Sunday

Pleasure to meet you (I said to myself this morning)

I don't know how long you have known me, but I've known myself for quite a long time, well, I've known the OLD me for a long time. I've just recently met the NEW me, and let me tell you, I really like her! I think I may actually be in love with her (shhhh, don't tell my husband).
It's been a long time (if there ever was a time), since I've felt this way about myself. It feels  fabulous! If you did know me before, you'll know that I've dealt with a lot of sh*t in my life (especially in the last 7 years) a lot of ups and a lot of downs that could bring a lot of people down, I mean really really down....
I've been battling depression, post-partum, and anxiety, I've quit smoking (after 16 years), started working out, and started school, I've had 2 kids, gotten married, I've lost my dad and lost my last grandpa and been estranged from family, I've moved 4 times in 5 years (4 cities, 2 provinces and 2 different countries), I've sold it all and had to buy it all back, I've lost and gained friends (and weight), I've been utterly lost and seen the light, I've cried myself to sleep and stayed awake all night staring at my kids, I've been away from my husband for 3 months straight, I've gone through this and more, much more ..... but so what right, who hasn't?
The point of all of this is that I've gotten through it, and not only gotten through it, but am here, better then ever and ready to take my life and kick this world right side up again! Now-a-days I wake up happy (imagine that!) and at a decent time! I'm ready to greet the day, sweat and work out. I laugh with my kids and husband a LOT more, and have energy to play with them. I am conscious of what goes in my body regarding food and supplements and I don't get sick as often, (and when I do I can read my body telling me when it's coming and I kick that sicknesses ass)! My moods are more upbeat, and my body is way more fit and toned. My face has cleared up, my sleep is super restful, and I'm actually accomplishing more and more everyday! My confidence has grown, and damn it, I'VE GROWN! There was a time that I would joke that I felt too immature to have a husband and kids. Now I feel grown up, mature and responsible, but maybe still too young! (haha, young at heart!)
I started this blog in September with the hope of transforming myself into a person that my kids would be proud of, into someone that my husband and family would be proud of, but especially into someone I would be happy to see in the mirror every morning.
I think I've done it.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not done done, I'm still working more, I'm still eating to live and working out with bodyrock, I'm still trying my damnedest every day to be patient and calm... but boy oh boy am I happy to be here where I am.
And on this journey I have met so many other people who are on the same journey. They inspire me to keep going, to not care what the masses say about food or diet, to keep getting up and working harder. I read an Amazing blog this morning that jump started me again, here is a bit of what Jennifer said....

My body is my temple. This is the only body I have and I am going to treat it the best that I know how and hope it does the same to me. I do wish to grow old AND healthy AND strong. If my life gets busy, the other “stuff” still comes second to me. I come first. My health comes first. I am proud of myself every single day after I finish my workout. I am proud of myself each and every time I choose to only consume healthy choices. I am proud of myself for bypassing the sugary, fried, cheesy, processed, fast… anything… for not even being tempted because I know that what I put into my body is its fuel and I only wish to fuel my body with premium nutrition.
Now, you might be thinking that I should get off my high horse and quite tooting my own horn. But I’m not going to, because it is difficult to make those choices, to change your life, to eat differently than most people, to push yourself beyond what you think you are capable of, to have the self-discipline … it isn’t easy… and I am proud of myself every time… every time. 

I LOVE THIS (Please find Jennifer's blog here) and will keep up with Jennifer as well as all the other amazing blogs out there!

I want to thank you all who are reading my blog, and I want to thank all of the blogs out there that I read every day, such Great inspiration and motivation! I really truly can't wait for 2011! What a stellar year it's going to be!

Tamara

Saturday

Feeling really Fantastic right Now!

Well it's been a while since I've both started to work out and I've become more 'enlightened' about my eating. The last little fast/cleanse really did a wonderful thing to my mind over eating. I find myself really looking at what it is that I'm putting into my body. I think it also helps a ton that the working out is starting to 'show itself'. When you are working your ass off, but don't see progress, it can be a horribly daunting experience. And please don't begin to lecture me on how body shape and health is based both on healthy eating and working out I KNOW THAT!!!!! I was doing that, I guess the fast/cleanse just helped me get that edge I needed.
I've started eating lunch again, and have also found myself snacking because of hunger in between. I'm not happy about that :( I think you should eat when you're hungry, but I don't believe that people are hungry 6,7 or even 8,9 times a day. If you are eating properly then you shouldn't be needing to eat all the time... So when I find my stomach growling I do what any of us should do first, and that is drink a big glass of filtered water. I read somewhere once that nearly 70% of the time that people think they are hungry, they bodies are in fact just crying out for water. I would have to say that 90% of the time it works for me. The other 10% of the time I wait 10 minutes to see if it will pass, and if it doesn't then I grab some nuts, dried fruit or a healthy muffin. Once I had a hazelnut lint chocolate, and last night while playing Mario vs Sonic Olympic Winter Games with my Husband and kids, we wolfed down a ton of air popped popcorn! YUM (anyways, that wasn't sooo good...)

At any rate, I FEEL GREAT!!! And I love it! I don't know if I can really explain it. But I think it's a combination of a lot of different things that I have been doing for a while now, and maybe, well, they just all caught up with me!
I've noticed a big thing lately, and that's when I look into the mirror, I really REALLY truly like who is looking back at me. Why? Dunno, but does it really matter? It could be a combo of my help from Cheryl Richardson (see my older post here, or just go to her site here), or the fact that I'm getting a lot of my life's 'to do list' done (schooling in particular), it may be that I am starting to look 'smokin' (as my hubby's been saying), eating better, working out more, taking some of that Herbal Calm, or it could even be something else. I don't know for sure, But like I said, I don't care! I'm just going to do my best to keep it up!

Happy Holidays to you all, It's coming sooner then I thought it would. Thank goodness I'm pretty prepared.......

Till the next time.....

Monday

Sunday night came and went

So I've done it. I'm sitting here (actually I'm stretching as I type ~ gotta love multi-tasking!), and I feel pretty good. Besides being a little under the weather the last few days, I've done great. I stuck with my plan of smoothies and salads (except that Sat and Sun night I had soup :tom yum and pho instead because I had a slight fever and felt some soup was better then a salad). anyways, I've done it and I feel like I want to do this for a few more days. I don't feel 'done' yet you know? I must admit tho, this time around I feel like my relationship with food has somehow changed. My husband talked about this 'change' last time we did the lemonade cleanse. I wasn't sure what he was talking about until now, and I'm not sure I can explain it, but I really feel differently about food right now.
The only way to explain it may be to say that I'm consciously eating to live and not just eating every yummy thing in my path.
So the plan as of today is to continue this eating, cleansing, detoxing, exercising, thing I have going on and see what happens by Thursday. Why Thursday, well, dunno.... seems like a good night to me. If nothing else I will re-evaluate and see what's what then.

Till then, I'm off to Costco for some nuts, nutella, grapeseed oil and whatever else happens to jump into my cart!

p.s. My new fav salad is a mix of lettuces, crushed walnuts, dried cranberries, a few cloves of minced garlic and some olive oil and balsamic vinegar. SO YUM!

here is a photo if you'd like to see

Happy Holidays!

p.p.s Wanted to also pass along a site that has a LOT of info about eating Alkaline, check it out here, I just bought the recipe book, and as soon as my Husband prints it off and binds it so nicely for me, I will be feeding us a few of these yummy recipes. Let you know how that goes! (and tell me what you think too!)

Wednesday

straw that broke the camels back, or how I'm getting rid of this tire for good!

It's been a few weeks since I started doing this hardcore working out with Zuzana at BodyRockTV, and as intimidating as it was to start, I am now 200% addicted, hooked and loving it! Every morning I wake up and get my smoothie ready, then while the boys are eating and getting dressed I am sweating and working my ass off! Love it!!! I took some photos of me on the day that I started working out (Nov 24th), and will take some more closer to mid January. If I took them right now, I'm sure you wouldn't see a difference, in fact to me it seems that I've gained a few inches on this tire of mine....  I'm working so hard, and I can feel (deep down somewhere hiding in there) that I've got some muscle and made some progress, but it's for sure not picture worthy yet....... This is actually really bothering me. I've never had trouble with my weight, I've actually never really thought about it one way or another. I've always been 'lucky' to be 'thin'. I say these in 'quotations' because that's what people have always told me. But right now I'm struggling to see my body in a positive way in the mirror.
 I'm not a perfectionist, and I don't have a distorted view of my body. I  know that I'm 'thin', but at the same time I have fat. Notice I didn't say that I was fat, but that I have fat, there's a difference, oh yes there it! I may be a size 4, but I too have a tire that I'm carrying around. I do, and I'm tired of it! It seems worse now then it did in the summer.... which makes sense. But the bottom line is that this tire is what is hiding all my progress with Zuzana~
Most people indulge in cakes and sweets and extra helpings when the weather gets colder (it's that extra layer we tell ourselves that we need to survive the winter), and I do live in a very VERY cold place... but in the end it's all just excuses! I have been indulging in sweets and cookies and extra snacks. And although most of my 'treats' are made by me and are very  healthy, it's still  not letting me see all of my hard work.
With all of the blabbering, I feel I've gotten off track.
Here is the point.
Here is what I'm going to do now that the Camel's back has split.
I'm going on a quick and simple half fast half cleanse starting today and ending on Sunday night. It will be simple, but hopefully effective!
For my breakfast I will continue with my smoothie always making sure there is plenty of spinach, fruits and protein powder. For Dinner I will have a good helping of a Delish salad full of body cleansing veggies (things like Beets, Cilantro, Broccoli, Kale, etc). In between my 2 meals a day I will only drink either some Green Tea, Filtered Water or the "famous" Lemonaid Drink.
This added to by Body Brushing, Yoga, and my workouts (which may need to come down a notch because of the difference in my food intake~ we'll see..) should help rid me of this horrible tire that keeps following me around.
Afterwards of course I will need to eat properly, starting with RAW and alkalizing foods, and Nuts, and after 5-7 days adding in meats as well. I should be back to 'normal' for the Holiday season!

Yes, then the Holiday Season. Will Power, and the look of my nearly 6 pack abs should help.... lol, I guess we'll see!
Wish me luck, and I'll keep you posted!

Monday

Can you find a Balance

I've had this problem for a while now, a few years actually... my problem is finding the right balance between having treats and ...... well.... not having treats. I like to keep foods as Healthy as possible, and I'm a firm believer of not jumping on and off detoxes, diets and other food fads. There was a time where I went nearly 9 months without any sugar what so ever, no treats, not one cookie or muffin or chocolate or candy. But I don't want that either, I think that we should eat what we like (and by that I don't mean sugar filled candy, corner store chocolate bars, gummy worms and pop, I mean healthy cookies made with Agave Nectar or muffins made with Honey, etc). I think it's much better to try to eat the best you can all the time and not binge or starve. There are time though that I just can't stop myself from eating these delish yet healthy treats, recently I made some really yummy (and healthy) Pumpkin and GingerBread muffins with a to die for Butter Cream icing (recipe here, thanks again OhSheGlows), yesterday I had 2, and today I had 2 too! This is where I feel the guilt, and I don't want to feel guilty for eating a muffin, but I also don't want to be stuck with this muffin top!
It's not just now at the Holiday time that I find myself struggling with this, but it's definatly more difficult around Christmas that's for sure.

I'm wondering what YOU do about this Balance. Have you found a balance with treating yourself with sweets? Are you one who only has treats on the weekend, or for special occasions, do you make yourself workout for a cookie?

Please tell me what you do in the comments below, and how it works for you. Thanks!

Thursday

being in the "right place at the right time" just happen sometimes

I was feeling a little in limbo, there were things that I could do, things that I should have been doing, and then there was me.... walking around in circles with a cup of almost warm tea in my hands. It was only 10:30, I had all day to figure out what to actually do.....

I happen to open the cupboard above the coffee machine to grab my morning vitamins, and that's when I noticed that the 2 shelves of our assortment of teas, and supplements was looking a tad messy. It was gross actually. So I put my tea down (who's kidding who, I wasn't drinking it anymore, it was getting cold), jumped up on the counter and started going through the mess.

I found expired allergy medicine that I had forgotten we had (obviously), 2 different B vitamins, 2 different adult cough and cold remedies (it's been ages since we've used that kind of medicine when sick), an open and half used bag of children's zinc lozengers, tylenol that was nearly full but expired, some kids echineachea that was only good for another month (perfect timing with this weather, plus Oz wasn't feeling to well), and some 'herbal calm' which I thought was perfect for me seeing as the crazy hectic holidays was sneaking up on us at an alarming rate.

I've titled this post about being in the right place at the right time because that is what happened to me.... Oz needed something for the cold he was catching (and after a few days of the drops, he's doing better then ever!), and I was just talking with my husband about already getting stressed out thinking about the holidays. Herbal Calm here I come!

Every once in a while you need to do little mini cleans in your home. Check the medicine cabinets ~ and on that note, move it out of your washrooms, the humidity can do nasty things to prescriptions, herbal remedies, and the like! Keep it somewhere cool, dry and away from sun, humidity, heat, kids and animals. When you're done cleaning out all the bad and expired stuff, stock up on things like Tea tree oil, Oil of Oregano, Vitamins, Herbs and more!

xox
T

Accountability

I'm struggling. I feel like I can't balance, can't get it all done (never mind, I feel like I can't get anything done)!!! I know this is the third blog up in as many days, but that's not what I mean.  Cheryl Richardson taught me that when I feel overwhelmed I need to take things off my plate, but I don't think that what would help, I'm already feeling lazy and like I'm not accomplishing anything. I think what I need is an amazing schedule or a plan, as well as someone or something to be accountable to every few days or every week. Being accountable to myself hasn't worked so far, I suck at keeping myself 'with it'. Maybe it would help if I had a clear goal of what will happen once I've made these thoughts and ideas into habits.

Better yet, I'm off to my first month of blogs, there I will see why I am here, and what I can do to get to where I want to go.