Smoothie kick!

I've got me a sick boy today.  He's got the coughings as he likes to call it.  The moment a cold seems to start, his asthma kicks into overdrive.  Poor kid was coughing all night and still all morning.  He's also got a stuffy nose.  He's all snug on the couch watching saturday morning cartoons.  He was still well enough to drink our morning smoothie which had 2 bananas(they are starting to get too ripe), greek yogurt, my Arbonne protein powder and fibre boost powder, raspberries, blueberries and a frozen spinach cube that I just made.  When I stocked up for my smoothies I went to Costco.  Well anyone who's ever been to costco knows that you can't get anything small there.  So I got lots of spinach, lettuce, bok choy, and other things but I don't those greens going bad.  So anyways I started with the spinach and I blended it all up with a bit of water and froze it in ice cube trays, then took them out and stored them in a freezer ziplock bag.  genius!  Reason #184654 why I love Pinterest, I get so many great ideas from there.

Yumm!

I was suppose to do a spin class this morning but with a sick child that was a no go.  I'm not about to bring him in their child care and get everyone else's kids sick.  I'll just have to do something from home, like jumping jacks or maybe one of my work out DVDs.  My beagles are also really really hyper this morning and jumping all over the place as if they have springs in their paws so we'll be going for a nice long walk.

I've been good at sticking to my morning and lunch smoothies and then a good healthy meal for diner, give or take one slip up.  I missed the egos in my freezer when I purged my cupboards of junk food.  But I'm not worried.  I won't punish myself.  I still want to live life and enjoy things.  Food is my friend :)  Moving on then... I think my body isn't quite use to this much nutrients flowing through my body and I've been feeling rather gassy and bloated and my bowels are re-adjusting.  That might be too much info but I'm being honest. I'm told this is all normal and it won't be long now for my body to feel great!  I can't wait!  This is sort of uncomfortable.

Hopefully my little guy is feeling better by tomorrow morning in time for me to make the 10am spin class.  It's my new favourite thing.  I have a busy day planned tomorrow though.  I've got my new business partner's launch party to attend, then we are heading out to a training and then to my sister's place to brainstorm ideas to better our business'.  An Arbonne filled day!  It's going to be amazing!!

Sometimes you just need to pamper your skin!  Arbonne seasource mud mask!

I thought this was pretty neat!

shake shake shake!

Since last I posted I have continued to have my daily morning smoothies.  They are actually really easy and a convenient way to get all those nutrients.  My family will tell you, my brother especially, that I was not a smoothie/shake kinda girl.  My mom and brother use to make the most obscure shakes with nuts, fruits and what not and I always refused.  I would taste them once in a while but mostly I would say a big NO THANK YOU!  I don't like chunky or seedy smoothies.  Which is why I love my nutri-bullet!  It breaks down those little bits and I drink it just fine.  What's better is that my 4 year old LOVES them!  He's now waking up and asking me for a smoothie.  He requested a purple smoothie this morning.

I have been patiently waiting for my Arbonne shipment to arrive so I can tell you all the next step in my journey.  As some of you know I am now an Arbonne Independent Consultant and I love it!  I love all the products and the company and I feel like shouting it from the rooftops!  I just received my Arbonne Essentials Vanilla protein shake mix meal replacement.  It contains 20 grams of vegan protein, plus 22 essential vitamins and minerals per serving.  I just added it to my smoothies.  I also added the Arbonne Essentials daily fibre boost. It's derived from fruit, grains and vegetables and is flavourless. You can pretty much add it to anything.   This morning's smoothie contained 1 banana, a big handful of spinach, half a cup of frozen raspberries, my protein shake powder, fibre boost powder and water.  Was great!  my son even loved it!  He's not too difficult to please mind you but he does constantly keep asking for more food so I'm hoping this fills him up a bit more.  Fingers crossed.

Monday I was suppose to do a hot yoga class but luck would have it that I woke up with a terrible migraine and my sister had some sort of gastro.  Suffice to say that we took it easy that day and rested our bodies.  But come Tuesday morning(yesterday), we were well enough to make it to the 9am spin class.  This was my third time ever and each class we've had a different instructor.  So each class has been very different.  Each one harder then the next.  It was intense!!  But I made it through without fainting or puking and surprisingly I was still able to walk after.  What I love about spinning is the way I feel afterwards.  Its probably one of the first workouts that I have had a real rush of endorphin from.  It's crazy hard during the class but once I'm done and I've done my stretching then I feel amazing!  It also has not made me sore at all which is amazing because I get lots of back aches.  So glad that I've found a workout that I can stick to.  That and walking my dogs :)

Today's plans include chores :( Dishes, laundry, the usual.  Tomorrow I'm thinking another 9am spin class?!

Tubular!

So I pushed myself to wake up and stay up this morning.  Usually my son wakes up early and he watches cartoons and I watch/snooze on the couch with him.  Not this morning.  This morning I woke up and got the day started.  I let the dogs out and started on our first smoothie using the Nutri-Bullet.  I haven't been to the grocery store so I had to use what we had on hand.  That consisted of 1 avocade, 1 banana, about 1/2 cup of frozen raspberries, about 1/2 cup of frozen cranberries, a handful of almonds and water.  Yeah I was improvising there.  Wasn't quite successful until I added more water, twice, because it was too thick.  Once it was done I poured a cup for my 4 year old and proceeded to drink the rest myself.  He drank it no problem, I on the other hand wasn't too keen but I finished it.  Even though I woke up feeling a bit nauseated. Must have been my terrible sleep last night.  I would not stop tossing and turning.  Not a restful night in the slightest.

After our smoothie and big glass of water (making an effort to drink 8, 8oz, glasses of water a day minimum) and got ready to head out to the gym.  I was too enthusiastic last night when planning my day and didn't make the 8:30am class but luckily there was another one at 10am.  And my sister and brother-in-law decided to join me for the class instead of kick boxing.  I must say that this class was way more intense then my last.  Different instructor and different rhythm.  More work but it was still good.  It was tough and I didn't quite do all the "jumps" because my knees couldn't take it but I pushed myself to a good exertion and finished the hour with an amazing stretch!  My ass sufficiently sore as well.

Of course it had to be snowing today as well, as if we haven't had enough snow this winter.  The roads were atrocious but no excuses!  We then went to my sister's place to have lunch and put the kids down for their naps... that was an epic fail.  I laid down with my son to make sure he would sleep and not play with things.  took him quite a long time to actually fall asleep and my nephew finally fell asleep too I think but my niece was another story.  Then about 20 minutes later everyone was up... so much for nap time.

Finally getting to business my sister and I took our measurements, weighed ourselves and took terrible before pictures.  Nothing quite like an amazing camera lens to show you all your imperfections.  Stand up straight, don't suck in your belly and SNAP!  One happy note is that since my first spin class the other day I lost 2 pounds.  And I weighed myself after my workout(where I drank about 2 liters of water), after lunch and after drinking more water.

And now the scary part.  My measurements.  Taken today on this Sunday, January 6th, of 2013.

Weight: 276 lbs
R.Arm: 17"
L.Arm: 16.5"
Chest: 50.25"
Waist: 46.75"
Belly Button: 50"
Hip: 50.50"
Glutes: 49.50"
R.Thigh: 29"
L.Thigh: 29"
R.Calf: 18"
L.Calf: 18"

WHOA, I did it.  At least my legs are consistent. My sister commented and said I was pretty tubular. lol This is quite pathetic.  I am bigger now then I was 9 months pregnant with my son.  But that is about to change!  We're making big changes to our lifestyles for the better.  Who's with me?!

My plan for tonight is to have a good night sleep! Cross your fingers!  My plan for tomorrow is to attempt to do my very first HOT yoga class.  Not sure I like the idea of hot yoga but my sister will do it with me and she's been bugging me to do it.  I'm usually not a class kinda workout person (does that make sense).  I usually just do my own thing on the treadmill, elliptical, stair master, strength training, stuff like that.  With my ear phones and just by myself.  But this new concept (new to me anyways) of doing classes is actually fun.  I hate doing them alone though, until I've done it at least once.  So yeah back to the Hot yoga.  This one is called yoga tune up.  Hope it's good.  Apparently the instructor is cute so that's a bonus.  This should be interesting.

Now I know these are terrible and unflattering but I accept the way I am for where I am.  I am ever changing for the better!  And now I am brave for posting these on the internet for all to see.

This is the scary part.  The start of something new.  The beginning of a journey.  Well if I'm being really honest (which is my goal for this blog), this journey is an on-going one.  One I've struggled with for most of my life.  I am making the decision right now that this will no longer be a struggle!  I will enjoy the journey from here on.  I accept myself as I am right now.  I am ever changing in the right direction.

I won't bog you down with a long winded back story.  We all have one.  And most of us have the same goal.  To be fit and healthy.  So today I take the steps in the right direction.  I've already rid my kitchen cupboards of unhealthy things such as oreos, kraft diner, etc.  I tried my first ever spinning class the other day with my sister.  I will admit that she pretty much dragged me because I was too chicken shit to ever do it.  I was pleasantly surprised that I did not hate it!   What I did hate was my ass feeling somewhat bruised for the next few days.  So I am planning to subjecting my sore ass to another spin class tomorrow morning.

I also just became the proud new owner of a nutri-bullet.  A supersonic blending devise that will make me some incredible smoothies!  I am writing a grocery list and will be heading to the store in the next day or two.

Can't wait to use this baby!  Tomorrow I will be going to the gym for the 8:30am hour long spin class while my son plays with his cousins in the daycare. (my sister is doing the kickboxing class)  Afterwards we will head over to her place to take my "before" pictures and measurements.  That's what I am really scared of.  Not the numbers (well maybe a little, but I am no oblivious to what they are), no I'm more afraid of laying them out for everyone to see.  But I said it from the beginning that I am being totally honest, and that begins with my starting line.  I've already hit my rock bottom (my biggest) and I ha already started to go to the gym several months ago.  I lost about 30 lbs.  Felt amazing!  Then I got lazy and stopped going as often and well gained some back.  Luckily not all of it.  So anyways there is no going back, there is only moving forward.  Until tomorrow!

-Fionna :)