Well hello there...

Hey everyone!

It has been a while since I last blogged... I was in a funk and had nothing good to say... well consider the funk GONE :)

I have posted a something I think you will like!

Happy reading!

XO
K

Do things for YOU, not for the approval of others…

Some days you need to hear that you have done a good job… You work really hard on something at work and you want to hear that you have done a good job and that someone noticed…  We all need it, even if we shrug it off out of embarrassment or laugh it off because we don’t know how to accept it.

There are times that we need to do things and do them without expecting a pat on the back or a “Job Well Done!”  It can be frustrating at times and challenging not to have a cheerleader keeping you going.  But there are times where you have to do something because it just needs to be done.  This can relate to many facets of your life; health and fitness, work, love, and so much more.  When you take the garbage out you don’t expect your partner to make a scene…pom poms rustling through the air… you do it because it is something that needs to be done.  Why then, do we have such a hard time taking care of ourselves?  If you need to lose weight, why are you putting the onus on someone else?  I can’t lose weight because I need to have someone cheering for me, making me feel like I can do it.  That last part right there tells you all you need to hear.  YOU CAN DO IT.  You are doing the hard work, sweating your ass off; it isn’t that other person losing the weight for you.  It is all you baby.

Or perhaps weight isn’t your issue but you smoke or drink or eat too much white bread…  You are all fighting the same fight…  You need to believe in yourself and do this for YOU!  Not to hear “oh wow great job!” or anything like that.  Do it for the pure and simple self-satisfaction.  Do it for the ease of getting dressed in the morning (those of us who have/are struggling with weight know how hard of a mission picking out clothes can be), do it for the health benefits, and do it to prove to yourself that you are strong and you are capable!

Now, some of you might be saying… well that’s great and all if you believe in yourself… but I just can’t… I have tried and I have failed… I don’t want to fail any more… I don’t want to ever feel that again…

I have been there, too.  We are brought up thinking that failure is a bad thing.  Failing is really just discovering what didn’t work this time, and what to change so the next time is better.  Take every failure and find the lesson you can learn from it.  Cook the pasta too long – its mush.  FAIL.  Lesson – cook pasta less.  It seems pretty simple when we remove our feelings from the equation.  Workout like crazy – lose 5 lbs – stop working out – gain 6 lbs.  FAIL.  Lesson – this is a lifestyle, not a quick fix, keep at it :)

I truly believe that you have to love yourself before you can grow – whether that be in a relationship or your personal goals.  Find something you love about yourself and focus on that, rather than the things you aren’t so fond of.  Your perception of yourself can make or break you…  If all you see yourself doing is falling and never getting back up – you will stay on the ground forever.  You MUST see yourself getting up, dusting yourself off, and trying again (and again, and again, and again…).  You have the power to change your life; it is all in your heart!  Just put your mind to it and forget about everyone else.  Don’t worry about people at the gym (they aren’t looking at you and thinking “why does she even bother”), they might be checking out your form, learning a thing or two!  Don’t worry about your family or your friends either, it will take them a while to notice the changes in your body… you see them every day and they may not be comfortable suggesting that you look smaller…it’s a roundabout way of suggesting you once looked bigger… people are weird.  Just ignore everyone else and do this for your damn self.  It will feel oh so good when you succeed :)

Stay tuned for my next blog post about positivity and changing your mind to change your life!  It will feature some words of wisdom from Pastor Joel Osteen, he is a very motivating and uplifting man with a great story of his own :)

XO
K

FitBit Ultra

Hello everyone :)

 Today I want to talk about my FitBit!  This nifty little gadget counts my steps, flights of stairs, calories burned, and the online portion tracks my food and water intake, sleep quality and so much more!

This is like a fitness coach and dietician all rolled into one clip on gadget that is easily hidden under your clothes if you don’t want it to be exposed; and I guarantee you will have people asking questions about it!

The accelerometer and altimeter count my steps and stairs.  It gathers the information and wirelessly uploads it to my personal page!  I can also press a little button on the FitBit and I can see how many steps I have taken so far.  You can set daily goals for miles traveled, steps taken, stairs climbed, and calories burned!  You compete with yourself to beat your goals!  You can also compete with friends and family.  You earn badges with each milestone you reach: ie) first 25 flights of stairs, 10,000 steps, 50 miles etc. 

You can also use the online meal tracking system to ensure you aren’t eating more calories than you need.  If you say you want to lose 5lbs you will have a few options as to what approach you want to take: slow and easy, medium, or hard.  Hard obviously means lose it in the safest, yet fastest way possible.  It will then tell you how many calories you need to cut and how much exercise you need to include to reach that goal by such and such date!

The sleep tracker is one of my favourite features.  You set the stop watch before you fall asleep and it will track what time you fell asleep, how many times you woke up (or made significant movement), and how long you spent awake in the night vs. asleep!  I realized I was drinking too much water before bed because I was always up at 2am.  I stopped drinking 20-30 minutes before bed and the 2am pee breaks are far and few between now!  I just make sure to drink that water earlier in the day :)

It really just makes me more conscious of my movement throughout the day.  Working a desk job can sometimes mean sitting for really long periods of time.  Now I make sure I get up and move more to get those steps in!

If you want any more information please click here: http://www.fitbit.com/product

 

Planning for Positivity

Hey everyone –

I am really struggling with what to talk about this month.  As you may know, I lost my best friend on July 2^nd… My chocolate lab Cassius lost a very short and aggressive battle with an infection.  I will never know how he contracted this infection but it attacked his arthritic elbow and traveled to his brain in a matter of 2-3 days.  I have been a shell of a person ever since.  He wasn’t just a dog; he was my brother, my best friend. 

Then came the health scare… a few people know what I have been dealing with but I have really tried to keep this all inside because I have no idea how to fix it… I’m hoping in the next few weeks I will get my cardiac tests and brain scan results back from my doctor and we can go through everything and try to get my life back on track.  Until then I can’t train, I can’t get my blood pressure up too high, and I have to do my best to stay calm.  It’s frustrating to say the least. 

This has all happened in the month of July… it might not sound like a lot to some, but it’s more than I can handle. 

This makes me think of a topic for this months’ post… Planning for Positivity

For me, I need to find inner peace… I need to find a way to keep myself centered and calm.  So I have decided I am going to take up yoga and meditation.  I had thought of it before but really didn’t think there was a need.  Now I have a need, I must find a way to bring myself to a place of calmness.  I am the type of person who needs a plan.  I need to know how I am going to proceed… there is not one single “fly by the seat of your pants” kinda bone in my body.  I have to have a plan for how I am going to remedy the things in my life that are slowing me down.  Now that I have an idea, I am going to research different yoga studios and places I can meditate… what does meditation even mean? How do I do it?  Etc.  I cannot sit here and become consumed by my broken heart or my health scare.  I need to plan for the future.  I need to plan for positivity.  I have planned a trip to South Carolina at the beginning of September.  I am going to travel to different places this year and do great things in every place my toes touch.  I am going to bring more positive energy into this world!  Remember, even if everything is going GREAT in your life and things are better than ever, you can always plan for the next big thing :)

Always continue reaching for the stars, and when you are dancing among them, start reaching for something brighter :)

Getting Through Challenging Times

Hey everyone,

 Monday July 2^nd I lost my best friend; I lost my chocolate lab, Cassius.  It was so sudden; I didn’t really have time to process what was going on.  I just had to make a lot of impossible decisions, really quickly.  My heart was shattered and I didn’t know which emotion to feel first: Anger?  Why did God take him from me?  Sadness?  I wouldn’t feel his kisses or his wet nose again.  Or Guilt?  Did I make the right decisions?

 I didn’t know how to cope, I had never lost someone that I loved before.  I stopped eating and then I ate everything in sight.  I binged and then I starved myself.  I wanted to make the pain disappear and I wasn’t considering the long term effects of my behaviour.  Now I have an extra 15lbs to work with…

I’m trying not to be too hard on myself about the extra weight, I had a slip up but I am ready to get back on track and get closer, each day, to the body I deserve :)  And if you are going through something and you are falling behind on training or you aren't eating very well, dont be too hard on yourself.  Just do your best, that's all anyone can ask of you right now!

Heaven forbid you find yourself in a situation where your heart is shattered and you just don’t know how to cope; maybe you could try a few of these things… They are helping me stay away from destructive food behaviours…

1)      Talk with a friend or family member who has gone through the same thing or is able to understand your pain

2)      Write to the person or pet you lost.  Write them a final letter describing all of your feelings and emotions.  You have to get the feelings out so you can deal with them.  Sometimes you just need one more chance to tell your loved one how much you care.  *And depending on your beliefs, you are never alone, the person or pet you lost is always with you*

3)      Go outside.  I can’t tell you how much this has helped.  Going for walks around the neighbourhood or sitting on the steps in front of my house and just watching the breeze blow through the trees and the clouds moving across the skies.  Staying cooped up in the house just doesn’t help, even though I rarely want to leave my bed these days…

4)      Grab a water bottle and hit the gym.  I never wanted to leave my bed, but deep down I knew I had to get back into my routine.  I trained with Craig at True North Barbell Monday night and it was incredibly therapeutic!  I’m not SUPER strong (yet), but I can hold my own, and this reminded me that I am physically and mentally strong.  I can get through pain.  I get push myself through anything.  When you look at it, pushing through one more rep and pushing through one more day, really aren’t that different.  You have to dig deep and find the strength to go on.

I hope you never find yourself in a situation that requires any of the tips I mentioned above, but if you do, I hope they help. 

Today I woke up with a lighter heart and I am looking forward to training again on Wednesday.  Until then I will eat my prepared meals, drink lots of water, stay outside and take it day by day :)

Count Your Blessings and Live Life to the FULLEST!

This week has been incredibly bittersweet for me.  I turned 25, graduated from university, and got myself a sexy little car!  On the other hand, a dear family friend was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident and a co-workers father-in-law was in a serious car accident.  Bittersweet, right?  But I have learned something VERY important from all of the events this week.  You need to be thankful for every blessing!  Even if you aren’t religious, you can still be thankful for things, just replace “God” with whatever you believe in, or just omit it completely.  I have begun thanking God for just about everything.  When I hop in the shower I thank God for hot water and the fact that I even have clean water to shower with.  I always park at the back of parking lots, but now I thank God for two working legs that are able to carry me from the back of the parking lot to the front door and I thank him for the blessing of being able to drive a car.  You get the point. 

I saw this quote and it really hit home… “What if you woke up only with the things you thanked God for yesterday?”  WOW!  Makes you think, right!   I’m not saying everyone has to adopt this way of thinking, but it’s an eye opener, that’s for sure. 

I’m a believer in living your life to the fullest.  You only have one life to live, so you might as well make the best of it!  It is times like this that really remind me that life is WAY TOO SHORT and it can be taken from you suddenly.  You should make every second count!

My neighbours’ father is an incredibly wise old man.  He was telling my mother and I that whatever you put out into the universe is what you’ll get back.  If you choose to focus on your problems or constantly fear that you aren’t good enough, or not talented enough… That is what you’ll get.  But if you put positive energy into the universe and decide that you are going to work as hard as you possibly can to achieve your dreams and goals, you will succeed!  Success begins with you believing in yourself.  You can have people telling you “you can do it!” but until you believe it yourself, they are just words. 

Let’s say you want to compete in an event this year but you are nervous or wondering if you should bother… “maybe next year?”.  Shake your head and say I CAN DO THIS!  You might not even place or you might win the darn thing!

Or maybe you have decided that enough is enough and you want to get healthy.  Then you walk into the gym and feel intimidated.  Shake it off and say I AM GOING TO OWNNNNNN THAT TREADMILL!!!!!

No matter what it is, believe in yourself and push yourself harder than you’ve ever pushed yourself!

This past week I have realized that I haven’t been pushing myself as hard as I can.  *Now that’s not to say that you have to run yourself into the ground… I mean push yourself in a HEALTHY way!*  I did legs on Monday and I decided “OK! You are going to push it and work your ASS OFF!”.  Let’s just say the workout ended with my head in a toilet bowl *yuck I know* but I was determined to really push myself hard and guess what… I’m still feeling the effects of that workout and I LOVE IT!

SO… What I hope you get out of this blog post is that I want you to reach for your dreams, don’t be afraid of failure, be thankful for your blessings and push yourself outside of your comfort zone.  Failure can only teach you lessons and help prepare you for the success you will find in the future.  Put positive energy into the universe and envision yourself reaching your goals and blowing past them!

~ Kayla

Food Prep!

Let’s face it… We are BUSY women!  Some of us are students’ writing papers and studying for exams.  Some of us are mothers caring for our families.  Some of us are business women pushing our careers forward.  We do it all!  Now and then the one thing that we can forget to do is take time for ourselves…  This is why it is so important to prepare your meals ahead of time!  I recently finished university (just a few days ago to be exact!) and I know how difficult it is to be a student eating on the go.  The salad bar is almost invisible next to all of the burger/pasta/dessert stations at school so it makes it really hard to make good choices.  The same goes for women who are working every day or those who are busy running after energetic little ones!  The saying goes “If you FAIL to PLAN, you PLAN to FAIL”… Meaning that we need to plan our meals and prep them ahead of time so we don’t have to worry about what we are going to eat or how we are going to find the time to make it. 

Sunday is my Meal Prep day… I prepare all of my chicken, veggies, and lean beef meals and package them up into Ziploc containers and organize them in the fridge.  I used to cook every single day, several times a day but I found I was constantly cooking and cleaning!  I didn’t have time to do anything else.  This saves me a lot of time and makes eating MUCH easier.  Plus there is less room for temptation… You know what I am talking about… It’s almost noon and you are starving, but you have a meeting/class/baby ready to go down for a nap etc. soon so you opt for something quick and easy… That tends to be junk food/Drive-Thru!  It is SO convenient, am I right?  Having your meals prepped and ready for you to heat and eat is pretty convenient too!  ;)

I find the most difficult time to get all of my meals in (I’m no pro… I still struggle!) is on day trips.  I would pack all of my meals and try to stuff them into lunch bags I had at home and I would walk out the door with 5 lunch bags and end up forgetting the car keys in the house because my hands were so full!  I recently purchased the 6 Pack Fitness Cooler Bag that holds everything I need!  (Here is the link… http://sixpackbags.com/)  There is room for water bottles, ice packs, Ziploc storage containers (it actually comes with 3 storage containers!), and SO MUCH MORE!  It is compact and the pink/grey colour combo is ADORABLE!  If pink isn’t your thing, not to worry, there is a black one too.  Now there is no excuse for not having my meals with me!  If only it had a microwave inside that magical little cooler bag!  (I will do a full review on the bag after I have tested it out!)

Two of my favourite cooking methods for prepping meals are poaching and roasting.  I poach my chicken because I find it cooks faster and stays juicier all week and I roast my veggies because all I have to do is pop them in the oven, or better yet on the BBQ!  Sautéing veggies is a delightful idea, but it takes more time and required more of your attention.  My FAVE veggie this month has been asparagus!  They are rather thin and tender right now so they roast up really quickly and taste fantastic with my poached chicken!  Another summer-time favourite veggie of mine is BBQ’d zucchini.  I slice it up lengthwise and grill it up!  It is delicious!  I am a huge fan of the BBQ :)

Food is FUEL and when your body has what it needs to perform, you are going to succeed!  So this is my challenge to all of you ladies out there… If you aren’t prepping your meals for the week, ahead of time, TRY IT!  It might seem like a lot of time to dedicate to one thing all in one day but I promise it will save you time and energy throughout the entire week! 

Kayla