Cuba

Well, Cuba was good. Not great by any means, but good.

Food in Cuba was not great - but I expected that. The problem is, that many meals the only thing edible was burgers and fries - so I ate that WAY too often. Not to mention that I indulged in the ice cream too often. I seem to be up between 3-4 lbs, but I hope to take some of that off before WI on Monday.

Anyways, here are a few pics to show some of the happier moments.

well, didn't reach my Cuba goal...

... but I did lose this week, and more than I gained last week - which is good.

I am down 1.4. I was very happy with that, because I have still not gotten completely back on track. I am definitely at that point of the journey that I have been at so many times before. The part where I have always given up. I am determined that this time will be different - that I will persevere and reach my goal. I am so grateful for a husband who is not willing to give up on his weight loss goal, and therefore helps me to stay focused on mine. One of the many times that I wanted to eat poorly last week I was really fighting off a huge temptation. I called him and oddly enough he had just fought off the exact same food temptation. I asked him how he got himself past it and he said "I was just thinking about how good we are going to look this summer." Man, that was JUST what I needed to hear.

So, even though I have made very poor food choices today (VERY VERY POOR - Whopper Jr., poutine and Reese's peanut butter cups) I know that I will be back on track tomorrow.

It's off to the hotel in Toronto tomorrow at lunchtime, and then we head to the airport at 4 a.m. Thursday. The good thing for me with Cuba is that we go with my in-laws and they always want to go the same resort (they go twice a year) because they know the staff there and so we get really pampered. Last year when we went with them they upgraded us both up to suites for free, and they always held tables for us at all the meals (which is good since the restaurants fill up and its hard to have to wait to eat when you have little ones with you). This resort however (like many in Cuba) has mediocre food. That, I think, will really help me to not over do it while I am away. I think if I were going on a cruise or something like that I would come back with a big gain, but not Cuba.

Anyways, I'm off to have fun in the sun! Have a good week everyone!

disappointing spa trip

My MIL bought me a gift certificate for a local spa. I have been so excited all week to go.

Today was the day, I was booked for a full leg and bikini wax (for our trip to cuba) and a mani/pedi. I was told I would be done by 11:30 - so I asked my hubby to stay home with the kids until then (p.a. day) and he agreed and held off all meetings today till lunch time or later.

First was the waxing (ouch), which she really seemed to rush through. I notice a few spots where she missed, so she wasn't exactly diligent about it. Then when she was done she told me that I would need to use some oil in the shower when I got home to get off the excess wax (WHAT!?! This has never happened to me before) I checked out my legs when I got home, and there is a lot of wax left on - NOT GOOD.

Then the mani/pedi - definitely not the best one I have ever had. The polish is a bit sloppy and I just didn't get as much of the massaging of hand and feet as I am used to. During the mani the owner of the spa came in and asked me for my car keys - apparently I was blocking someone in (which I was VERY careful not to do). I told him that I made sure I wasn't blocking anyone - and he gave me a strange look and said "don't worry about it, we move cars around here all the time". So, reluctantly I gave him my keys.

When  my appt was over at noon (1/2  hour later than I was told) I went to the front desk to settle up. They did my gift certificate wrong - so somehow I no longer have any $ left on it (which I think I should) and then I find out that the owner left with my keys in his pocket!!!

HELLO!!!!

I explained that my husband needs to get to work and I am already 30 mins behind what I was told I would be, so I REALLY need to get out of there. They said that he was coming back now with my keys. 

10 mins later I see him sitting out front in his car chatting on his cell phone. I go out and stand right beside his car. He slowly gets out and 'finishes' up his call then tosses me my keys and says 'sorry about that' in a voice that was in no way sorry.

ARGGHHHHH - when a girl goes to the spa she wants to be pampered NOT AGGRAVATED!!!

 

I don't get out to a spa very often, so when I do I want it to be nice - am I asking too much!?!

the shred

so today is my second day of (trying) to do Jillian Michael's 30 day shred. I am SO not good at exercise.

I got through it OK yesterday. I did level 1 and I did the easier modifications she mentioned. I did have to pause a few times, but not for more than 5 seconds (as she instructed). When it was over I was so proud of myself, and I felt pumped - like YEAH I can do this!!

Today - not so much. I am sore from yesterday, so prior to trying it today I decided to soak in a tub with Epsom salts to loosen my muscles. I barely made it through the video. I made it about 1/3 before I gave up. I hate giving up, but I usually do with exercise.

I will definitely try it again tomorrow - I do want to shred my body.

well, the streak is over

but I am okay with it.

I knew it would be, after all the fun (read: eating) I did this past week.

I have to say though - after being up only 0.8 at the scales I realised that I TRULY LOVE my body. I love how hard it works for me. That after all that food I didn't have the huge gain I expected. I truly thought that I would be up 2 lbs or so. So this leads me to believe that my body is working harder than I thought to get healthy - and also that my brain is in the right gear. I feel that I am thinking about my food choices more than I realise. 

So thank you body of mine!! lol

I am adding a cool picture that the MC of the cheer competition we were at all weekend took. He took this picture during the awards ceremony. The athletes are all sitting on the mat, and the parents and other spectators are all in the stands. Truly amazing how many people are there - and this is only from the Sunday morning portion of the competition - there were more people competing all day Saturday and then Sunday afternoon as well. CRAZY!!

why I will be WAY up at wi tomorrow

So, This week we celebrated my hubby's birthday TWICE! The first time was with his parents and this (see pic) cake which is my absolute favorite!

The second celebration was on Friday (his actual birthday) when we went out for dinner at the Lone Star and I had WAY too many fajitas. Their tortillas are the best, and this is apparently because of all the lard they use (yes, LARD!!)

Then it was off to Kingston for a Cheerleading competition for my daughter. We spent the weekend there, so all the meals were out meals - and boy did I indulge! Including FUNNEL CAKE at East Side Marios!!!

Here is a pic of her and I leaving the hotel at 8am to get to the arena on time.

Then when we got home tonight - I SO did not want to cook - I wanted to be BAD!!! And bad I was, SUPER BAD!!! (mcdonalds)

SO, I totally expect to be WAY up at wi tomorrow (bye bye streak). The only good thing I did for my health this weekend was that I picked up Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred at the Chapters in Kingston - so tomorrow is the day to start shredding this bod.

While I was bad - Kingston was totally worth it - Here is a pic of my daughter with her teams trophy - yes, she's a nut!!!

my pooch

I've noticed a lot of mention of dogs on blogs lately, so I thought I would tell you all about mine.

Our dog is Utah, he is a 1.5 year old F1B Golden Doodle. He is a HUGE 65lbs (at last check) and he stands as tall as me on his hind legs (I'm just shy of 5 feet). The best part is - he DOESN'T SHED!!!

He is so cute, and great with the kids - even though he is still in the puppy stage, and sometimes due to his size he inadvertently plays too rough.

I have included some pics here. The first is just after we brought him home from the breeders. 

The second is him giving my son kisses (Utah was about 10  months in this pic) 

and the third is a head shot of him from the same day.

wi day and 2nd place

My streak continues - down 1.4!

I am so loving this new lifestyle of healthy eating & living.

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day here in Ontario so we took the kids and the dog out for a nice afternoon nature hike. Towards the end of the trail we had a huge snowball fight - it was lots of fun.

Hey, did you notice that I placed 2nd last week for Team Lean in the BLBE challenge YAY ME!!! That was pretty cool to see. We are going to kick some Team Angie butt this week!!! lol

Well, I am planning on another week of tracking what I eat. I also plan on getting more APs this week, since I only earned 6 last week.

17 days till Cuba!