little daily water to that much water, and be prepared to run to the washroom 10+ times a day. I honestly was wondering if our secretary thought I must be pregnant… Promise it was just the increase in water!

My second challenge I added on was sleep. Now this week has SUCKED for getting in sleep. But next week is always a new week, and that is another that I plan to work on.

So that’s basically it for today. The workout was awesome and again in a circuit style. I finished up with 12 minutes of HIIT on the stairs. I was a sweaty mess!

I’ve just about finished up my nutrition and I’m ready to surrender to my bed. My body needs the rest and the break from everything, so on that note, have a good night everyone!

Acupuncture: My First Time!

So, yesterday I went to the chiropractor for my weekly visit. I didn’t mention anything to her about how my week had gone as far as my bones and problems. She was so excited telling me about the school her son had managed to get into with an amazing teacher and a sport’s program that allows her son the extra movement he needs. 

Then she got to my neck, shoulders, and ribs, and her face dropped. She asked me how my week had been. And I had to tell her that my rib had been popping significantly more than usual, possibly more than ever, and that I had been waking up at 4 in the morning without fail, even though I would go to feel without feeling stressed or thinking of anything. Let’s just say, I’ve never seen someone look at me with such concern (aside from my mom of course). 

Sorry for the blurs on this picture, but there was honestly no better picture that described my chiropractor’s look yesterday.

The chiropractor uses a tool she calls the “Thumper”. It basically gives a little kick to areas where smaller bones exist and it helps to put the little bones in place. I have NEVER had her use it on my ribs before, but it was bad enough that she did. In fact, she continued to comment how even my neck looked tighter and how everything was (and really get this) WORSE than the FIRST time I ever walked in her clinic! Woah.

So she asked me about acupuncture. To be honest, I never thought I would ever do acupuncture. The thought of having tonnes of needles in me just is not a vision I wanted to live. But my chiropractor recommended acupuncture and upon consideration, I agreed if it would help. So instead of booking a later appointment, she went next door and arranged for an appointment right then. Talk about being serious!

The acupuncturist went through everything in great detail, expressing that it is NOT PAINFUL, but would feel–if anything–like a mosquito bite initially and then should feel like nothing. She also explained some precautionary things, but it made total sense to me. Key point? Don’t move when the needles are in you! Makes total sense, eh?

So we got to the process. She put needles in my neck, my shoulders, my back, and my ankles. To be quite honest, I hardly felt most of them. The ones I felt the most were in my ankles, but I have incredibly non-fat feet. They are very thin and boney. And even so, only the one in my ankle seemed to bother me a little, the other ones were no big deal.

These needles are the same width as a piece of hair!! So tiny!

And my acupuncturist? Amazing. She continued to ask if I was ok, if everything felt ok, if I ever felt sick, etc… She was there every step of the way and made me feel like I was in amazing good hands. 

I basically laid there, face down, breathing and relaxing. She even encouraged sleeping! But my face was fairly squished in the bed. I’m assuming the massage bed was fairly new because the material around where your face goes was pretty stiff. So no sleeping, but I was able to relax with a heat lamp making sure I was warm.  She even took great deal afterwards to massage the right places after she removed the needles (painless) and makes sure you get up slowly and carefully to make sure your body is handling the process properly. 

Basically the position I was in for the 20-30 minutes. I think I may line it with something more “cushy” next time.

Boy did I feel tired afterward! And I slept like a baby last night! 

It’s something I’ve been so scared of for so long, and yet it was not painful at all and helped me so much. If you have any problems (I was treated for stress and lack of sleep), you should definitely try it. It’s so worth it. Just watch that the clinic you go to is sanitary, they use new needles each time, and the person knows what they’re doing and can answer any questions that you have.

Have you ever tried acupuncture before? What were your thoughts?