Starting the week off right

There's just something about Mondays that makes me not want to work out!  Especially if I've had a busy weekend, I wake up Monday morning wanting to sleep in (or call in sick to work), and skip the gym altogether.  That was definitely the case today as I woke up at 5:30 for my morning cardio: 45minutes at moderate intensity, 5 times per week. I'm lucky enough to have a small gym in my building, so it's actually not that difficult for me to just roll out of bed and jump on the recumbent bike.  I generally start out with the recumbent to warm up (and wake up) then move to the treadmill or elliptical to kick up the intensity.  So there I was, on the recumbent and feeling sorry for myself and wishing I was back in bed when one of my Power Songs (you know, those songs that get you motivated no matter what!) came on.  It was "Work" by the Saturdays.  It's about how if you want something, you have to work to get it.  Which meant no more being lazy on the recumbent for Tess!

I'm happy to say that I finished my cardio with a HR of 150bpm, then went on to have an awesome back workout this afternoon.

There's just something about working out on Mondays that makes me feel so accomplished.

Hot Yoga Date

Today one of my closest friends, Leslie, and I had a hot yoga date.  I should definitely add Leslie to my "inspiration" page (mental note).  She's a personal trainer, volleyball coach, is training for a marathon, has done a figure competition, is a hot yogi, and probably has done a bunch of other stuff I don't even know about - she's modest that way lol.  Leslie is always on the go and is a very much a people person.  She thrives on being active, and has found a way to incorporate social activity with physical activity.  We should all take a page from her book!

Anyways, today we went to Bikram class at Rama Lotus (Ottawa, ON).  The instructor wasn't my favourite ever (sounded like an auctioneer and it was hard to relax in his class), but I got a great stretch and sweat.  I always feel so clean coming out of a class (even though I'm sweating like a hog!)  I would love to be able to do yoga at least twice a week.  I think the benefits to your body are amazing, and any athlete can find a style that compliments their training program.  It's just so darn expensive though!  Hopefully when I'm done paying off my trainer fees I'll be able to afford it :)

Well, another excellent weekend has come to a close.  I'm going to sleep like a rock after that yoga today!

Cheat Day!!!

Woohoo!  It's finally cheat day!  The last time I dieted I opted out of the cheat meal because a) I wasn't sure how it would affect my weight-loss, and b) because I didn't think I was up to it mentally.  In my mind, cheats are actually harder to handle than none because once you get going, it can be hard to stop.  It takes more willpower to stop eating that delicious chocolate or pizza than it does to just not touch it to begin with.  But, by the same token, there were some events last time for which having a cheat would have made the events that much more fun and easy.  For example, my best friend got married and instead of being able to eat the chicken like everybody else, I was a stubborn nob and brought my tilapia and asparagus haha.  I've also heard that some people see better results with cheats due to the sudden influx of food.

So it's kind of an experiment lol.  I have the cheats until 6 weeks out, which is 10 weeks from now.  And if I find I'm not progressing as well as I'd like, I can always cut them out.

John took me out on a date today to lunch at Moxies and then the movies, so it was the perfect setting for a cheat lol.  For lunch I had Szechwan green beans, then a salad of bocconcini and feta cheese, olives, mixed greens, and shrimp.

Doesn't sound like much of a cheat, you say?  Well, it is when you follow it up with some popcorn and frozen yogurt at the movies!!  It's now 6 hours later, and I'm still full lol.  Stomach is not used to having that much food in it all at once anymore.

Awesome day all around - good entertainment, great company, and excellent FOOD!  And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming of fish and broccoli lol.

Crack.... in stick form

I have such a love-hate relationship with chewing gum.  When I'm dieting, it's the perfect tool to keep my mouth busy and my mind off of food, and it supplies me with that sweet sugary taste I miss so much (I have a MAJOR sweet tooth!)  But, there's a dark side to my chewing too.  It wasn't uncommon for me to go through an entire pack in one day during my last contest prep.  And I've found myself slowly falling into those same old habits again.  For the average person, this might not actually seem like such a huge deal: it's just gum, after all!  But consider: there are 5 calories per stick of gum x 15 pieces per pack = 75 calories per day.  Again, that might not seem like alot to most people, but that's almost 10minutes of exercise needed to burn off the excess.  And if left unchecked, I'm looking at approximately 2.5lbs (75 x 7 days x 16 weeks) gained over the course of my contest prep from chewing gum alone! 

Yes, I'm aware that this is completely neurotic behaviour lol

So, I'm going to make a new rule for myself: chew gum only to freshen breath, or in desperate situations.  Only one stick at a time.  Each pack must last at least 4 days.

Here we go...

Alright, first blog entry.  Throughout my contest prep for my first show (IDFA Ottawa-Gatineau Classic, October 31st 2010) I kept a detailed journal of my thoughts, ambitions, struggles, notes, workouts, diets, schedule.... it was my life in a book.  This time, I wanted to do something similar but make it a) more eco-friendly, and b) accessible.  There are lots of people out there who are curious about the contest prep process - some of whom want to find out whether doing a competition is something they'd like to try, some who want to compare their experience with others, and some people who are just curious. 


I've always found writing to be a therapeutic outlet - a way of sorting and making sense of my thoughts.  I can't promise this will be terribly interesting to read, but it will definitely be lots of fun for me to write! 


So cheers to me for putting up my first ever blog post - the first of many :)
Tess