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Answered – Motivated for a Healthy Life
Hi friends! I’m answering a couple more questions today, so I’m going to get right to it!!
My body clock is starting to finally adjust to my later shifts. I was up at 7:30 am today. Progress! I had to jet to the gym before work, so I ate a light breakfast while drinking coffee.
Crunchy peanut butter and strawberry jam on a small bagel. There is nothing dreamier than melty PB on toast. I think if I’m ever on death row, that will be my last meal.
I was feeling a hardcore full-body workout today, so I opened up my New Rules of Lifting for Women book and did the first one I found!
Warm-up:
10 minutes on the stair machine (not the “mill” kind, but the death kind)
10 minutes on the rowing machine
A1 – Wide grip deadlift:
3 sets @ 60 lbs x 8
B1 – Bulgarian split squat:
3 sets @ 10 lb plate x 8
B2 – Underhand grip lat pulldown:
3 sets @ 55 lbs x 8
C1 – Reverse lunge w/ forward reach:
3 sets @ 12.5 lb dumbbells x 8
C2 – Dumbbell prone Cuban snatch:
3 sets @ 7.5 dumbbells x 8
D1 – Swiss ball crunch:
3 sets @ 5 kg ball x 15
D2 – Reverse crunch:
3 sets @ bw x 15
D3 – Russian twist:
3 sets @ 5 kg ball x 30
E1 – Plank:
1 set @ 90 sec
Cooldown:
stretching
LOVED doing this workout again!! I worked up a wonderful weightlifting sweat, and had fun doing lower-body moves again (I can’t do them often because of my old-lady hip). However, I switched the lateral flexion with the Russian twists and the prone cobra for the plank solely because I like them better :)
Came home and had a little protein juice before popping in the shower.
PVL peach whey cooler. This wasn’t a whole serving, just wanted to finish of the giant canister I had.
After I was sufficiently clean, I heated up the last of the frozen moo-beef chili remains.
I, ahem, “beefed” it up a little more with some mixed frozen veggies. This left me SO full! I was barely hungry for my snack when I took my break at work 4 hours later.
Like most things though, the fullness didn’t last. I hit up the grocery store after work for what was supposed to be a quick trip. But it’s snowing (again) and the roads are horrible. Then I ran into a fellow reporter/j-schooler and we gabbed about my career change for a while. Before I knew it I was on my way to the checkout at 6:15 pm and I was starving!!! So I detoured to the prepared food aisle and picked up some sushi which I consumed immediately upon arriving home.
Nothin’ special, just a variety pack. I think it was spicy tuna, california and tofu.
With a side of veggies + hummus.
For such a low-key dinner, it was amazingly satisfying!!
Oh, and dessert was a little treat that fell off the shelf and into my grocery cart.
I used to be obsessed with the chocolate covered sunflower seeds my mom used to buy at Costco.
These definitely did not disappoint!!! Can you tell I’m a sucker for candy coating? :P
That’s actually a perfect photo to lead into my Q&A’s for the day.
chasingthenow Said:
Here’s a question for you: What is your biggest motivation for living a healthy lifestyle? Like, what keeps you from just eating whatever you want and drinking whatever you want and not caring?
Tamzin Said:
I have a question, How do you control your cravings ?
These are kinda similar, so I though I’d answer them together.
First, to answer Maria’s question, my biggest motivator to live a healthy lifestyle is knowing I’ve already done a lifetime’s worth of damage. Most of you know I was a big boozer, smoker, took drugs, ate horribly, and generally just hated myself. I feel really, really bad about doing that for so many years. I see now as my chance to turn things around and make up for all that lost time.
My decision to change my lifestyle did not happen overnight. It was a slow progression that just snowballed over a number of years. To sum it up, I do what I do because I don’t want to hate myself anymore. I don’t want to look in the mirror in disgust, feel embarrassed by the way I act, loathe my body, or think it’s okay to treat myself with disrespect. I did that for many years, and it’s no way to live.
Everything I do – eating lots of veggies, skipping on the beer, weight lifting, to even smiling at the customers at work. Those are all things I do that make me feel good. And those good feelings are kinda addictive! Now that I know how it feels to accept the way I am, I don’t want to do anything that will make me go back to my old self-destructive ways.
I think this links to how I control cravings too. First, I should say that I don’t ever really experience strong cravings. I constantly eat foods I love so I never feel as if I’m missing out on something.
Sometimes this means “healthifying” foods, like I did with yesterday’s Subway sandwich. Sometimes, it means having a little bit of the food I want in moderation. Today for example, I was given a free polar bear cookie. I really wanted the damn cookie (cookies are admittedly my worst weakness). But I also know they’re over 400 calories a pop. Knowing the cookie probably wasn’t worth that, I broke off the nose, savoured every nibble, then threw the rest in the trash before I had time to go back. It was good, but not 400 calories good ;)
Sometimes though, you just gotta go all out. There are 365 days in a year. I see no problem with taking a handful of those days and eating everything you crave. For me, it’s always special occasions, like Christmas will be this year!
So with a combination of healthy versions, moderation, and splurging, I really don’t experience intense cravings for any food. I’m an awful “muncher” though. Walking into the kitchen can turn into a munch-fest for me. It’s something I’m always working on. Some days are better than others. But hey, we all can’t be perfect! :)
And with that I ask you: what’s your biggest motivation for living a healthy lifestyle? Do you have any tricks for controlling cravings?
Staying Accountable!
Love all the questions I’m getting! Keep ‘em coming, I’m thinking I’ll do a series of posts answering them this week :)
My body clock got the hint today and let me sleep till 7am. Thank you!! I had spin class at 8:30, so I kept breakfast light.
Two Nature’s Path maple cinnamon waffles with peanut butter and strawberry jam on top. Not very photogenic is it? On the bright side, the days are going to start getting longer again after Dec 23. So it soon won’t be dark at 7am anymore!
After a couple days of lacklustre workouts, today’s RPM spin class was just what I needed!! My legs finally felt recovered after my day off work yesterday. One of the instructors showed up to take the class, but ended up hopping up front to help teach it. Can I just say that all the instructors at GoodLife Fitness in Fredericton are awesome? I always talk about my “favourite” ones. But really, I love them all. They’re what make the classes so fun and motivate me to keep wanting to go back!
I was hungry when I came home, so I had a small snack to keep me going till my early lunch.
Three puny dates stuffed with PB and a PVL Peach Whey Cooler.
I worked 12-5pm today, so I ate lunch before I left.
I call this an “egg torta” because it’s just like the ones I ordered when I was in Mexico. Really, it’s just fried eggs (1 whole + 2 whites), cheese, mayo, tomato, onion, sprouts and spinach on a toasted bun. Holy yum. On the side is a sliced braeburn with a healthy dose of cinnamon.
Work wasn’t so bad today. I stuck to the cash register and stayed relatively clean. I had one customer tell me I’m the only barista he’s seen smile profusely while taking an order. I told him it was the endorphins from spin class ;) In my experience, it’s a lot easier to be nice to people than mean or rude to them.
I haven’t been taking pics of my work eats lately, but Clif bars have become one of my new favourite snacks to eat on break. Especially the Carrot Cake flavour.
I like them because they’re a little larger than the other bars I usually eat, so they hold me over for longer. I usually go 3-4 hours between breaks at work with lots of activity in between. I need the extra energy! I also had a short skinny vanilla crème today. Basically, 8oz of steamed skim milk with a couple squirts of sugar-free vanilla syrup. For 70 calories, I feel like I’m having a decadent treat :)
For some odd reason, I reeeally wanted chicken stuffed with laughing cow cheese and spinach for dinner. I had to laugh at myself when I lifted the lid on the george foreman grill. I may have been a little too keen and overstuffed just a tad ;)
As always though, the messiest dishes are the tastiest!
I had my chicken with some broccoli + cauliflower in Bragg’s and kale chips. Awesome meal! I always combine the foods on my plate. There were a lot of mouthfuls containing all three foods :)
In other food news, I made my first jar of nut butter!!!
I knew I wanted my first batch to have maple syrup, which seemed to pair perfectly with the big bag of pecans I conveniently had in my cupboard. I didn’t have the patience to blend it until absolutely smooth. The food processor was starting to get hot and I was getting a headache! I also completely forgot to toast the pecans first. I was just too excited to get started on my first batch. It still turned out absolutely delicious though. My goodness. I licked the food processor clean! Can’t wait to top my oats with some maple pecan butter tomorrow :)
Checking in on those December goals…
Spend 30 minutes everyday cleaning something in my apartment.
I think I did this maybe 5 of 7 days? Not bad! Still not enough to keep my place clean though. I’m like the Tasmanian Devil. I leave a mess behind wherever I go :P
Stop procrastinating.
Again, I didn’t have much time to procrastinate! Any leisure time I took this week was decidedly so. I didn’t spend much time putting stuff off.
Read more.
I didn’t read anything besides articles this week. Not even Breaking Dawn!
Read at least one chapter a day from my personal training textbook.
I did really good at this one :) I’ve started bringing my textbook to work with me, and getting the chapter read on my breaks. Now I just need to start doing the online work and set up job shadowing…
Listen to my body.
I think I’m doing okay on this. I’ve definitely been eating a little more and not depriving myself. Still trying to figure out how not to exercise when I’m sore from work. I really like working out and get bummed when I can’t do it :(
Try more recipes.
I didn’t follow any recipes this week. I have tons of stuff planned for the holidays though, including making treats for gifts and dishes for Christmas dinner. I’ll get lots of new recipes in at some point!
Spend less on groceries.
I had to do a big grocery haul this week and feel really good about how much I spent. I have a bad habit of picking up everything that looks good to me. But this week I stopped and asked myself if I reeeeally needed 8 different kinds of fruit to get me through the week. I can actually survive on much less than I thought!
Get a grip.
I don’t quite know how to measure this one. But I can say, I am entering this week much more confident than I did last week, or the week before last. I feel like my mind is a lot more clear now that I’m not worrying and stressing about work so much. Going into Starbucks everyday requires no extra thought outside of my shifts. This alone has helped me become a lot more focused and get a sense of order back in my life.
Question of the Day: How are you doing on your goals this month? Anything you still want to achieve in these last couple weeks of 2009? Honestly, I’m just looking to get out of this month alive :P
Don’t forget you can still leave a question for me in the comments or e-mail them to thegreatbalancingact@gmail.com. It can be any sort of question, blog related or not. I’ll even get personal ;) First series of answers will go up on Monday. See ya then!
It’s Sunday… Check-In Time!
Hello friends! Hope you all had fantabulous weekends :) Mine was the usual 5am-1pm shift at the office. Only three more weekends left!! Who knows? Maybe I’ll have a social life again! :P
A little calorie counting update:
- Turns out I’m getting lots of protein, but still not getting enough fat. I have a digestive intolerance to high-fat foods like cooking oils and avocadoes. Nuts, eggs and tofu seem to be the only high-fat foods I can eat that don’t keep me bed-ridden for four hours after. More peanut butter? Yes please! :P
- I eat a lot of fibre! Like 50g a day. Who knew?
- Measuring every little thing seriously sucks. Weighing my apples seems so silly, I just want to eat the damn thing!
- I spend a lot less time thinking about food. I log what I eat, or plan to eat, then forget about it. After I stopped tracking, I still kept counting in my head. I’m like the Rainman of calorie counting and can’t be stopped. It takes up a lot of mental energy. When I’m done tracking in a few days, I’m going to work much harder at not thinking about the calories in my foods. Shouldn’t be a problem so long as I’m choosing whole, fresh foods :)
Besides working, napping and eating today, I had a stellar gym sesh! One of those Sunday afternoons where I just pump and sweat my time away playing with all the equipment :)
Warm-up:
5 minutes easy on the elliptical
Elliptical:
0:00-1:00 – sprint @ level 17
1:00-3:00 – recovery @ level 14
3:00-4:00 – sprint @ level 18
4:00-6:00 – recovery @ level 15
6:00-7:00 – sprint @ level 19
7:00-9:00 – recovery @ level 16
9:00-10:00 – sprint @ level 18
10:00-12:00 – recovery @ level 15
12:00-13:00 – sprint @ level 17
13:00-15:00 – recovery @ level 14
A1 – Romanian deadlift to barbell row:
2 sets @ 50 lbs x 8
B1 – Incline dumbbell shoulder press:
2 sets @ 20 lbs (ea) x 8
B2 – Wide-grip lat pulldown:
2 sets @ 55 lbs x 8
C1 – YTWL:
2 sets @ 7.5 lbs (ea) x 4 each letter
C2 – Tricep cable pulldown:
2 sets @ 25 lbs x 8
Stairmill:
0:00-1:00 – level 6
1:00-2:00 – level 7
2:00-3:00 – level 8
3:00-4:00 – level 9
4:00-6:00 – level 10
6:00-7:00 – level 9
7:00-8:00 – level 8
8:00-9:00 – level 7
9:00-10:00 – level 6
Whittle My Middle!:
Plank: 90 sec
Side planks: 30 sec each
Plank on swiss ball: 90 sec
Prone jackknife: 10 reps (I’ve always sucked at these!)
Stabiliy ball rollout: 60 sec
Plank rotations: 60 sec
Treadmill:
0:00-1:00 – 3.0 mph
1:00-3:00 – 3.5 mph
3:00-4:00 – 8.0 mph
4:00-6:00 – 3.5 mph
6:00-7:00 – 8.5 mph
7:00-9:00 – 3.5 mph
9:00-10:00 – 9.0 mph
10:00-12:00 – 3.5 mph
12:00-13:00 – 9.5 mph
13:00-15:00 – 3.5 mph
Cool-down:
5 min. stretching
Phew! Props if you read through all of that. I know a lot of people skip past my workout details, but I also know there are a few nerds out there like me who love going through other people’s workouts! :)
Oh, and the eating part of my day? I snacked on some Pumpkin Spice Roasted Chickpeas at work.
I liked them better this time around. Although I think they need to be 1) roasted longer and 2) more cinnamon!! ;)
Last of my un-frozen chili leftovers.
On top of some spaghetti squash. Delish!
Wasn’t very filling though, so my evening snack attack hit early. Mixed in 1/2 tbsp almond butter with a small bag of popcorn.
If you use drizzly nut butter, it kinda coats the hot popcorn. Mmm, sweet and salty…
And for some reason, I crave flavoured drinks when I eat salty food (I’m usually an all water, all the time kinda person).
Obviously, I don’t keep any flavoured drinks in the house because of that. So I mixed up a PVL peach whey cooler. Perfect!
November Goal Check-In
Halfway through the month! Let’s see how I’m doing…
Have fun workouts.
I actually got all three yoga sessions in this week, it was fabulous!
Monday – BodyFlow yoga class at the gym
Tuesday – Weight lifting and HIIT sesh. Left me SORE!
Wednesday – 8 mile trail run, t’was wonderful!
Thursday - 60 minutes of living room yoga, courtesy Dave Farmar and Yoga Today
Friday – Mediocre step class but a perfect BodyFlow yoga class at the gym
Saturday – Chilly 45 minute run
Sunday – HIIT, upper body weights and abs. Driving tomorrow should be fun ;)
*I do low intensity yoga, so those are technically my “rest days.” No crazy sweaty power yoga happening over here. I do it to relax :)
Be less complacent with food.
Temporarily tracking my calories again has really helped with this. It’s been a nice little kick in the butt for me.
Get more sleep.
Meehhhh. I didn’t work very hard at this this week. In fact, I don’t think I got 8 hours once this week. Tonight, I promise!
Make it through the last month of work with a positive attitude.
Hey, I’m still showing up for those 5am shifts, aren’t I?
Try my best to not let anything hold me back.
In terms of the job search, I’m not letting anything scare me out of not applying for certain jobs :)
Figure out a way to get into the holiday season.
I actually thought of something this week that got me really excited for Christmas. This year, I’ll get to blog about it!! I’ll get to share all my family traditions (and by traditions I mean food + booze). And I’ll get to invite you all into my loving home for the holidays. That sounds like fun, doesn’t it? :)
Spend more time with my grandparents.
Didn’t get to see any this week. But perhaps I’ll make the hour long trip to see my Grammie and Grampie this week. At the very least, I will call or write them.
Be more honest with people.
I caught and stopped myself numerous times this week from giving generic responses to questions. If someone asked me how I was doing, I did not respond “good” if I was not feeling good. Pretty sure this is why everyone I know thinks I loved being a reporter. It’s because when asked if I liked it, I just gave a simple “yes” instead of delving into how I really felt about it…
Look for a job.
Sent out lots of resumes!!! Fingers crossed I actually get a response this week.
Start playing music again.
Nope, nada. Still feeling very uninspired.
And one more piece of randomness for this Sunday evening (or Monday, if you’re an office reader. Or Thursday, if you’re behind on your blogs). Holly over at The Healthy Everythingtarian is doing something wonderful this year for Christmas. Instead of asking for presents, she is asking people to donate money to help build a well in Cambodia. Holly spent time in Cambodia herself so this gift is very close to her heart. Read about it here and then go donate! Minimum donation is $10. That’s two eggnog lattes. Skip the lattes, give to people who need it, everybody wins :D
Question of the Day: How is everyone coming along with their goals? Setting any new ones? The Whittle My Middle and Yoga challenges are new since making the list. Always good to update your goals to keep yourself motivated :)
Now if you don’t mind, I have a date with Edward Cullen Jacob Black then the 8 hours sleep I promised. Night night!
