Week 1 - Half way!

Well, it's Friday! TGIF!!! It's been CRAZY at work so I'm really looking forward to the downtime of the next couple weeks. I always look forward to those first couple weeks after we wrap up the BIG summer promotion. Downtime...who am I kidding?! There's never any downtime in radio. If there was downtime in radio, we wouldn't be doing our job!! Anyway...it's Friday!! Enough about work!

So! How am I doing now with the challenge? Well so far so good! Since I started on Tuesday, I have been at the gym every morning. My alarm goes off at 5:45 and I hit snooze...once twice...yesterday morning I think I hit off instead of snooze as I woke up at 6:36 and sprang out of bed with some expletives coming from my mouth! Nonethess, I have made it to the gym at 7 give or take 10 minutes. Who has a new love for going to the gym in the morning? THIS girl! I'm going to Body by Lori and I really enjoy it. Especially now that they have the new cardio area complete with a spin bike. Should you happen to pop into the gym at 7am Tues-Fri, that's where you'll find me...on the spin bike. Doing my own spin class for 1!

I absolutely love spin! I'd actually love to become an instructor. Right now I have my certain songs that are for certain sequences. I have a playlist on my Ipod that I've named "Killer Workout". So each morning, that playlist goes on shuffle and whatever song pops up, I have a sequence to go with it...

• 3oh3 featuring Katy Perry "Starstrukk"...jumps. Up-2-3-4, down-2-3-4, up-2-3-4, down-2-3-4...
• Lady Antebellum "Need You Now" remix...a progressive hill.
• Ian Longo & Wainwright featuring Craig Smart "One Life Stand"...Standing keep the beat.
• Natasha Bedingfield "Touch"...sprints.

You get the point. I'm totally loving it!
So that's how I start my morning workout...30 minute spin class for 1. Then I get started on my strength training. I also have 1 day that's just cardio and then 2 rest days. This is my workout schedule:

• Monday - rest
• Tuesday - 30 min cardio & lower body
• Wednesday - 30 min cardio & shoulders/abs
• Thursday - 30 min cardio & back/chest
• Friday - 45 minutes cardio
• Saturday - rest
• Sunday - 30 minutes cardio & bis/tris/abs

I'll keep this schedule going for at least 6 weeks. At that point, I'll take a look at it and see if I'm getting bored. See what needs to be switched up, added, etc.
As for my eating, it's been brilliant! This has been a typical food day for me the last four days:

• Pre-workout - yogurt cup
• Post-workout - protein shake (water & whey protein)
• 9-9:30am Breakfast - Blueberry Oatmeal: whole oats, vanilla protein powder, blueberries, agave nectar and about a tbsp walnuts (another fave breakfast is a toasted whole wheat english muffin with pb & banana)
• 11:45 Snack - protein & carb (apple & pb, cottage cheese & fruit, yogurt & fruit)
• 1:00pm Lunch - protein, carb & veggie (chickpea salad, tuna sandwich on sprouted grain bread with veggies & dip)
• 3:30-4:30pm Snack - protein & carb
• 6:30-7:00pm Dinner - Protein, carb & veggie
• If I get hungry...usually around 9:30, I'll have a protein shake (my new fave thing to do! - Didn't need one tonight though!)

So that, basically, has been how I've been eating since I began my challenge on Tuesday.
So far, fitness is in check! Food is in check! Water is in check! I'm doing great and I feel fabulous! Oh, and my feet aren't doing so shabby either! (Good news!)
I love being back!! Here's to a strong finish to an already strong start to the week!
Be strong, be active, and be all that you can be. Be empowered by who you are and what you can do!

Chickpea Salad

I love chickpeas. I love summer. You put these two together and you have a fantastic salad with fresh ingredients ready to enjoy on the deck at lunch. Well actually, I'll enjoy this salad any time of year, in any location, any time of day. It's just THAT delicious! This salad just screams FRESH! The grape tomatoes, the fresh basil, the balsamic vinegar - the flavours just dance on your tongue!

Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) also really pack a health punch! One serving of chickpeas is a great source of both protein and fibre. I've checked different sources and the general consensus is that they have about 15g of prot1ein and 12g of fibre per 1 cup serving. Not too shabby I'd say! Serve me up some chickpeas please!

This recipe is super easy and usually I just throw the ingredients into a bowl and just go by taste. I have yet to encounter a time when this has not worked. It's that easy. You can also add chopped onion (red or yellow) and bocconcini, however as you can see from my photo, I didn't have any. The salad works just fine without. As long as you have the chickpeas, grape (cherry) tomatoes, fresh basil and balsamic vinegar, you're in business!

Chickpea Salad

1 can of chickpeas, rinsed
1 pint of grape tomatoes, halved
5 basil leaves, fresh, chiffonade
1/4 onion, chopped
1 cup of mini bocconcini, halved
2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice,
salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir. Chill. Can be served immediately.

Simple, fresh and delicious!

Terra Fit Challenge 2010 - Week 1

Here we go!

As I sat out by the pool today, taking in the gorgeous sunshine and just being a "pool bum", I had my notebook and pen with me and I started writing down what it was I wanted to accomplish in week 1 of this challenge.

• Goals
• Fitness
• Clean Eating

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. I'm always planning. It doesn't mean I always follow it, but at least I know it's there. I'm always writing things down too. Keeping things in your head doesn't always seem to work, so I find writing them down, usually helps out a lot.
Goals
Short-term 1: To follow this week's fitness plan
Short-term 2: Drink my daily water (to find out how much you should be drinking click here)
Short-term 3: To lose 40lbs by December 14th, 2010
Short-term 4: Get up at 6am
Long-term 1: To lose 60lbs by Feb 22, 2011
Long-term 2: To lose 90 lbs by July 26, 2011
Long-term 3: To do the Skeena River Challenge in 2011
Fitness
30 minutes cardio 4x/week
45 minutes cardio & core 1x/week
Strength training 4x/week (legs, back/chest, shoulders, bi's & tri's)
Clean Eating
Eliminating processed foods from diet. Consuming a diet of lean protein, whole grains, fruits & vegetables.


Progress
A great way to keep track of your progress is not only by writing it down, but also by photos. I will be keeping track of my progress by my weight, measurements and photos. I know it's not the right thing to do, but I do weigh myself every morning. I will however only post weekly. I will take my measurements every 4 weeks and will also be taking full length front and side profile photos and posting them.
Current weight: 250.6lbs



So are we ready to do this?! You bet we are!! As Kevin McCallister says..."This is it! Don't get scared now!"
And to send us off on our first week, I quote my sister Jenna...

Be strong, be active, and be all that you can be. Be empowered by who you are and what you can do!

Zucchini Scones

Last summer, I grew zucchini in my garden. I had some still frozen in my freezer and I had been wanting to use it up. I thought scones would be a great way to do that! They're not that sweet, perfect to have for breakfast or a nice snack (love the grab-and-go!). It's a really simple recipe as well!

Zucchini Scones

2 1/4 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon orange peel
1 teaspoon lemon peel
1/4 cup butter
1 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup zucchini, grated

Mix flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, cinnamon, peels and grated zucchini.


Cut in the butter until it resembles coarse cornmeal.


Mix the egg with milk and add to the zucchini mixture. Stir until a soft dough forms. Using either a 1/4 dry measure or a scoop of equivalent measure, drop onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.


Bake 12-15 minutes at 425 degrees. Makes 12.




Mmmm...I love scones!

Apple Black Currant Squares

The other day, Dave came home with some black currants from his mom's. I don't think I've ever actually had fresh black currants, so I was trying to think of what I could do with them. First thing that popped into my mind was jam, but there was only about a cup and a bit, so
I decided against that idea. Last weekend I had made a Blueberry Apple Crisp using apples I had frozen from our tree last year. I still had some apples leftover so I thought hmmm...black currants...apples....crumbly.....squares!

So these are what I made:

Apple Black Currant Squares

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

3/4 cup butter or margarine

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 cup rolled oats

1 lb cooking (tart) apples, peeled, cored and sliced

2 tbsp cornstarch

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice

1 cup blackcurrants

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a bowl, mix the flour, baking soda and salt. Cut in the butter (should resemble coarse meal). Stir in the sugar and oats.

Spoon half the mixture into the bottom of a lined cake pan (9x13)

Mix the apples, cornstarch and oats. Spread over the top and top with the currants.

Spoon the remaining mixture over top, levelling the top.

Bake 30 minutes, until springy.
Leave to cool, then cut into bars.

Has it really been that long?

March 8, 2009 was my last post. Yes, it really has been that long!

So here we are more than half way through 2010, which is incredible! I have been meaning to get my blog back up and running, but it always seemed like there was something else that I could should be doing. Plus, when you're on Facebook a kazillion times a day, it's so much easier to just upload the photos! But, I wanted to be able to share more than that...so I'm back!

My cousin is getting married this weekend and so I have family coming up. My sister and brother-in-law will be here tonight so this past weekend I decided I was going to go on a baking spree. What a spree it was! Cookies, squares, and scones oh my! Also, yesterday it was a dear friend's birthday and I was having her over for dinner...what better excuse to make cupcakes!

So I'm really glad that I'm back and will be able to share all my goodies with you. In the near future I will also be starting a Facebook page, so for those of you on Facebook, you'll also be able to connect through there.

Post Internet-Free Zone...Night 1

I did it!! Night 1 - success!

It was no problem staying off the internet. It helped a lot leaving my laptop at work and the home computer is downstairs now hooked up to the tv, so it's out of site out of mind really. So no problems there. I didn't even really check my phone...until I was in bed. That's when D was like...hey you're cheating!! Then I asked him if he had read my blog post about my "bad habit" and he hadn't. So I was like well here! So I went to the blog on my phone and passed it over to him to read...waiting for him to get to the part where I talked about my phone and being a cheater...I waited...and waited...and waited....then he turned and looked at me and I started laughing and he was like...CHEATER!! Hahaha!

So the tough part wasn't the internet...it was the eating. Did I succeed and not eat past dinner time?? .............................YES!!! Not without battle though. So how did I manage? I knew that my time when I first started to get that "wanting to eat feeling" was around 9pm so I said along with the "internet free zone", there would be a walk every night at 9pm. With my feet issue and just having my orthotics for a week today, I knew it would just be a short and slow walk and have to ease into it. So I knew I had that coming at 9pm. So how did I manage with my time after dinner? Well, with our glorious heat right now, I changed into my swimsuit and hopped in the pool. (Who says you shouldn't go swimming after you eat??) My pool is an above ground pool with the deck built around it. It's an octagon-ey shape. I can get 5 strokes across. So I swam for about 30 min. It felt fantastic! So that was fine. Then it was time for the walk. D & Henry came along. Henry was so happy to be out for a walk. I had to remind them that we had to go slower, so I could ease into walking again. So we just went around the block. Again, it felt fantastic! I just had a bit of pain on the outer part of my left heel (left foot is worse) but all in all I was impressed with my feet not being in excrutiating pain.

Once we got back to the house I was wanting to make Crystal Light popscicles, but didn't really have anything put make them in. Then D thought of the Jell-o shooter cuppies we have...PERFECT! So I made a jug of Strawberry Watermelon Crystal Light, filled up a cookie sheet full of cuppies and stuck it in the freezer (sooo can't wait to have a few tonight!!) Then I had enough leftover to fill a rubbermaid bottle to quench my thirst. So I took my juice and we headed downstairs to watch an episode or two of How I Met Your Mother (omg...LOVE this show! Absolutely hilarious!!). After one episode, I was really starting to feel the "wanting" to eat come on. I was like ohhh nooo. Don't cave, don't give in! I knew I couldn't. So I was like, alright, I'm really wanting to start to eat so...bedtime!

So then I got into bed and that's when I grabbed my phone to check Faceboosh and my blog. That's when I saw the comment from Raquel and I was like hey! That's exactly what I did tonight! If you missed Rachel's comment on the last post...check it out. I'm also going to post the tips on the Facebook page. Thanks girl!!!

So I'm proud girl today! Internet-Free zone night 1 was a success and I didn't give in to my night eating voice! Night 2 is coming...but I'm sure it will be just as successful!

Bad Habit

I seem to have picked up a bad habit and I'm having a really tough time shaking this one. This isn't something that's new really, just one that went away and snuck back up on me and blam-o! - Late night eating.

Late night eating how I detest thee. Though I must be getting some kind of wonderful enjoyment out of you if I continue to "see" you every night. The cereal, the sandwich, the toast, the granola bar....notice a pattern here....carbs! The feeling starts to come over me usually around 9. I try to push it to the back of my mind, but as the minutes pass by, it creeps itself to the forefront of my brain and then there it is. I can no longer resist. I cave. I give in. All willpower is lost and to the pantry I go to get cereal or a granola bar. Or I think...will it be cheese or peanut butter on my toast tonight (because you gotta have protein!).

Every morning I wake up and I say, today is going to be a good day. I'll get my eating right, I'll try and get a bit of exercise in and it'll be great! The day starts. I have a nice healthy breakfast. I have a good snack. Lunch is fab. I have another great snack. Then a nice healthy dinner. Dinner ends and already in my mind I'm thinking forward to those later hours and how I'm going to stave off the late-night eating. I think what can I do that will keep me busy? I could go for a bike...a few more days I could go to the gym...I could finish packing up my project room...there's so many things I could be doing. What do I usually end up doing? Sitting down at my laptop...on facebook...and I waste my time.

Wow. You know what just happened. I started off writing this blog with the intentions of writing about my late night eating bad habit. Then I just realized now, there's another one that has some very close ties....Facebook....Crackbook, lol. What a time suck it is! It's actually amazing how you start out on it and it's such and such time, and then you look at the clock and think, holy f***, has that much time passed already?! Nooo.....really?! Yes, really. So I could be outside doing something active, or making lists, or packing. Instead, I'm just sitting there on my arse, facestalking people who really aren't that important in my life (of course none of you fit into that category) and just wasting my time. I actually already made a decision this morning before getting to work. This decision will actually allow me to really focus on the things that need to get done and also allow me to focus on ways to stave off that late night eating...the bugger!! No Internet after 8pm. WHOA!! Shocking!! I need to eliminate this mindless bad habit, so I can focus on my other bad habit - late night eating.

It will be tough, oh I know it will be tough. My eyes will wander over towards my big comfy chair, where I sit with my laptop. I'll start to get fidgety. Yes, I will probably check facebook on my phone (so I may cheat a little), but NO INTERNET after 8pm. I can do this! My house will be a Internet FREE zone after 8pm. We'll see how this goes...

What can happen in a year?

A LOT!!!

However, since this blog IS called Terra Fit, I'll just stick to the happenings that have to do with that.

So! As I sat here a year ago, I was a pretty unhappy girl. It may have appeared that I was very happy, however I am a master of disguises. I've actually been this way pretty much my whole life. I appear one way on the outside, but inside, it's a whole other story. I'm a smiler. I put on a smile and everything appears it's okay...it's not. It's kind of like being an actress or on the air. No matter what's going on around you, inside you, you can't let that show. You have to smile and the show MUST go on. That's not very healthy is it? Not at all.

I remember watching Dr. Phil and seeing shows about how people measure their happiness based on the success of their wealth. He'd always try and get them to see that happiness shouldn't be based on that. At the time, I'd think to myself, well at least I'm not like that. I don't measure my happiness based on my wealth, or lack thereof. (Though, who am I kidding...having more $$ would be nice!) But you know what? I was just like those people. I measured my happiness on my weight. I always have. I never truly felt pure happiness because there was always that voice in my head that told me I couldn't be happy because I was fat.

So how did that change? Well let me tell you, it didn't just happen over night. Like I said at the beginning A LOT has happened in the past year. A LOT had to happen for that to happen. You hear about how it takes hitting rock bottom for something major to turn around. I realize now...I hit my rock bottom. When it comes to weight and people hitting rock bottom, you usually then hear, "I was at my all time high weight of...", however, that wasn't my case. My all time high weight was 287 when I got married back in September 2005. My rock bottom came when I was at my lowest weight I've been in 12 years. So really, it had nothing to do with my weight. It was my way of thinking.

When you have weight issues, you carry so much extra baggage with you - no pun intended. It's not just physical, it's also mental. It's so easy to just crawl inside yourself and stay there because then you can't feel the pain of dealing with all those issues. But, it can be a dangerous place to get trapped inside yourself. Especially for someone like me, who's a smiler. It can lead you down a path, where you don't really want to be - trapped inside yourself and in your thoughts. It's like they're playing tricks on you making you believe that it's what you really want. I became numb to everything around me. I thought I wanted out of my marriage, I thought I wanted to leave my job, I thought I wanted to leave town, I thought I wanted to just run away. I thought, "Yes! I'm finally being truthful with myself. This is who I really am! I'm finally going to be who I want to be!" That's where I got trapped. The whole time I thought I was trapped here. The truth is, I was trapped in me. There was a tiny little voice in there though that kept saying, "No Tara, this isn't what you want. This isn't who you are." I ignored that voice and kept pushing it further and further and further away. Then on May 16th, (on the verge of losing it all, for what I thought was what I truly wanted) it was like that voice finally found its voice and just said, "ENOUGH!" It found the courage to burst through all of my other negative thoughts that had been at the forefront of it all and just stomped on them all saying, "No! No! No! This isn't what you want! This isn't who you are!" It was like an explosion inside my brain and the brick wall just came tumbling down...CRASHING down! I could finally see and think clearly and then came the tears. I couldn't stop crying and then hyperventilating. I was a mess, but it was a GOOD mess. I was finally conscious of everything around me. It was life altering. When I think about it, the image that comes to mind is those horses that pull carriages and they have those blinders on. My blinders were finally removed and I could see everything. It really is amazing what you see when you don't have those blinders on! I'm the happiest I've been in years!

I may not be at my physical goal yet (still a ways to go), but I'm working on it. Since August I've lost 40lbs and gained back 15(it was a rough winter dealing with my plantar fasciitis and all of this...), but I'm moving forward. The difference this time is that I realize I can be happy NOW. I don't have to weigh 160lbs to be happy. Happiness won't just magically appear when I weigh 160lbs. Yes I'll look and feel fabulous, but I have so much more to be happy about. I'm learning to live in the moment and look to the future.

This battle is not only physical, but it's also a mental and emotional one. If your mind set isn't in the right place for you, it's going to be that much more difficult. When you have the mind set and realize YOU CAN, there are no limitations as to what you can achieve.