3 weeks in

I have never professed to be a writer,  so I feel no real need to apologize for the very minimal content in this blog.
That being said,  I do feel the need to document some of the things I've noticed, learned and accomplished in the last 3 weeks.

• The Food

This whole food, no enriched, no white, no sugar diet is not half bad.
 Yes,  it involves a whole lot more planning and cooking,  but I am truly enjoying the food. I've learned to eat (and like) my salad without dressing.  I'm becoming a proficient label reader.  And I've discovered some new personal favourite snacks :  garlic roasted chickpeas and  greek yogurt with apple butter.

And while I'm enjoying my herbal teas (thankyou Starbucks and your Tazo Vanilla Rooibos )     I really really really do miss my coffee.

• The Exercise

I'm still doing mostly cardio for exercise and have taken to walking on my lunch and dinner breaks when I'm at work.  For me this is a huge accomplishment as I'm used to sitting on my butt and zoning out for 45 minutes twice a work day.     In these 3 weeks I have mastered walking  down and up Brock Hill without having to stop to catch my breath, and I no longer look like I'm on the verge of an  acute M.I. when I finally sit down to eat my meal.

I've also learned that core exercises are going to be the death of me,  and that I really do need to do some weight training.

But all in all,  I've been enjoying being more active in my daily life and I've also noticed on a day when I've done little to nothing,  that my body suddenly begins to crave movement.

SO. WEIRD.

• The Motivation

Coworkers, friends and family have been very supportive in the last 3 weeks.   I can't say that I don't love all the positive reinforcement I'm getting from mostly everyone in my daily life,  nor does it hurt to see the numbers on the scale dropping right along with my jean size.
People keep asking me what my goal is.  I don't really have one that is tied to any specific number or size, but rather my goal remains to be that when I turn 40 in 262 days,  I'd like to be able to wear the bathing suit of my choice and look good wearing it !

• The Results So Far

 Since I started the 8 week challenge October 3, 2011  I have lost 12.5 pounds,  for a grand total of 27 pounds so far since September 7, 2011

The midway point weigh in for the Challenge is next weekend,   so stay tuned for my next update then !

8 week challenge

So,  being that I've decided that this is "my year" so to speak,  I signed up for the 8 week challenge on the loving insistence of my friend Tree :)

The 8 week challenge is about Nutrition, Exercise , and motivation.

The first part of the challenge was to be photographed,  fit tested,  measured and weighed for the "before" stats.     With all of that (embarrasing) stuff done it's time to get started !

I'd like to think that I've been doing well with the exercise part lately.   I renewed my YMCA membership on  my daughters  first day of school,  and I've been going on my days off from work.  On the days that I work I've been pushing myself to use the treadmill at home,  and I'm shocked that I really actually like it !
And I've been making a point to use my lunch or supper break at work to go out for a walk,  with Tree if we are working together,  and lately on my own if we are not (yay me !)

The nutrition part,  well that is definitely lacking in my world.  I'm a lazy cook at best.  Not that I can't cook mind you,  most times I just choose not to.   But this is about to change.
I've been scouring the internet for challenge friendly recipes and I've got a few tricks up my sleeve.
The 8 week challenge nutrition is about "clean eating"  or eating real food.  Nothing overly processed,  nothing with trans fat or hydrogenated,  nothing "enriched",  limited dairy,  NO SUGAR, NO COFFEE.

For anyone who knows me, they are saying seriously, NO COFFEE ???  But okay,  I'm still game if I'm going to look and feel like a new person after 56 days !

And the motivation part of it ?  Well our Challenge Leader Bonnie is by far the most upbeat, energetic, positively gregarious person I've ever met.   And has a fantastic sense of humour too !  She's available to us by email 24hrs a day, and Lord knows I've been bombarding her already :)
Add to that the support of some very awesome friends and I've got the motivation part down pat.  Oh,  and the promise of  an amazing weekend at the end of the challenge doesn't hurt either !

So here we go .........