Weekend Musings...

Hello Everyone,

I couldn't think of anything specific to blog about today, so I thought I would just take the jumble of things that are in my head and spit them out on the page for you. Sound good?

1. I saw my bro's band play on Wednesday night and they were fantastic as per usual. I don't know how it's possible, but they get better and better every time I see them play. If you haven't checked out Inlet Sound yet, please do! You won't be disappointed!

These are the 3 permanent members; have had several Base players and drummers.
My Bro's on the left.

2. He also gave me a late birthday present (which his girlfriend admitted to picking out). Gotta love presents, especially when they include chocolate!

Yes, that's my dumbbell sitting in the background. I chose chocolate that day.

These things were decadent. The chocolate coating was nice and thick. And yes, they have been demolished.

He (she) also got me these beauties:

It was a very generous gift. I guess I need to download some new music (any suggestions??) and pick up some wine to set the listening mood ;) For those of you who don't know, LCBO is the name of all the liquor stores in Ontario.

3. I  used this dip mix yesterday.

This is one of my favourites. The taste reminds me of that french onion-flavoured Heluva Good dip that I used to eat when I was a kid. The package calls for you to mix it with 2 cups of sour cream. Instead, I mixed it with a 540 ml can of white beans and 1/3 cup of greek yogurt. Then I mixed it all up with a hand blender and it came out deeee-licious!

It is excellent stuffed in a red pepper, topped with salsa, with dip-able veggies or right off the spoon :)

4. I'm sore today. I think it's going to be a rest kind of day...

Maybe some yoga a little later, but nothing to strenuous. My muscles need the break.

5. I spent almost all of yesterday working on one project.

Really, this thing is killer. The longest part of the assignment is cutting and pasting air quality data into excel spreadsheets to find monthly averages and make it into graphs. That is daily readings from 38 years, 5 different pollutants and 2 different stations. Some of my spreadsheets have more than 13000 rows! So far it has taken me 15-20 hours and I'm still not done! Last night I worked from the early afternoon until almost 10pm before I just gave up and watched a chick movie on Netflix. I will finish it later!

6. I have been thinking very strongly about getting one of those Polar watches that everyone has these days. The two most popular ones I have seen are the Polar FT40 and the Polar FT60. They both seem to have similar functions, but the FT40 is cheaper. I don't need anything too fancy, so I am thinking of going with that one. Any advice from satisfied consumers out there?

It's pretty too!

What do you think?

7. Since most of my roommates are leaving the house next year, we had to find new tenants. My new roommates? Six 2nd year varsity swimmers; 5 male, 1 female. As a soon-to-be 5th year student, this could be interesting. They all seem really nice, so I'm not too worried. However, I fully expect invites to their varsity parties and swimming lessons... I dog-paddle...

Well that's it for me!

What's on your mind?

Have you ever tried Polar products?

Anything exciting going on this weekend?

February Goals

Good Morning Everyone!

Since it is officially the first day of February, I though it would be appropriate to reflect on the goals that I made in January and set some new goals to work on this month!

So last month, I had 4 things that I wanted to work on. They were to:

1. Amp up the cardio

Now this goal was to bring up my cardio from what I was doing over Christmas, which was... none. I wasn't even walking anywhere besides from my bedroom to the kitchen. Exciting huh? So anyway, I have definitely been fitting in the cardio this month. I do about 3 good sessions per week on top of strength training and yoga.

That's me - Cardio Panda!

Now, for a lot of you runners, 3 cardio sessions per week is probably nothing, but I am not a huge cardio fan. I am also focusing more on muscle building right now, so I don't want to overdo the cardio. I also walk everywhere (thanks to my lack of car), so I have been getting even more in that way.

2. Eat more veggies

Check! I have been loving my veggies lately. I made this goal because I got stuck in a rut over Christmas where all I wanted to eat was yogurt, fruit and chocolate. I am happy to say that I have been regularly eating massive stir-fries, beastly salads and roasted veggies galore, and I couldn't be happier :) I even started sprouting!

My very own sprouts!

Veggie-packed egg scramble

3. Take more chances

I guess I have been working on this one. I have definitely become more confident in myself and I notice that in the way I talk to people. I haven't had terrible luck with boys either ;)

I am also being a little more liberal when it comes to spending money. I have always been very tight and economical with my funds, aka cheap. However, I realized that I enjoy life more when I stop stressing out about money and just spend it when I want to have a good time. I actually haven't even been spending a whole lot more, but when I do spend, I focus on the experience I am getting out of it, rather than the money anxiety I used to feel.

4. Fit sleep into school schedule

This is an iffy one. Since I only have early classes 2 days per week, I haven't really had to be vigilant about getting into bed on time. I have been getting enough sleep, but I could probably stand to waste a little less time at night and just go to bed!

***February Goals***

1. Kick carbophobia to the curb

Yes, I am plagued by the terrible affliction of carbophobia. It makes me automatically skip over the sandwich and pasta sections on menus, shy away from potatoes and zaps my energy in the afternoon.

While I have been getting a lot better at eating more, eating fat and eliminating the concept of forbidden foods, carbs are still something I struggle with. I always have my oat bran in the morning, but I find it difficult to up the starch later in the day. It's not that I am consciously trying to avoid them, but old habits die hard.

So this month, I am going to be making an effort to add complex carbs to at least one more meal or snack per day.  I'm hoping that it will increase my energy and power me through my workouts.

Realistically, this isn't something I will be completely free of after one month, but I am going to see how far I get!

2. Read more

Since I have been so busy with school, reading for pleasure has suffered. I try to read my book for about 10-15 minutes every night before I turn off the light, but often I am just so tired that I can't make myself do it.

This month, I am going to make an effort to cut down the amount of internet browsing and procrastinating that I do before bed and get some extra reading time in instead. Who knows, I might actually finish my book before the year is up!

3. Find a good coping mechanism for stress

Now that school work is starting to pile up, I need to find some ways to deal with my stress that don't involved snacking my troubles away. They need to be things that I can easily fit into my schedule that will calm me down and give me some "me" time.

Exercise is one way in which I do this, but I could stand to find some other options. Any suggestions?

4. Keep on planking!

As you may have seen, I have been continuing to break of old planking records and I'm damn proud of it!

My latest PR is 6.34 and I would like to keep planking and beat this! Realistically, I don't know how much longer would be physically possible, but I would like to see what my body can do. I don't increase my time every time I plank. It depends on how I'm feeling that day, but I am shooting for 7.30 by the time the month is up!

Have a great first day of February!

What are your favourite coping mechanisms for stress?

Did you set any February goals?