Week 4 Day 1

It felt so good to sleep in, but my body is still so sore. And even though we spent a few hours at the mall yesterday, we decided to go back today! You see, we weren’t just walking any ol’ mall, we were walking the West Edmonton Mall, the (second?) biggest mall in the world. The evening before we conquered the bottom floor, and today we did the top floor. So a lot of walking was done again!

Today I had a “slip up” with my diet. I managed to make it fit my macros, but I completed decided it wasn’t worth it afterwards. I used to enjoy watching Cake Boss. His Italian family and him make cannoli for their shop. I LOVE cannoli but have only ever been able to find the pre-made ones, not the delicious homemade. And aside from them not being the greatest, they are particularly difficult to find around here. So when we went to an Italian caffe stand in the mall and I saw a cannoli, I bought one. All $5+ for ONE. The price alone should have told me no. But I ate it and it was… not good. It was starting to get soggy, the flavour was not bursting, the two candied orange slices at the end were definitely not my favourite… it wasn’t worth it.

You see, I follow a IIFYM (if it fits your macros) food plan (not diet!) because it is kind of like living on a budget. You have so many grams of protein, carbs, and fats that you have to use everyday. But in order to stay healthy or stay in your budget, you can’t go over any of those categories either. IIFYM is a type of budget where you need to use what you got or else it doesn’t carry over into the next day, but if you go over what you have, then you’ll get bad results. That cannoli was a terrible use of my macro budget.

Later that evening, we went to the gym. It was a gruelling workout (especially on already sore legs), but it was completed. The workouts this week seem to have gotten slightly harder, but only because of the types and amounts of exercises. We’re still in a 4-day a week, circuit weight training with 4 cardio sessions a week.

Shortly after the gym, we went home and went to bed. Nothing like allowing a sore body to get its rest!

Week 3 Day 7

This morning I made it to the gym! I hardly ever workout in the morning (I have to be at work at 7:30) so this was a treat!

I finished catching up on my workouts for the week (such a good feeling). I’m completely caught up! Yahoo!

I was so exhausted by the end though. My legs are KILLING me! That’s what you get for doing leg exercises three days in a row…

After working out, my husband and I decided to go shopping in the evening. This meant a ton of walking. Although I was sore, it actually felt good to get out and stretch.

We spent a few hours at the mall, and naturally we got hungry. So we opted for Jungle Jim’s. Fortunately, they have a “slim” menu that I was able to pick from. I had “slim” taquitos (baked, low fat cheese and chicken) with a jungle salad that consists of so many different vegetables. As a slight indulgence, we ordered some boneless wings and I had a few of those. As long as it fits my macros, I am ok with doing this once in awhile!

We ended the day well, had a lot of fun, and looked forward to rest that night. I can hardly believe it’s the end of week 3.

Week 2 Day 4

I slept straight through the night last night; a total of about 9-10 hours. I think I made the wise choice by not going to the gym last night for sure.

I went to work today. Something I debated, but it was a field trip day and I wanted to make sure my kids had the most fun they could while still learning at the same time. So it wasn’t really a debate. Feeling awful or not, I got up and got ready.

Food again was not on track. I took a fresh fruit smoothie with me, a banana, and again just simple, simple dietary foods. I just needed to make it through the day.

The field trip went really well. The students really enjoyed seeing the satellite images of the surfaces of various planets and moons. They enjoyed learning and being able to touch meteorites. And they definitely loved using light-splitting glasses to analyze various lights and gasses around them. It was such a cool experience!

But by the end of the day, I was so weak and tired. It was a lot of walking for someone that was sick. But I really, really wanted to go to the gym. I can’t even begin to explain it to you, but I will try. Because going to the gym is such a way of life for me. Mentally, I knew if I could do the field trip, then I could go to the gym. But my weak body just wanted to sleep. The thing is, mentally, I knew it wasn’t an option. I just had to convince my body of it.

I don’t think I would have been able to do it if it wasn’t for my husband. He knew I needed to go. The gym is just as important for him as it is for me. He’s the one that got me into it and it has turned into such a huge passion for me. I honestly couldn’t imagine my life without it. And so he was there, gently, kindly coaxing me to get up. It wasn’t an easy job, but props to him for getting me up.

Now to say my time at the gym that night was easy or a wonderful time would be a little exaggerating. It was hard. Being sick and coming back to the gym to do a circuit workout is not the easiest thing I’ve ever done. And I definitely didn’t do cardio. My lungs wouldn’t have handled it. But the point is that I did do what I needed to do, and I got it done, and mentally was content.

I think its needless to say, but I went straight to bed as soon as we came home.

Changing Your Diet Doesn’t Have To Be Hard

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve seen people fail with diets. In fact the very word “diet” has so many negative associations. I am 100% using the term a lifestyle change because to me, a diet is temporary thus causing temporary results. I want something more permanent, something that will change my life.

Lately, I’ve been giving advice to a cousin of mine. She has paid for every fitness/diet program that has been available in her city. Every single one of them has either left her feeling horrible, or never gave consistent results. It just seemed so hard! And who can blame her?

Most diets require you to switch your entire daily life in an instant. If you’re an avid junk food eater, try having no junk food for a week, or even a couple of days. It’s almost like quitting smoking cold turkey. For most people, it’s hard!

But it doesn’t have to be that way. What I’ve been telling my cousin to do is to switch out things in her diet slowly. So for example, one week she tried switching regular fries for baked sweet potato fries, coconut oil instead of a canola oil, Ezekiel bread instead of regular breads, and other simple switches like this. The other thing she has been doing is trying to try a new food every week. She had never tried things like avocado before. So one week, she bought a couple to try, and found out she loved it! There went all of those fatty condiments out the window.

It’s not hard, and it doesn’t have to taste bad or even bland. One comment my cousin couldn’t believe is that the food tasted so good. And what did I do? I gave her support, I gave her ideas, and I gave her suggestions about wholesome, healthy food.

I will be going after my nutrition and fitness certificates this summer. I love being involved in the fitness world and seeing the positive effects on everyone. My cousin has lost 18 lbs for the month I have been helping her, and that includes no extensive exercise, simply walking and at-home yoga or pilates if she has the chance. The main result has been diet. She’s seen improvements in her own energy, she feels better, so many good things.

If you would like to make changes in your life, and need someone to support you, let me know. I’ve been heavily involved and have tried many different styles of workouts, many different diet plans, and I would love to help you. Most often, all we need is support, and when it comes to making lifestyle changes to be healthy, you definitely have mine!

Just remember, only about 10% of success happens in the gym; 90% is the battle in the kitchen. You can do it!

Extra Tip

If you’ve never tried this before, do it! You’ll be surprised how that candy craving goes away, and how delicious your new “candy” is!

From a Walker to Being Energetic??

I know this has been a big thing for me lately, but the more I encounter people who have amazing, almost miracle stories, all from the same product, it grabs my attention.

My grandfather suffered from a type of Leukemia a few years ago. He went from being an energetic, very talkative man to a weak, frail body. Although his cancer went into remission, it left his body extremely weak with barely an immune system at all.

A year ago he was in the hospital. My father never cries, and yet when he called, I could tell he was crying. It wasn’t that my grandfather was in the hospital, but the news from the doctors was not good. He had received a simple cold from someone, and it had developed into pneumonia (lack of immune system), and as he was in his 70s, his body was getting hit hard. At one point, they transferred him to the cardiac unit. Hope was running low.

With much daily prayer, and trying to contact him each day in the hospital, my grandfather managed to bring about his willpower and beat the pneumonia and ended up going home. I will never cease thanking God for his recovery. My grandfather is an amazing man.

This winter (Canadian winters are so bad), my grandfather ended up walking with a walker. Tired, energy-less and weak are words that pretty much describe his state. A man that LOVES to sit a visitor down and talk their ear off could barely manage to hold a whole conversation for lack of energy. And in a walker? Simply not good.

This coffee infused with ganoderma extract was introduced to my grandfather only a couple months ago. My grandfather quit drinking his normal coffee and completely switched to this. And this is the part that amazes me.

My father called me a few days ago excited and just spilling out the story to me. They had gone to visit a cousin that hadn’t seen in years. My dad was shocked at the size of her house (nobody in our family has particularly had a lot of money). He was describing how it was on a hill, had 10 steps alone to the front door, was a split level meaning there were stairs to the upstairs and down, and another floor on top. My Dad was worried about my grandfather feeling left out not being able to explore the house for lack of energy.

But not only did my grandfather come without his walker, but he also walked EVERY INCH of that house! My dad couldn’t believe his eyes. I couldn’t believe my ears. My dad was even still skeptical about the change, even though he’s the one that gave the coffee to him. And my grandfather and grandmother simply told him that the only thing they had changed was the coffee they drank. That was the ONLY thing.

Can you imagine. One simple change. Really, it’s just an exchange. Healthy coffee instead of the other. And yet so many health benefits and boosts that it’s just unbelievable.

And the best part is, this is just one story, one story that hits me close to home because it’s someone I know and love. Someone that means the world to me. And if this one change can cause such a huge difference in this 70+ year old man, what might it do for someone you know?

I know we’re all scared to try new things, but this is something so amazing, something like I’ve never seen before. And yet it’s something so simple, a change you don’t have to remember because you do it already.

Seriously, let me know if you’re interested. The damage from life is bad enough, why not do the best you can to stay your youngest as long as possible.

Training Success

So since we’ve had these puppies, I’ve felt incredibly lost on how to properly train them. I wanted them to turn out to be those great dogs that know your every command instead of turning out like their father, our male dog Dwight, who easily gets excited and very territorial (when it comes to marking). Even their mother, our female dog Utopia, is still very skittish and doesn’t know very many commands. She’s also picked up barking since she’s had her pups. So I wanted to act fast!

My first step in this training journey was to go to Hastings, an amazing book store in the states. I all too easily could spend a full day in there, just looking at all the books (and the awesome prices!!) and probably spend my fortune (which I don’t have) on books. The bookstore is seriously my candy store.

At Hastings, I specifically looked at the pet section, looking for puppy books, and immediately stopped when I found Cesar Millan’s “How to Raise the Perfect Dog”. Bingo! There’s my book!

Although training has been slow (started this week), I believe I may have caught them in enough time to train them before the worst habits begin. I now wish, after reading most of his book, that I had read this book the minute they were born. However, I know I can only do my best from here on out.

Now, what I have been doing, for those that are interested, is taking the dogs on a daily walk. Cesar says to complete two walks a day, but unfortunately I have only fit in one so far. This walk is a structured walk meaning that they are not to sniff around while walking, they are to learn to walk comfortably, with a loose leash, directly beside you and at your pace. You should be able to walk knowing your dog is beside you all the way. We have had a few moments of rebellion (stopping, laying down, desires to sniff), but Cesar really lays out how to correct those behaviours. Basically you can give a slight pressure on the leash and then relax when they correct their behaviour, or redirect their senses by placing a bully stick in front of their nose, training them to sounds that will tell them you need them to do something, etc. And I haven’t had much of a problem correcting those moments. It has by no means been perfect yet, but it has been good for them.

I’m also trying to teach the puppies, and their mother Utopia, how to sit. Dwight knows it off by heart and also does stay pretty well. I’m working on getting out of his sight and then calling him to come. I’m very proud of him. He’s also the only dog who can walk past the others while they’re whining to him without even turning his head. He’s pretty solid!

So the sitting process has been… interesting. The puppies are always so excited that sometimes I wonder if they are actually sitting because I’m telling them to, or if that’s just because that’s what they naturally want to do because they are so excited. Either way, if I ask the command and they sit, they get the treat to reinforce the behaviour.

Now Utopia presented a very unique situation. I asked her to sit, and she just stared at me with a small wag in her tail. No distractions, just totally seeming “oblivious” to the hand movement and word I was telling her. Now thankfully, Cesar Millan also provided insight for these type of situations. Normally, I would have pushed on her back to make her/show her to sit. This is a horrible thing to do as you’re not letting your dog figure out how to please you and give you what you want. So on his advice, I repeated the command once more (don’t keep repeating it) and held the treat in the same hand I was commanding her with, and waited. Now this is the hard part… waiting until they get it. Cesar had mentioned that he waited for over 4 minutes with one of his dogs until they figured it out. Thankfully, I only had to wait around 45 seconds and she slowly sat down. Isn’t that incredible? I never would have thought that it would have worked, but she totally figured it out! All I had to do was give her time. Not that she’s any expert at it now, but she’s learning, and that’s what matters!

I’ve also been brushing their teeth. Now this has been interesting as well. I have a doggy toothbrush and doggy toothpaste. So I usually put the toothpaste on the brush, let them smell it first, and they’ll usually start licking it. All except Dwight and Utopia who know what it is, and turn their heads away. Now the boy puppies, Teddy and Roscoe, are doing very well with the teeth brushing. They aren’t “perfect” where I’d like them to be, but they are in no means disappointing me. Jewel did alright the first time, but yesterday, she cried and cried. I had to somewhat calm her down before she let me even open her mouth. I’ve got some more work cut out for her. Utopia has even improved in her teeth brushing and let me brush the most I’ve been able to yesterday. Unfortunately, Dwight has not changed much. I’m going to have to add an extra incentive for him and Jewel. Like father, like daughter. Those two are really the most similar personalities out of the bunch.

I’m also planning on clipping their nails weekly. I have done the whole “family” once. And surprisingly enough, the boy puppies had an amazing time. Jewel, once again, was like her father and cried. But I did manage to calm her down between clippings to get the rest done. Utopia always seems almost “frozen” when I do this so in some way she’s easy, but Dwight would jump down if I gave him the chance. But he’s actually not half bad.

So it’s been a long learning curve for me, correcting behaviours in our older dogs and training each of them. But I am so thankful for the knowledge I’ve been provided in this book. And if you’re thinking of getting a dog, I highly recommend that you read his book. You will never regret it!