Tweaking Tuesday June 1, 2010

I am back. I have avoided this Tuesday space for quite sometime. Call it an out of control spiral, an avoidance of reality or a changing of my priorities, but I’m back.

The past few months I haven’t been watching my food intake, however, I’ve been slowly increasing my exercise. I’ve been using my Wii (although it annoys me that it chastises me every time I stand on the balance board, warning me that I should check in daily), going for walks, and the occasional jog.

I’m back I guess to return to what I had started with. A changing of habits, not an overhaul to lose weight, back to making small health and lifestyle tweaks to a better, happier life. I think I started putting too much pressure on myself and ended up wanting to avoid myself and this Tuesday space. The result: out of control, an angry wii trainer, and the feeling of failure.  Lets face it, I have to live with myself, my body, my family forever, and I want to feel good with myself and not share my body issues with my daughter.  If I live a healthy lifestyle she will hopefully live one also, If I speak positively about myself, hopefully she will also.

Here we go again, so this week as we get into summer it is ultimately important to stay hydrated, so this tweak will once again be to drink lots of water. 8 recommended glasses a day!

Happy Tweaking,

Tara xoxo

Tweaking Tuesday – having a Wii bit of fun May 4, 2010

Do you want to know what shames me? Insisting on needing something related to health and fitness and NEVER using it. This would be true of some gym memberships in the past, a bicycle hanging in my garage, some random dvds collected over the years, and last year it was the Wii fit. Yup, sat in the box, then I insisted my husband set it up for me in december. It sat in the box! We purchased it when it was hard to find because I absolutely had to have it and promised to use it ALL the time and I did nothing, nada, rien.

So last week over a year later I took it for its first spin. Damn am I out of shape! I think I stepped on the balance board for my weight and Wii age and it let out a little snicker & snort. It told me my Wii age was in my 40s (I’m 33) gave me my BMI (almost threw up) and I am determined to show shrink my little Mii character up.

I have to tell you – I’m not sure if their program works, if my progress will flatline using it, but it is amazing how in tune it is with my body & movements. Nintendo really created something special. I’m loving the step, the jogging, the yoga and strength training. I refuse to ever get on the silly tight rope thing again, and sorry Wii fit.. I instinctively avoid flying balls at my head (soccer).. telling my I’m unbalanced because I duck isn’t really accurate.

Do you have a Wii fit? How do you like it.. any fitness game recommendations?  (ps. I’ll probably avoid purchasing any others until I’m seriously using it a min of 2x per week for over a 2 month period)

lets be honest here – I gained 2 pounds since my last Wii workout – I’ll check in with an updated number next week.

Tara xo

So last week I finally took out my Wii for the first time.

Tweaking Tuesday – Sugar Overload April 13, 2010

I’m not sure if any of you caught my Sugar Shack inspired Montage Monday, but it should be a heads up to the slippery slope that I experienced over the weekend. Many of you may be my neighbors to the south in the USA and maybe you can clue me in a little – is pure maple syrup a big thing down there or do many of you only indulge in Aunt Jemima on your pancakes? Honestly speaking, for 98% of the year that is the kind of syrup I use around the house, because a can of the pure stuff is just to expensive to use on a daily basis with the two little ‘jam eaters’ (I love this term coined by my favorite ‘flake’). However, when the spring season sets in and the snow begins to melt my mouth waters for this seasonal treat.

Let me gently fill in my friends from the south as to what ‘sugaring off’ is – it is a Quebec tradition – we head up to the manufacturers of pure maple syrup for a breakfast/brunch of traditional yummy foods (pancakes, bacon, eggs, sausage, potatoes, tortiere pie /meat pie, pea soup, sugar pie) and load it up with pure syrup. Usually on the grounds you can see where they boil the syrup and they give you some ‘tire sur la neige’ or maple taffy served on snow with a Popsicle stick.  The place we went to had a pricey ticket, but the ambience was magnifique! There was a hay ride pulled along with some huge mammoth work horses, the owner walking around with his timber wolf, many log cabins serving as shops, and the ‘shack’ itself had 3 rooms with seating & live music. It is such a great experience and I encourage anyone visiting the Montreal area in the spring to check it out.

OK, now for everyone out there who follows this segment – did you read the food list? OK, just so we’re straight I think the only healthy thing I mentioned was the pea soup, maybe.  You all also know how food generally tastes better with company, and damn did it taste good! I ate, and ate, and ate some more. I drank pure maple syrup from a cup, from a spoon, even put it in my pea soup (yum) and coffee (not so yum). I learned new and inventive ways to eat syrup – place syrup in a mug and dip yummy fresh bread. Also some other ways to eat it that I’m sworn to personal secrecy not to share,  I didn’t try this one in fear that it might taste really good.  After leaving my tummy was so full & firm that I felt pregnant. I felt full, sick, and dreadfully hung over. No establishment should place a full liter of maple syrup on the table or deep fry their bacon. (yes that was delicious too!), I’m a sucker for the salty/sweet combination.

To make matters worse, the day prior I threw a surprise birthday party for my husband. We have 3 leftover bags of chips in the cupboard, a tin of pirouettes, a full cake in the fridge. This might sound dreadful, but it is impressive that it is all still there. I think I can chalk it up to:  after this weekend’s sugar/junk binge I no longer crave it. The idea of it actually makes me a little ill. Maybe this was just what I needed to close that chapter?

The sun is shining, we’re doing Shish Taouk BBq this evening for my SIL’s birthday – the ice cream cake involved makes me cringe – but it will be another healthy day.

How are you doing? Anything ‘bad’ stuff weaknesses you’d like to share? How do you wipe your slate clean and turn the page?

This week’s tweak: getting back to the H2O – I want to drink 2 liters per day again. I felt much better and it might help with these headaches which are probably brought on by dehydration.