Goodbye 2010

Ok, so 2010 was an excellent year for me. Here's what I want to accomplish in 2011:

1.) Run a 5K
2.) Run a 10K
3.) Participate in a Yogathon
4.) See one of the seven wonders of the world
5.) Visit three countries other than Canada
6.) Get to goal weight of 130 lbs
7.) Pay off credit card debt
8.) Be able to do the splits
9.) Learn to meditate
10.) Be able to do a headstand

Happy New Year Everyone!

I cannot believe that 2010 is over! Done and done!

I have had such an excellent year - losing the weight, buying my first condo, getting accepted into my masters program. All in all it was been such a monumental year.

And now, it's 2011 - and I am 26 years old. I am going to work really hard on those goals I made for myself, I will continue to work like a dawg, and I will enjoy my life - not let people bring me down.

I am ready for 2011. Bring it on!

Back to Reality...

I am back home from my Christmas family vacation that was filled with wine, chocolate and very little movement (with the exception of shopping). I sure burned up my credit card. But I am ready now, to get back to the grind, to real life, hard work and to my dedication to my health.

I went to two yoga classes today, and plan to go to yoga everyday until Monday, as well as go to the gym until I go back to work next week. Today in yoga, I did a modified head stand that looked a little something like this:



I can't wait until I can do a real headstand - with no wall- that will be the day.

The good news is that I stepped on the scale today and I am still at 170 lbs - so I didn't gain any weight over the holidays - which is surprising! However, on boxing day I did shop for 12 hours straight... so, perhaps shopping does burn more than just my credit card?

I did a lot of thinking today about the year 2010 - how great it was for me and how I plan to make 2011 as good as this last year. I have done such a wonderful job of setting myself up for success in 2011 - with the new condo, the 60 lb weight loss, doing my Masters... so I really have no choice but to follow through with all this goodness I've prepared for myself.

Like I say, I have got some sweet goals set up for 2011 and will be sharing them here on Dec 31st. PLUS, I plan to literally hit the ground running in 2011 and am registering for a 5K on Jan 1! I think I my be a little nuts! More to come...

Dec 28th

Wow, Can you believe there is only 3 says left of project, "rescuing Lisa"?

I sure can't.... any guesses as to what I weigh?

At this point I have no idea. All I know is that I have been moving very little, I have been drinking too much wine, and that I am registering for a 5K on New Years Day... WHAT?

Thats right. Let's hope I don't step on the scale when I get home tomorrow and find that I weigh 180 lbs.

YIKES... I AM SCARED!

No Scale???

So, my folks don't have a bathroom scale, and it is really starting to freak me out. I have been indulging a fair bit while on vacation.

Dear Santa,

All I want for Christmas is my health, please don't let me gain any weight.

Love,

Lisa

Sweet Dreams

Ok, so I have this reoccurring dream about an ex of mine, who at one point in time made a mention of my weight... I know it is immature to think about what happened back when I was 16, but hey... that kind of stuff sure sticks with you. Thank gawd I am no longer 16.....

But I had a dream last night, of him, in all his hotness (again... you would think I am 16 again - but I am not!)

I have something to prove folks - I have to lose the lat 35 lbs. I have to lose it and then run into this guy. This would be the ultimate revenge - to run into my ex at 130 lbs, looking all buff and wonderful... "oh hey, how are you"? ( I would say...)

Who was it that said that the best revenge you can ever have on a person is good health... ???? Well, they're right... There is nothing I want more after that dream I had last night.

Good health, is there anything it isn't good for?

My Ears Are Burning...

I woke up this morning with a horrible headache from all the wine :(

But I could hear my parents talking in the other room - about me!

They were talking about how well I am doing - with the weight loss / healthy lifestyle - buying my very own condo - doing my masters degree... My ears were burning, and I just layed in bed listening to them. I felt very humble.

I am still in total awe that I fit into size 8 dress pants. It is a frickin miracle!

However, I do need to get moving while on vacation! I have been eating pretty good - lots of veggies and fish. I had a brief lapse with a nanaimo bar this morning, but it wasn't enough to do much damage.

This family vacation I am on, although has only just started, I can feel it is going to give me some serious closure to a lot of my image issues I have.

Right now, I am just excited for 2011 to start so I can jump on it and continue with all the success I made happen in 2010 AND MORE!

FYI

FYI - I have eaten very little while on vacation...

But have had too much to drink - visiting with the family...

Apparently I have inspired many people. I am loving this...

must lose more weight in the new year.

I love the attention.

PS - I got new lululemon pants for my bday and AND a new bra!!!!

AND I just bought two pairs os size 8!!!! Dress pants!

I am HAPPY!

Sum Up: Party

Yesterdays holiday party was a HUGE success. So many of the people I saw there I had not seen in a very long time. When I walked in everyone was commenting on how good and skinny I looked. It felt amazing!

As people were quizzing me throughout the night, I told one girl that I had lost 65 lbs, and that I wanted to lose 35 more - and there was a look of shock in her face - followed by a comment that I was pretty skiny as it was and that ANOTHER 35 lbs might be too much. I explained to her that my recommended body weight is 115 - 130, and I had chosen 130 - the top of my weight range (I mean seriously - Im 170 lbs right now people - thats no skinny mini).

I guess when you drop a pile of weight, you are essentially asking for questions from people - which is fine - I have made peace with that part of everything. But the part I have NOT made peace with is people offering suggestions - especially skinny people.

Like this one guy who went on and on and on about some sort of vinegar that I should be taking every day, and this other girl who said I should be taking vitamin D every day.

Like seriously people - I have managed to lose 65 lbs - I really dont need your advice!

I know this sounds like I am being a bit of a grumpy pants, but I honestly think its rude to offer SUGGESTIONS to someone (that you have gathered from Dr Oz or some BS like that) and feed them to me as if I need them. No. Thank. You!

Since I was pretty much in the show case the entire night, I felt obligated to eat very very well - and I did, with only two pieces of turkey and the rest of my plate filled with veggies - salad and green granades.... two glasses of wine and a small piece of cake.

Finally, at the end of the night, one of the party girls that I used to party with a lot, leaned over to me and said that the biggest differnece she saw in me was how happy I am now. This comment sent me over the moon. She remarked that she could see how happy I am in my face now. I felt amazing.

And on that note, I left the party.

Now, tomorrow I am off to the familys place for a week-long Christmas, birthday, and boxing day celebration. I feel totally repared and equipped to deal with whatever food comes my way.

I am ready to resist the holiday food people - bring it on!

Falling Down, and Getting Up, again...

Yesterday, I did something very, very bad. As a result I have felt guilty about it all day.

Friday was my last day at work for the year. So I started my day with some meat tortellini. Then I ate chocolates ALL DAY, had a banana for lunch. Then, at about 4pm, I had a McChicken meal, and for dinner, 2 sushi rolls. Oh, and three glasses of wine.

I woke up in the middle of the night in pain from all the carp I consumed.

This morning I went to yoga and really focused on forgiving myself. Thank gawd one bad day cant undo all the good I have done! But, I am taking the day to make it up to myself - I had a cup of cottage cheese for breakfast, then went to yoga and am currently making a bunch of wok fried vegies for lunch.

Tonight I will be going to a holiday party and will not be drinking, and will only have turkey and veggies.

Im going to be focusing on veggies as the staple of my diet throughout the entire holiday season. Thats my plan of attack!

I May Not be Perfect, But I am Wonderful

While in yoga tonight, I felt strong and happy (not unusual for me in yoga).

I have been feeling a little stressed from work lately, as I head into my final day of work before the holidays tomorrow.

And I said a little prayer in my head while in a warrior pose - to explain my thanks.

It went a little something like this:


Dear god - or whoever is out there listening,

I just want to say thank you for allowing me to have a wonderful job, it may not be perfect, but it certainly is wonderful.

(then I thought a little more...)

And thank you for a wonderful boyfriend, he may not be perfect, but he is certainly wonderful.

(and the wheels kept on turning...)

And thank you for a wonderful family, they certainly are not perfect, but are wonderful.

And thank you for this wonderful body - which we all know is not perfect, but is strong and more wonderful each and every day.

Thanks for listening -

Lisa


So, letting my little prayer slip out - Ive realized that: my life may not be perfect, but it CERTAINLY is WONDERFUL! Somehow in my search for image perfection this year (through my project: Rescuing Lisa), I have somehow magically stumbled upon wonderful. I tell yah - I cant think of any feeling right now that is greater than feeling that life is wonderful.

A Very Veggie Lunch

Despite the fact that I pigged out on chee cha puffs last night while watching an inspiring final episode of the Biggest Loser -I feel pretty good.

I haven't weighed myself at the gym in a while - but my home scale is saying 165 this morning, so let's hope that matches the gym scale (which I use as my "official" scale for weigh in's.)

I have to say that even though I am STILL sore from Monday's activities and I have a big purple bruise on my knee from falling on the bus last night, I am in very good spirits today. I had a healthy breakfast of eggs, rice crispy square and some yogurt, and now, for lunch I am eating a veggie plate, a couple mandrin oranges



Side note: when you dip your broccoli in ranch dressing - it is like a tree with snow on it - talk about a festive lunch!



And followed this all with a Canada Dry Ginger Ale...



Joke of the day: What would YOU do if Canada Flooded?.... ..... ..... I'd drink Canada Dry.... Hahahahah....

I am pretty sure I am getting into holiday mood. I feel less stressed (and a little on the silly side) today. I am hoping to get to the gym tonight and giv'er for a good hour on the cardio machines. Let's hope that plan becomes a reality!

Feeling Like Jell-O

Well. Yesterday's plethora of yoga classes and personal training certainly has caught up to me.

I woke up this morning EXHAUSTED - not just sore - every muscle in my body was tired, if they could talk, this morning at 6am they would have said, "are you seriously getting up NOW?"

I do in fact feel like Jello!

But this is good, I ate 2 eggs, an english muffin and some yogurt for breakfast along with a 10-calorie vitamin water and a bottle of water.



Yesterday, while in yoga, I noticed that the largest part of me - my midsection, is proportionately larger than the rest of my body. I am surprised no one has congratulated me on my 6 month pregnancy (note: that was sarcasm - I am not pregnant!). Seriously though - why is the belly always the last to go!



(not "sucking it in" here).

So far Day 2 of being back on the wagon is OK. I plan to go for a walk at lunch as well - get in a nice 45 minutes of cardio. I haven't decided if I want to throw myself into the gym tonight. I'll have to see how I feel later.

The Day I Did It All!

Today was amazing.

As you know (check out my post from yesterday) - I am now determined - back on the wagon if you will - ready to lose the remaining 40 pounds I need to lose.

So today, day 1, I have done a total of 3 yoga classes (1 on my lunch hour and 2 at night) and 1 personal training session AND ate well - all in the same day.

Folks, it is a miracle!

I ate a little more today - a banana and rice crispy square for breakfast, a 5 point frozen entree for lunch, a turkey and swiss sammich loaded with veggies and mustard on a whole wheat bun at about 3pm and then 2 cups of rice with a chicken breast for dinner followed by a yogurt for dessert. Food was 44 points in total - but as you can see, there was no cake or anything in there - just mainly whole foods and such. (I am not counting my countdown to christmas advent calendar - 1x 10 calorie chocolate a day)

But seriously - the real victory here was not just that I tracked all my food - but that I worked out like a mutha (I used all that energy from the food I ate). The three yoga classes were awesome and at the personal training session I was told by the trainer that I am in excellent shape - and he was particularily impressed with my cardio - that I can do 1 and 2 hours on the elliptical and treadmill. I must say that I left that training session pretty proud of how strong I have been able to make my body, just on my own. The main thing we focused on was free weights and the bosu, as I want to know how to do more than just cardio at the gym in the future.

Well, as you can imagine, I am pooped! Off to bed for me...

Confession

I confess.

I stepped on the scale today at the gym and weighed in at 174 lbs. In case you are wondering what this means - it means that I have gained a whopping 7 pounds in a mere two weeks.

In case you didn't notice from my more recent posts, I have indeed fallen off the wagon. Officially - for the record I am off.

So, after a mini cry episode, I got my butt in the gym and burned 1000 calories. 1 hour on the elliptical and 1 hour on the treadmill. It was pretty epic. To top it all off, I came home and so far today I have tracked everything I ate today on the online weight watchers program. And, I stayed within my daily points allowance. I have to admit that I overdid it a little on the fruits and veggies front (now that they are 0 points!). I think I may have a veggie hang over!

But friends, I can feel the difference 7 pounds makes on my body. I can feel it and see it, and I don't like it.

So consider me back on the wagon, as of today.

There is nothing like tight-fitting clothes and a significantly bigger number on the scale to scare the carp out of you and get you back into the game. Considering I threw away all my larger-sized clothing, I have no choice but to buck up if I don't want to go to work in the coming weeks buck naked!

Misc

I went to my first Christmas party of the season yesterday and it was a total success. I filled my plate (like - piled high) the veggies. Including, roasted veggies, watercress and salad, salad and more salad. I also had about half a cup of bowtie pasta, a cup of mashed potaoes and 2 slices of turkey. I call that one excellent Christmas lunch! I even skipped the punch and egg nog. Go me!

Today was the norm - yoga. I have not been tracking though. *sigh* I need to get back on that, but for some reason just cant. Perhaps it is because I know I am not staying within my daily points limit. Ive just got to face it though. Tomorrow morning when I go to the gym, I will be weighing myself and it is not going to be good :(

Strong

Just want to let everyone know - I am feeling really strong today.

(even though my bat wings are bigger than my biceps).

Having a strong body is awesome! Now - off for a walk!

Cardio = Happiness

As I mentioned in my post last night, I am taking it one day at a time now (because taking it week by week seems to be too much for me).

Sure enough, I woke up this morning feeling tired - but surprisingly not stiff from all the cardio I did last night. This makes me wonder if I worked hard enough.

Grabbed a banana and was out the door at 6:30 am this morning - headed to work.

It's 9:30 am now and I've had: a banana, 150 g of greek yogurt (0% fat), a rice crispy square, a babybel light cheese and a 10 calorie vitamin water. Phew.



That's a pretty big breakfast, but I usually like to have a lot for breakfast as it tends to set the tone for the rest of the day.

I am surprised today though - I feel strong and full of energy. For the past few weeks, this energy has been missing. Could it be that all I needed was to get back into cardio? Is it really that simple? Cardio = energy?

I plan to go for a long walk on my lunch hour, right after I have my lunch:



Note: it says "reduced guilt". This and an orange should tie me over until dinner tonight, which I will follow with a yoga class.

Here Comes Cardio

I finally bit the bullet - I did it - I got off my fat arse and went to the gym. I have been feeling fat lately - no doubt, when I stepped on the scale at the gym it said 174! WHAT! That sent me in to panic mode.

I ended up staying there for 1 hour and 50 minutes - 1 hour attempting to run on the treadmill and 50 minutes on the cross trainer. All in all, I burned about 700 calories and had my heart rate up for most, if not all, of that time. So thats good news.

But the eating, OH the eating has got to improve. I went out earlier this evening and got a bunch of healthy stuff for the next week or so, but I have GOT to STOP SNACKING! The snacking here and there is really killing me and I have got to put an end to it unless I want to see the scale back up in the 180s (which, for the record, I do NOT want)!

I have managed to resist nibbling after the gym tonight - so thats another good news item. Ive really decided and realized that I have to take this one day at a time if I want to get back on track for the long-term. No more thinking about tomorrow and planning ahead. I will simply wake up in the morning and figure out how to eat properly for that single day and what physical activity I am going to fit in there. This pre-planning my weeks and months, it really is not doing me any good - SO! NEW PLAN! One day at a time. Thank goodness today is over! I am pooped!

Running and the Biggest Loser

OK, so the reason I watch the Biggest Loser is namely for the motivational factor. And I have to say that after watching tonights episode - where they all ran a marathon. Um, Ok - I can totally do that too.

I have never wanted to be a runner more than I do now!

So, 2011 will be the year I take up running and kill it (in addition to working on my flexibility with yoga of course!)

Cheers to learning to run in 2011!

The "Weight Loss Glow"

I just got back from a coffee date with a good friend and colleague.

She was very curious about "what I had been doing to lose weight" - I told her. (I am no longer ashamed to admit that I am on a diet - Weight Watchers for that matter.)

She was very interested (as a natural skinny-mini and vegan) about what I was doing, what I was eating. I told her that I have been making better food choices, eating less, and dropped the bulk of the weight in the first 6 months when I was going to the gym EVERYDAY. Of course, I no longer go every day (that was never a sustainable plan) - but I am now very comfortable with my walks and yoga.

She was very supportive - telling me that I look fantastic, my body looks good, my skin looks great and that I have a certain glow:

Oh how I glow:



Talking with my colleague really made me wake up. Realize that I have come incredibly far these last 10 months and I really don't want to lose my glow - I want it to shine just that much more.

I think the key to obtaining this weight loss goal - it just pure happiness and feelings of comfort with your body. I certainly have achieved that! Now... to keep it, that's a whole different story.

Back at 'Er

Here we are on this lovely Monday morning - and for the first time in a long time - I feel good! I woke up this morning with some ambition and am running with it.

I began tracking this morning, didn't consume as much as I usually do for breakfast, packed a healthy lunch and am feeling good about where I am mentally.

I mentioned that I still carry a lot of anger towards myself, and have been stewing in those thoughts over the last little while. But the reality is I have lost 66 lbs - 66 lbs PEOPLE! The new me owes it to the old Lisa to keep this train a'truckin. I like being able to breath, feeling how strong my body is and most of all - feeling energized to live my life.

So, having thought this through a little better now - it ain't time to give up. 34 lbs left on the clock, and yes, I did a little too much snacking over the last week and will probably see a gain on the scale today, but I am ready now - ready to lose the last 34 lbs!

Fighting the Snack Attack!

Snacking is really getting to me.

I have got to start fighting my temptations!

It just sneaks up on me - the urges - and in a zombie-like state I made my way over to the kitchen, and start raiding the fridge and cupboards. It is a good thing I only buy healthy foods. But still, even with healthy foods, if you eat too much of them, that is not a good thing.

Monday is the start of a new week and I am going to re-focus then. I need to gain control of the snack attack monster and put him to bed before he makes me see the 170s again.

Yoga and Salad and Walking and Crackers

I managed to get my butt to yoga this morning, which was excellent as usual.

Then, I went for a nice 2 hour walk, to get groceries. If you want a good work out, buy a carp load of groceries to carry home - up hill. Got me sweating.

Then I came home to have a huge greek salad for dinner, crackers and cheese and copious amounts of green tea:



mmmmm candy cane green tea...



I have to admit, despite the excellent amount of activity I got in, I did do a little too much snacking... we'll have to see what the scale says tomorrow morning, let's hope it stays down!

Anyone up for a mini-challenge?

Since yesterday's realization that all my moodiness has been a result of my anger towards myself for letting my body balloon out to 233 lbs - I've been taking a lot of time to think about how I am going to forgive myself. I really want to say, "all is forgiven - let's move on" - but really it's not that simple. I can say that to myself but I certainly will not mean it. And what matters here is that I actually do forgive myself for letting my body go.

So, that - is still a work in progress.

Everyone who reads my blog knows that I love yoga. I love how strong it makes my body feel. Last night at yoga, I found myself wishing that I could do yoga all day everyday - and then it occurred to me - why can't I? Well, of course there are limitations as I do have to work for a living, and I can't just do yoga, eat and sleep - that certainly would be too much of a good thing...

However, in light of this, I am creating a challenge for myself for the holidays. Since I finish work for the year on the 17th, and don't go back until the 1st week of January - that means I have 15 days. That's 360 hours! 21,600 minutes. Of course much of that time will be spent sleeping, looking for Santa and partying with the family - but I challenge myself to doing yoga everyday for those 15 days and getting at least 1 hour of cardio in every day for those 15 days. This certainly is do-able and it will help keep my body strong over the holidays.

I shall call this my 15 Day Holiday Activity Challenge.

I can't wait! I am going to come back to work / life in the new year feeling strong and healthy. Whoop!

Me? A Mean Girl?

As I have mentioned I have been a little down in the dumps lately.

As weird as this sounds - I was watching "Being Erica" last night (a great show) and it dawned on me: I don't even know who I was 10 months ago. It dawned on me while watching this show because 10 months ago (while at 233 lbs) I zipped through season 1 and 2 of the show. I remember watching Being Erica back then and just feeling like crap, and thinking that I need to change.

I really do not like who I was back then - and I am mad at myself for getting to that stage - that far gone! Of course, no one who loves themselves would allow themselves to dig that deep of a hole to sit in! There is no way I had any respect for myself back then - and you know what? I am pretty darn tootin' mad at myself for not appreciating and respecting my body and mind.

Needless to say, I am holding a lot of anger right now - mad at myself. I really have no one to blame but myself.



So, having realized this - I MUST learn to forgive myself. I cannot hold all this inside me anymore - anger just breeds more anger, and I don't want any more of that in my life. I am done with living in anger.

Of course, I am a firm believer that in life, I must always put myself first. I have completely embraced (and am loving) this mentality... now. But back then... *sigh* this was not the case.

So, it's time that I forgive myself for being so mean to... well, me.

Wuzup December

The last month of the year is here: December.

I started this Journey in March with the end date in mind of December 31st - my 26th Birthday.

Needless to say, I have learned that there is no end date for this journey I am on - it is ongoing. So, I will work my hardest to get as low as possible on that scale come December 31st - but after that I will be working on some more goals of mine - weight loss and more.

I've been working on a list of things I want to accomplish in 2011 - a lot of them are health related (and I will post closer to 2011) -it just goes to show how much I have come to realize the importance of health in my life. How great is that?

This is my last month of being 25. After this I will officially be closer to 30 than 20. BOO!