The First 43: My Life Now

This is one of my favourite somecards. It's hilarious and so very true! Lately I've been having trouble finding the time and the motivation to hit the gym.  After going so hard and so strong for so long, I think I got a little burnt out by the intensity.  I admit I haven't been to the gym in a week.. maybe even two now?  I haven't been running either, but of course I'm not supposed to be. The majority of exercise is coming from doing lots of walking and I've started spending time biking again.  We decided to get our bikes tuned up this summer, make the investment to actually use the bikes we have that were collecting dust or being used by other family members. Jeff and I did a 20km bike ride mid last week. By the time the evening rolled around my legs just ached and ached but I must admit it is nice to get outside and get moving on something that allows wind to keep me cool and moves me faster than running.  In that workout I still burned over 600 cal...

    Summer Salad Summer is the best time for fresh foods , and one of my favourites, corn on the cob, is so del ici ous right now.   I made this up after looking at a few different recipes and I wasn't entirely satisfied with any of them so, I did a little mix and match and came up with my own. Ingredients: 1 can chickpeas 1 pint/container of grape tomatoes 4 ears of corn, cooked 1 medium red pepper Juice of 1 lemon  1 tbsp of Oil (Extra Virgin Olive or Vegetable, whichever you prefer)  Fresh mint to taste (I used about 3 tbsp worth) Directions: Bring water to a boil and cook the corn. While it's cooking, chop up the red pepper and cut the grape tomatoes in half, put in a bowl. Take corn off, put in a bowl of cold water to cool.  Drain chickpeas and rinse, add to the mix.  Squeeze lemon juice from lemon, set aside. Cut the corn off the cob, add to the mix. Add chopped mint. Pour lemon juice and oil over the mixture an...

I was reading Chatelaine magazine this week and came across what at first I thought was a joke, and then discovered was real - the treadmill desk! Yup, that's a desk with a treadmill attached.  I laughed a little and then thought to myself "This would actually be really useful!" More days than I can count, I am chained to my desk, a slave to my computer and phone. I think "I really wish I could get outside for a walk." Or I get a burst of energy around 3pm that I can't use which ultimately turns into some kind of sugar crash by 4pm. This would honestly solve my problem. I could walk and get my work done. Think about all the extra calories I would burn not to mention the added benefit of not sitting down all day, being sedentary and they do say you think better on your feet. I've never actually seen one and tried it out so it could be completely bogus but, I think the concept is intriguing. I think every office should have a station of these at the ...

  Skinnytaste Grilled Pesto Chicken and Tomato Kebabs! I've very late in posting about this but, last week we gave this recipe a shot. Since Jeff had some time, he took a stab at the recipe for these Pesto Kabobs. So very delicious! Definitely worth making.  The marinade is really nice and they grilled very well.  Definitely will be making these again!  I must say, I really love having a BBQ. We've barely cooked meat in the oven since we got ours in May. Calories: 127/kebab.    Her count was slightly higher. It must be a brand difference in things called for in the recipe  but either way, it's low calorie, tasty and filling! Here is the recipe: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2013/06/grilled-pesto-chicken-and-tomato-kebabs.html

It's time to set new goals! After 15 months of a diet and exercise overhaul, I decided to have a re-evaluation of my health and fitness done.  I was more than a little nervous about what was to come of it. I've worked so hard but it's quite possible that it just wasn't hard enough. Here are the results: I've lost 46 lbs of fat (yay) but I also lost 10 lbs of muscle (not so fabulous)  While my body needs a few more calories per day to survive, my metabolism hasn't changed significantly - even though I really exercised and worked my butt off the last year. I lost 11% of my body fat.  That's a lot but, it isn't quiet enough. I have to be honest, while I was feeling proud that I'd done what I'd done, I also felt slightly defeated at the same time. How was it that I hadn't done enough? I've worked so hard, probably the hardest I've worked on any single thing in my life and I'm still short of where I should be. The woman who d...