Fitness - Apparently I ride bikes now

Today as I'm mid training session with Meyrick in IF West Vancouver, along comes Keith with a genius idea to get me out on a bike for the first time since I was a wee lass. None too impressed, I watched them prep the bikes despite my protests & clear show of fear. It might seem a little dumb to be afraid of riding a bike, but I've never really done it....kids at least get training wheels or something to work up to a free-ballin' ride (which I actually did ask for). The guys did an awesome job of explaining all the basics of riding around on a bike without getting hit by a car or landing on my face. They were really encouraging and I actually had a great time...Meyrick is already talking about riding to Port Moody (ummmm ya - for sure).
One thing about biking when you never really have before....ouch. I don't know what it's like to have man parts but let me tell ya, girl parts don't feel that great after 30 minutes of bike seat. I never thought I'd wish to toughen up down there but yep....aiming for tuff muff (patenting that by the way?).
When I got home today I was watching Glee and a commercial came on opening with a close up on a bike seat that is slowly wrapped in barbed wire...I thought *yes!! that is exactly what it's like!*. Then...bam!...it's a commercial for Preparation H. Soooo apparently bikes do hurt people other than me....if they have huge hemorrhoids.
I just hope tomorrow I don't still feel like I got punched in my no-spot.

Fitness, Nutrition, Everything, Oh My!

Let's review....
Monday:
Get up after a pretty decent sleep, think about the many things I have to do for long enough that I don't really have time to do any of them
Eat some healthy yet delicious food like a responsible girl
12:00 Innovative Fitness to see Ivan
1:30 - 8:00 To Impulse for work - Massage Therapy
8:00 Head home
8:35 Arrive home and immediately sit and watch Top Chef Canada...mmmm that food looks good....oh gosh! I haven't eaten since my healthy yet delicious start to the day!
8:50 Cook up some food and eat too much of it because I'm starving
9:30 Stop watching tv and go to check a few work emails before bed
11:30 Geez it's getting late - just a few more things...
2:00am Head to bed without brushing my teeth - gross - because I'm sleepy
Tuesday:
6:30am Get up, don't eat breakfast, don't do anything really, and head to Impulse
8:00am - 12:30 Massage Therapy
12:30 - 1:30 Meeting
1:30 Drive to North Vancouver....no time for lunch - shoot
2:15 - 8:00 Massage Therapy at Moveo
8:30 Head home, cook up some food and eat too much of it because I'm starving
9:00 Hop on the computer and finish up everything left from Monday
12:00 Bed (brushed my teeth this time)
Wednesday
6:00am I should get up since I have to be at IF for training by 7:00am
6:15 Get up!
6:30 Get up now!!
6:31 Fall back asleep by accident
6:45 Ahhhhhhhhhh!!! Race to car and call IF to say I'm running late
7:15 Get in big trouble from Keith for being late and also for not eating breakfast....I don't like being in trouble at all but especially not from Keith - he's got that feisty "don't mess with me" look about him
8:30 Rush to Moveo and arrive at 8:50 for my 8:45 client
10:00 Rush out of Moveo and arrive at 10:05 for my 10:00 meeting
1:00 Sit here at my blog wondering what the heck is wrong with me???
I am such a procrastinator by nature and I think this is why the madness with lack of food prep (leading to eating not enough or way too much....story of my life) and also the chronic lateness. Perhaps I need to stop trying to change my actions (since no matter what I seem to try I'm eating like a maniac and ALWAYS late) and try to focus on sorting out why I feel the need to leave everything to the last minute? I get so much relief knowing I have 5 more minutes before I have to do something or be somewhere....what's up with that...where does that even come from?  I am going to delve deep into the depths of why I love to put things off (I certainly don't lack ambition - I just like to put it off for 10 minutes...or a week...any time other than now really)
I am going to get to the bottom of this....later today....or maybe tomorrow....soon for sure :)

Needles

I have been feeling pretty low energetically the last few months - I know I'm busy blah blah blah but this is not normal I-do-too-much tiredness. I have been doing way to much for years and still have a pretty limited need for sleep...by nature I'm a night owl and it isn't strange for me to sleep for just a few hours pretty often. I know this is bad for me (and my cortisol levels...please reference the sumo wrestler entry for cortisol info) but I have always felt fine going on minimal sleep.  These days, however, I have been tired in the morning no matter how many hours I slept....3, 6, 8, 10....they all feel the same. I have been hitting the snooze button for the first time in my life and I don't like it one bit.
So I went to the doctor and am officially being sent to get my thyroid, iron, etc checked out. Now, anyone who knows me knows that needles and I do not get along. In fact, I am afraid of them second only to bees. The last needle I had to get was in the hospital and they had to move me to a private room (well - I'm pretty sure it was actually a storage closet) because I was sobbing so hysterically that I was making a complete fool of myself.
I was talking to my friend Amy about it today and she actually had an interesting perspective that no one has really given be before....in slightly different words she pretty much said "suck it up princess - get over it, this is not a real problem". It made me thoughtful because she's totally right - although fear is legitimate of course, sometimes you need to just recognize that it's an unfounded fear and suck it the heck up. I'm going to go get the stupid blood test because I feel like poo, and I'm going to try my best to follow Amy's considerate advice. Maybe I'll video tape it...then I would be too embarrassed to freak out (or we'll end up with a rad video....either way is good?)

Fitness - Innovative

So I've already mentioned my issues in the nutrition sector of my health journey...still having ongoing challenges but far from giving up. I am pretty grumpy about it and feeling fairly negative at the moment, but I think that's ok - I personally think it's ok to feel however you feel (especially about something difficult) as long as you still move forward and face the challenge.
As I mentioned previously, I am really positive about my experience with Innovative and am actually increasing my time with them as of this week. I have now started Mondays with mystery trainer in Port Moody (whoever it works best for me to see that week), Wednesdays with Keith in West Van, Thursdays with Kris in Moody and Fridays with Meyrick in West Van. It is pretty intense (as I sit here feeling my quads throbbing from 2 days in a row of a butt-kicking) but I think it's going to be awesome. I find I have more energy on the days I work out and also have more discipline in my eating...I think this is because workouts are pretty darned hard and I don't want to eat badly and waste all that effort.

Nutrition

So I'm on day 8 of Sheena & my "cleanse" and I am still having some trouble with cravings, headaches, etc. The whole point of spending this time is to break bad habits & addictions with someone else suffering along side me & keeping me accountable ha. Hopefully at the end of the month my poor body wont have quite the same need for sugar and all things refined, and I can move forward with healthier eating habits (and a less crazy brain). We are mostly just trying to eat as close to the way things come from the earth as possible - no sugar, caffeine, alcohol or dairy (except yogurt but since just the thought of yogurt makes me want to throw up in my mouth, it's pretty much out for me). I am shocked at the power sugar has over me (in all it's forms...straight up, bread, juice, refined carbs of any kind blah blah blah)....I don't hate a lot of things but I may be close to hating sugar (I also really do hate paper cuts, needles, and mayonaise.......and bees - I wish I didn't but it's just the truth)
I was about to give a bit more update about the cleanse but instead I may just relay my recent text conversation with Sheena....
Sheena: what's happening, how are you doing on the cleanse.
Leah: I am doing ok - I hate the world. How are you doing?
Sheena: I'm surprisingly doing ok. Tired the last few days
Leah: I am tired too....and angry (at anyone holding a carb)
Sheena: lol, I hear ya babe
Leah: Blaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Sheena: Shane is eating my girl guide cookies and drinking an ice cold beer
Leah: I am going to friends for dinner tomorrow and they are even cooking cleanse appropriately yay! Fish, Quinoa, Veggies mmmmm.
Leah: I'm not eating enough - going to get organized over the next few days. I have only lost one pound but I am really puffy for some reason - maybe just way more water than I have been drinking. Hopefully I'll pee it off soon.
Sheena: Wok Box is missing me for sure
Sheena: May have to close down from loss
Sheena: Ouch when I laugh it hurts in my shoulder blade - fudge!
Sheena: mmmmmmm fudge
Leah: ha - fairly sure my lack of business will also be impacting several local joints that are used to an over abundance of delicious purchases
Leah: I hadn't considered that turning my life around would negatively impact the economy? :)

Reliving the pizza nightmare

So I'm still pretty disturbed by my gross pizza discovery (as I should be).
I was looking up something in my trusty "Netter" (the anatomical go-to for most therapists I know) and this picture on the cover seem to bear an uncanny resemblance to my overly-gross pizza find?.....hadn't considered human ha.

Nutrition - pre cleanse

What does every person out there do when they know some habit they love is about to end?...do as much of it as you can the day before you change....right?  :)
So I decided that today I would have pizza - a lot of it - and love every bite......mmmmmm pizza!

Second bite in to my mushroon, olive, and onion pizza, what do I see???????


Yep - a gigantic artery or something....I honestly almost threw up in my mouth. It's like someone out there wanted me to equate the most delicious food on the planet with a huge juicy aorta-like-gross-vein-thing. I think this may have been the push needed to mentally break away from junk food....sick.

Nutrition - changing a habit

Apparently it takes 21 days to change a habit (I have no idea where this fact came from but I have heard it 100 times so it must be correct right?)
I am thinking that to break the many unhealthy habits I have in the nutrition department, I should spend at least 21 days doing something fairly strict.  My friend Sheena and I made a plan today, and for the next month we are committing to a cleanse together. We are thinking that the accountability to each other will be helpful to get me on the right path and help Sheena eliminate anything about her body that reminds her she recently had a baby.
I will write the details of the cleanse coming up, but basically we just committing to a from-the-earth sugar free diet for 30 days. I am going to suck up all of the crazy cravings for a month (please forgive the inevitable mood swings) and then reassess....I'm hoping that it will be long enough that continuing with a healthy diet (less extreme, but very healthy) will be less of an issue, but I'm just taking this month for now.

Sheera Princess of Power

Time

Time to embrace my inner Sheera and kick some butt! 

She manages to stay ultra healthy and strong while working hard, having fun hobbies, spending time with friends and  family, and saving the universe!

Inspiration

"We suffer pain either way...the pain of discipline or the pain of regret"
- Tim Rohn

M.I.A.

It's been a while since I put my thoughts onto this blog...the reason is mostly that it's been a been a bit of a challenging time and I'm never sure how much to say and how personal a public blog should become. I think, however, that I am choosing to share a fairly personal story and it's one that will inevitably involve a struggle (or 20! ha). I think it would be a dishonest blog if I didn't talk about the journey in it's entirety. I know that many many people struggle to try to get their health under control - weight loss books are the highest selling topic on the market in North America. I personally plan to conquer this lifelong challenge and I want to share enough of my experience that others can feel encouraged that getting through a battle is possible, even if it doesn't seem so.
Since I got back from Mexico, I am finding my motivation pretty hard to access. I did break up with sugar, but we were making up before I knew it and the last week has been a bit crazy in this department. I want to eat sugar or carbs for every meal, I'm not sleeping enough, and I'm not doing any exercise outside of Innovative. I will say that on the positive side, my IF workouts are still going great - the team is awesome and I'm getting stronger and more confident every week. I am going to work on finding this same motivation and attitude in the other areas of health and fitness. Because my one good area at the moment seems to be Innovative, I'm going to increase my time with the team there as I work on making some solid changes to the rest of my life.
I think that everyone has such an individual journey when it comes to health and more people struggle than admit it. For me personally, the emotional, mental, and addictive side of things is where 90% of the battle comes in...I have a really hard time finding self discipline in this area. I am ok with this really - I think there's nothing wrong with the parts of life that are hard - I usually learn a lot :)  This particular struggle, however, has been a long (verrrryyy long) and exceptionally challenging one....I am planning on coming through it quite the new and shiny ultra intelligent gal!