This morning I woke up to glorious sunshine! At 7:20am I might add!! I swear I can never sleep in these days, but I didn’t mind… after deciding it was way to early to get up on a Saturday I tried to go back to sleep and Steve woke me up with a coffee around 8:30. The perfect way to wake up!
Finally once getting out of bed I made a breakfast i’ve been thinking about all week.
French toast!!! I love having these kinds of breakfasts on the weekend! I made my french toast with 1 egg, soy milk, flax and a dab of vanilla… in the pan and on to my plate. I had a small banana on the side with a sprinkle of cinnamon and some real maple syrup drizzled on top.
I ran a few errands this morning including a trip to the nail salon to see Dan:
Dan is a very happy and very flirty nail artist (or whatever you’d call him). This pic was actually taken a few weeks ago when we took my mother in law to this salon to get her nails done! He was hilarious today and made sure to ask me if I was still married. Yes, Dan – I am. He says he likes my Canadian accent. Gotta say, this guy is a sweet talker.
I also stopped off at the shop and I was going to buy some chicken noodle soup for lunch (I was craving a bit of my childhood). That idea was soon put to rest when I checked out the ingredient list and it said “chicken fat.” Um, ew? Not chicken pieces or something a little more appealing, but chicken fat? Yuck. So, needless to say I didn’t consume any chicken for lunch.
He was happy.
I had a veggie sandwich with cheese n’ pesto instead. Seriously yummy.
Do ingredient lists ever turn your stomach and make you choose something else to eat??
Once home Steve surprised me with another gift. No, not more flowers, not a card….
A JUICER!
Holy moly I am in love. This actually came from my mother in law, who told Steve to give it to me this morning when he went around to her house. It’s been used about 5 times and she said Leah will probably get more use out of it than I will. Oh yes, thank you!!!
It came with this fun book by Jason Vale.
I CANNOT WAIT to try it!!!
Do you own a juicer? What’s your favourite combination?
I am about to have a skype date with a friend from home!! I loooove skype! Check out this screen shot from a skype conv I had with my sister and nephew the other day. This is when he was talking to me and telling me about Mickey Mouse and his fun “Ween” (Halloween!).
Thank goodness for video calls. I’ve been watching this munchkin grow up over video!
Hope you are enjoying your weekend!
Any big plans??
This week has been absolutely exhausting!! Getting back to work after a week off is always tough and i’ve been super tired all week. I would be lying if I said I didn’t go to bed before 10 almost each night. I don’t know how some of you night owls do it! To be honest, I love staying up late on the weekends but there is nothing better to me than getting into bed nice and early after a long day at work.
Are you a night owl or do you turn in early like me??
Thankfully tomorrow is Friday and I couldn’t be happier. Despite my lack of energy I am sure it will come back once 3:15pm hits tomorrow!! Isn’t it funny how that always happens?
Steve has won the husband of the year award twice this week. He cooked me an awesome chili last night, which we had leftovers for tonight and bought me some beautiful flowers and a card to tell me he loved me. Seriously cute or what?
Ok i’ll end the gush!!
So, I wanted to bring up something on the blog- that really has nothing to do with the rest of my post but I am curious to know how you all feel! Basically, it’s about prayer. I pray, quite a lot when I’m feeling down or I need a bit of strength or even when things are going well with me. I find that it brings me some peace inside and although I am not the most religious person out there I do find comfort in prayer. Last night when I was sitting on my bed taking some time in silence I ended the 10 minutes with a bit of prayer. This week i’ve been a bit under the weather and I just asked God to give me a bit of strength to get through this week. I do this quite often; pray I mean. I do it when I fly (because basically I fear for my life when I get on a plane) and I do it when i’m thinking about my family or friends. I don’t pray just when I need something, don’t get the wrong idea but sometimes I do feel that maybe I should be doing more. I don’t attend church on a regular basis and I haven’t read the bible from cover to cover, but I do believe in God and I try to live my life in a Christian way. I guess what I am getting at is, do you feel there are different levels of different religions? Do you feel that you are a religious person? I don’t want to start a debate or turn this into a judging competition… I am just curious on where you stand when it comes to God, religion and the like. This is a highly touchy topic for some people, but I’d just like to know. Sometimes I feel a bit self conscious because there have been people in my life who have said to me… What… you pray? Why? You don’t go to church!
Where do you stand?
More flowers 
….nah.. I don’t have them but I would love to say I do!
I do try to get a good ab work out in every now and then.
I’d love to see the 6 pack shine through…
But it never seems to
Even if i’ll never have a 6 pack, i’m not too bothered. But I do like to tone them up a bit.
Each of us has a different opinion on the perfect abs.
How do you define the perfect abs?
Meaning… what are the perfect abs to you?
And a second question – literally, how do you define them – what is your ab workout like?
During the summer I did a ton of hill walking on the tredmill. I walked on incline 15% for a long time and alternated between 10-15% for a good 30 minutes most days during the week. I also did some jogging on an incline. I found this was an awesome workout, not only just cardiovascular – but it also did trimmed down my middle! Between this, running outside and lifting weights (I always keep my stomach pulled in when I lift), the combination really gave me results.
I was reading an article on msn health today about the myths about rock hard abs.
Here are the top 3 myths:
MYTH #1: High-rep workouts make your abs grow
REALITY: Your progress will plateau if you do the same exercises, regardless of reps.
You need to intensify your workouts to teach your abs to stabilize your body weight. Add either more — challenging variations of body-weight exercises, or weighted abdominal exercises once the unweighted versions become too easy.
MYTH #2: Abs workouts involve a lot of movement
REALITY: Exercises that require steadiness are best.
When you bend your spine during crunches or situps, you risk injuring it, says Stuart McGill, Ph.D., a professor of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo, in Ontario. Doing those exercises isn’t the best way to target your abs anyway, because you repeatedly bend the disks in your back and aren’t forcing your abs to resist motion. That’s why McGill suggests exercises that encourage spinal alignment and stability, such as planks. Your abs do all the work to keep you stabilized and lower your risk of back injury. (If you have back pain, see a physician before starting any abs regimen. Some abs exercises can make back problems worse.)
Exercises that prevent movement are especially good for building lateral abdominal strength, which is what helps your body stay in proper form under pressure (like when you play sports or do squats and deadlifts).
MYTH #3: Rotational exercises are best for building your obliques
REALITY: Rotational exercises don’t build obliques well and can harm the spine in some cases.
Use heavy compound exercises — like squats and deadlifts — to make your obliques work harder to keep your spine aligned. For more challenge, add unbalanced moves — the single-leg lunge, for example, or a deadlift with one dumbbell. These types of exercises require your body to adjust to uneven stress while your spine is in its neutral position, which further stabilizes your core and builds your obliques (as long as you maintain proper form).
Read more of the article here!! Source.
Please make sure to check out the November 1st Yoga Challenge post that I did this morning if you are interested, then go over to the Yoga Challenge page and see what I got up to today for my yoga time!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When my 2 and a half year old nephew was talking to my Mom on the phone last night he kept on saying..
“HAPPY WEEN!!”
I HAD to post tonight to show you what Liam was for Halloween!
Remember when I posted what he was his first and second Halloween??
This Halloween he was an elephant!!!
Look at how the feet cover his shoes! A-dorable!
He was so excited!
Yummy candy!
Chillin’ at the end of the night, all worn out!
I’m pretty sure these are some of the cutest photos i’ve ever seen of my nephew!
They made my Sunday!
Hope they brought a smile to your face
Please check out the new yoga challenge page that I have created. That will be our space for all things yoga during the month of November!
When thinking about why I want to do this challenge an immediate answer comes to me. I think of all the benefits that I want to get from yoga. I have heard many many stories from people in my life (either online or offline) about their success from yoga and they always seem so happy and calm and they really take pride in their yoga practice. I’m not a professional by any means, but the previous stints i’ve had with yoga makes me crave more. In the past i’ve done a bit of yoga and then quit after a certain amount of time because I either let other things get in the way (like running or other exercise) or I just didn’t make the time to do it. November is my (and our!) month to make the time for ourselves to sit, stretch and really try to receive the benefits of yoga.
Why yoga?
First and foremost I need the stretch it provides! Whenever I start a yoga program I become painfully aware of my lack of ability to touch my toes. Over time as I start to loosen up the progress begins to show. The poses get easier, they are not as daunting as they were before and I can feel my muscles getting stronger.
Secondly, the time away. What I mean is – regardless if its 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes I know I can take that time away from everything. It’s kind of like doing other exercises, you know you are spending the time being good to your health and body. Yoga allows the mind to clear so that you can focus on breathing and just stretch
and concentrate on the poses. During yoga I’m not planning my day for tomorrow, i’m not figuring out what bills I have to pay, i’m not concentrating on anything else but what i’m doing right there.
Thirdly I want to do yoga for strength. Many women who i’ve spoken to have said that they have noticed great changes in their bodies. I noticed in such a short period of time previously that my arms looked more toned and I was looking (and feeling!!) stronger. I have heard that yoga can give you a workout like no other exercise can. It can lengthen your muscles and change your body in ways that other exercises don’t.
Does this all sound too OUT THERE for you? Maybe you prefer to get your workout in with a good run or through a kickboxing class. While I love those exercises too, I want to work on incorporating yoga into my daily routine. Will I still be doing other exercise? Of course! But taking 10 minutes each day isn’t much to ask for myself. Not only will this allow me to experience a different form of exercise, but it will also show me that I can make extra time in the day for myself.
But where do I begin?!? You may be asking yourself that question right now! I like to use websites such as Yoga Today and I also enjoy the videos from Polly’s site Yoga is Yummy. Polly’s videos are quick, informative and enjoyable- so I suggest if you need somewhere to start, check out her yoga for newbies video first. Then work your way through the rest!
You don’t need all the gear right away, like a yoga mat or blocks- but if and when you feel that you might want these things- there is a lot of advice out there on what to buy.
I will likely be buying myself the gear, but I will wait a bit to see how I go!
I hope you’ll join me on my journey throughout November. I hope we can discuss what works and what doesn’t. I hope we can all link each other to great websites, talk about struggles and triumphs and give a little encouragement to those who need it (I probably will!). There will be loads of room for discussion so please feel free to use the comments section as much (or as little) as you want. I’ll be updating the yoga page each day that I commit to 10 minutes of yoga. Throughout the month as mentioned before, i’ll be increasing the time spent – but starting small and working my way up is the way forward with this challenge! Will you join me?
