Weigh In: Set Backs and Successes

Well a lot to say today! Let's start with last week though. I finally made an appointment to go see a physiotherapist about my hip. My appointment was last Wednesday and it was definitely a learning experience.
I went into the office thinking that he would tell me that I'm running "wrong" and somehow that is what has been causing me this pain. After asking me what my Goals are from that meeting with him and what I wanted "fixed", he started my assessment. He talked me though a bunch of various stretches that were to test my flexibility. In all of these tests I passed or acceded what I should be at, so stiffness is not my problem. Then came the strength tests. I thought I would do well in this area because my legs are one of the areas I have seen the most improvement; well I was wrong. The first test he had me do was to lay on my side with my legs bent in a kinda running position. From there he got me to push against his hand with my leg lifted laterally. I failed it miserably on my right leg and on my right leg I failed as well but not to the same degree. The next test was to sit in a chair and using one leg try to stand up. On my left leg I could do it but with quite a bit of struggling, my right leg was a different story. I could not do it at all on that leg and I had to try it again on a bed that was higher up and even then I did it with much wobbling.
From this and from where I could tell him the centre of my pain was located, he was able to assess that one of my Hip Abductor muscles, the Pectineus to be exact, is very weak. This muscle is responsible for keeping your balance when you are one leg while running, it also brings the leg up in a running stride. So basically by this muscle being weak when I run it tires quickly and tears and causes me pain. So what can I do?
Well this is what my Therapist suggested to me. First off, stop running. Basically, this activity is what is causing me pain so I should stop until I can fix the problem or at least strengthen the weak muscle. This is kinda crushing because I love running. I really do. I see people running when I'm driving to school and I feel a longing to be that free and to feel that great feeling that comes after a good run. Thankfully though he gave me some exercises to strengthen my weak link. I just finished doing them and I can feel them working. One of them is the same as one of the tests I failed, the one legged stand up. What makes it slightly different is that I can put some pillows under me to lift me up a little bit. Then I do 3 sets of 10 reps and when it becomes easier I can remove a pillow and start it again. The other exercise is one legged step-ups. This one is fairly simple but it's difficult because you have to remember not to push yourself up with your hind foot. As with the stand-ups I'm to do 3 sets of 30 reps. I really hope these exercises will help me. I think I'm going to get at least two more sessions with this therapist and hopefully this will put me on the right track to getting back to running.


Okay how about some good news now! This week, even without me running as part of my workout I lost 1.8 lbs! This is amazing. I was really concerned about my weigh in this week because my eating has been all over the place. Last week I just became obsessed with fall and harvest food. I went to the Square One Farmer's Market and bought a bunch apples that were supposed to be for an apple pie, a Doughnut and two croissants (one plain and one chocolate) from a polish baker lady and a dozen homemade fresh baked bagels. Other then the apples not a very healthy haul. I ate the doughnut and plain croissant right away but I ate sensibly the rest of the day and went to the gym before that. The other croissant I made sure to eat when I was not going to eat a lot that day. I haven't made the apple pie yet because my family is not home this week so the pie would most likely go uneaten. The apples though have been used as quick snacks before work and school. I love the Ginger Crisp apples I got. I will be heading back to the market this week for sure and this weekend I will bake my pie!


Some other things I am looking forward to and working on this week are:

• Going to an Apple Farm with my friend Tania on Thursday. I really want to get some pumpkin tarts and hopefully some ideas for other baked goods. I will plan for this day by eating right before and after. Also, I should be able to get some activity in by walking around the farm getting apples.
• This week I'm going to be working on my first assignment for my Professional Selling class. I'm really excited to be doing some real work at school and getting feedback about it. I'm really into this program and want to do really well about it.
• Going to the gym more! Today I slept through my alarm and while I still had plenty of time to get ready for school I didn't have time to go to the Gym. I would have gone tonight after class but I had already made plans with a friend to have dinner. I hate canceling so tonight, after dinner I made sure to do extra of my physio exercises. I'll probably be hurting tomorrow but my delicious Greek meal was worth it.

I'm going to try to fit in another blog this weekend. Maybe one with more pictures? Goodnight all!

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Back to School

First off I want to share my weigh in. I weighed in on Tuesday as I always do. I was at 148.2 which is under what I was before I left for British Columbia! I've lost all of my Vacation weight and then some. I need to keep this trend going. Now part of the reason why I think this happened was because of my Birthday celebrations on Saturday night. I don't want to share that much because it's really not nessisary but, let's just say whatever I consumed that night did not count. It didn't stay with me shall we say. It's never going to happen again but if it had to happen at least it was on my Birthday when I have an excuse (sorta) for it. Now let's get into what I wanted to talk about; School!

I can't believe a week has gone by since I started at Humber. I've really enjoyed it so far though. I'm taking the Advertising - Media Sales program which is the same program my sister Tara took. It's about the selling and buying of space and time for advertising.

The first day was a little crazy. I was running late getting there and still a little jet lagged from just getting in from BC the night before. So when I finally got to class I was late and therefore when I walked in I was noticed. My teacher, Barb asked who I was and when I told her she realized that I'm related to Tara and her sister Remy, who also did the program. She then told the whole class my family's history in the "Business" and how successful they all are. I'm not embarrassed by that at all but I wasn't really ready for my whole class to know about it. I didn't really want to stand out in that way. After that and everyone else introducing themselves we started work on a little in class assignment. While my group was working on it I mentioned to Barb that Tara says Hi. Barb then told me how Tara and Remy were both top students in their year and that "they" would be watching me! I wanted to do really well in this program anyways but now there is this added pressure. I plan on using that though as the fire under my bum to keep me motivated to do well.

The rest of my classes were not as eventful. My Marketing teacher knows Remy but wasn't around for Tara. Thankfully, I've sorta made some friends. We sit together in all of our classes and it makes it easier for getting notes down. Also, it seems that my section is the section with all the "older" students. The people that have already done post-secondary or have at least taken a year off between high school and Humber.

One of the things I was worried about going back to school was how my eating and fitness plans would fit into my new schedule. It has been a bit for an adjustment but I think I've got it under control.

My Timetable. Ignore the COMM classes they have been dropped

This is my Timetable for the semester. I figured out that Tuesdays and Thursdays I can go to the gym in the morning before class. Sunday, Monday (after 4pm), Wednesdays (until 2pm), Friday and Saturday are my days that I'm available to work. Wednesdays I'll try to squeeze in a work out after work and before class if there's time. Friday and Saturday I'll go to the gym before or after I work depending on the shift.

As for eating, if you look at my schedule most of my classes start after 11am. This means I'm able to eat breakfast and for the most part lunch at home. The only day I don't eat lunch at home is Tuesday and planning to pack a lunch for one day is not too difficult. Also, because all my classes are pretty well one right after the other there's no time to go to the Cafeteria and grab some kind of unhealthy snack. None of my classes go past 6pm either so I'm always home for dinner which is great as well.

It's looking like this time College won't mean a "Freshman" 15 for me and I'll be able to stay on track.

Look out for my next blog where I'll talk about my appointment with a physiotherapist. I finally got some answers about why my hip has been hurting me when I run.

Until then I'm going to stay on track with my eating and try to fit more Veggies into my meals!!

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Back from Vacay!

Actually I've been back for a few days now but with Starting and dealing with some work stuff I've been to busy to do this post!
This is gunna be a long entry so be prepared! Let's start though with some pictures of my first day in Nelson, British Columbia.

The view from Alli's Street

Alli and I with our matching PJs!

Clouds blocking the mountain during my morning run

Where I looped back on my run. Under the Big Orange Bridge.

I guess I will start this one with where I left off from the last blog. After I posted that, I met up with Alli and we had to go to Grand Forks which was 2 hours away from Nelson. It was really nice place, of course there were beautiful mountians everywhere. We were in Grand Forks for the Grand Forks International Baseball Tournament and Oh.Em.Gee... So many cute baseball players! Alli and I went shopping! haha!

Me and a squirrel

Some of the cute baseball players

We left Grand Forks around 9pm and got a not so great dinner of pepperoni pizza from this place we were handing out coupons for, The Twisted Tomato. It was amazingly good.

Thursday, I went out exploring Nelson which was lovely. It really is a beautiful town. The greatest part though had to be Gyro Park.

The park is on the side of one of the mountians in Nelson and it has some amazing views!

Coming up to the viewing area

Downtown Nelson in the Distance

Rocks entwined in the fence

Hey B.O.B!

Scary!

Another shot of Nelson's downtown

Then, I headed over to where I was told there is a swimming pool. I love swimming so I really wanted to check it out. Unfortunately, this is what I was greeted with...

"Closed: See you next summer!"

I was so disappointed! It looked lie a really nice pool too. It was sunny and warm though so I made the best of it and laid out in the sun and read my book, "Last Night at the Chateau Marmont". It's by the same writer as "The Devil Wea

Then I decided to go to Lakeside Park and see the beach there. This is the same park I did my run at so I knew there was a nice beach there and I wanted to see if the water was warm enough for swimming!

The beach!

The water was not warm at all! I could only walk in as far as my ankles so I gave up and went back to sunning myself and reading. Alli called me to pick her up from work so I took one last picture before I left the beach. I love it.

So pretty!!

We quickly made dinner and ate because we were going to Ainsworth Hot Springs! I was so excited for this. It was one of the only things I really wanted to do in Nelson. Everything else didn't really matter to me because I was there to see Alli.

On the B.O.B. to Ainsworth

Me and the Mountains

Crazy snow-capped Mountain

It was pretty well dark by the time we got there but that just made everything more prettier.

The hot springs were amazing. Your skin just felt so smooth in them and your hair was like silk! I could have stayed in them forever. Apparently that's not very good though, so we keep jumping in and out of the Caves and into the cooler pool.

Alli loving the springs

Crazy mineral settlement that looked like blood

Me in the Caves

Looking out of the Caves

Alli and I in the cool pool

When we got back home we were both so tired we just crashed as soon as we got in the door. The next morning I decided to go for a run and it was a beautiful day for it.

I ran a couple of laps but I think I was still tired from the night before because this one didn't feel as good as the one on my first day. When I finally called it quits I headed back to Alli's and got showered and ready to go explore some more of Nelson. I was starving though, so I made sure to stop by this cute food truck I saw the day before.

So cool!

Some of the Fries and Roasted Garlic Aioli I got.

Those fries were so good and really hot the spot. So worth it. While wandering the streets of Nelson, I got some good shopping done and tried some delicious coffee. Sidewinders is this really nice coffee place that has an amazing patio.

The view!

Later, Alli met up with me and went to Oso Negro coffee, which I already knew I loved because Alli had brought me some of their coffee at Christmas and it was amazing. I bought a big bag of that coffee because it is so good.

Mmmmm, Princess of Darkness

My "Canadiano"- Expresso mixed with coffee

Alli with her coffee

Oso's crazy cool patio behind me

After Oso, Alli and I got changed for "night of drinking". Alli wanted to take me out to celebrate my birthday which was so nice of her. We got some really good chats in and had some delicious drinks and food!

The view from the Restaurant we ate at that I can't remember the name of

Me and Alli at nameless Restaurant

After that we walked in Nelson to start the bar crawl. First we went to Jackson's Hole. This is the place where parts of the movie Roxanne with Steve Martin was filmed.

Alli and I's drinks

Then we went for martinis at Louie's. This place was very nice and swanky, I liked it. It had very comfy chairs also!

Alli with her coffee martini

Me, looking not as cute as Alli, with my martini

Somehow after leaving Louie's and getting to Alli's place I lost an earring. That sucked because I had just bought them. At least I was drunk enough to not be upset about it then!
The next day, Saturday, we had to go into Grand Forks again but this time only for 3 hours so we planned to go to the beach the next day. It turned out to be a pretty awesome day.

Me at the park behind the market

Before Grand Forks though, Alli and I went to this cute market that was mostly operated by Hippies.  It was pretty cool though. I got replacement feather earrings and a new claddagh ring. We also bought some of the most delicious baked goods. Nummies.

Grand Forks was pretty uneventful which was fine, I was still feeling the night before. We left around 3 and headed to Christina Lake, which we had been told is beautiful. They didn't lie.

Christina Lake

The picture above is the view that I had when I called my sister, Leslie to say goodbye. She is leaving to go to Asia and Australia for 18 months.  I'm going to miss her like crazy while she's gone but since my weight loss we've become close to the same size. So I've promised to keep her clothing company!
Alli and I just laid on the beach for a while. I attempted to swim but the water was still pretty cold.

Me and Alli

Went we got back to Nelson we went out for dinner at this cute place called Max and Irma's. They are famous for their pasta and I was craving carbs from being outside all day.

So cute!

We both ended up eating way too much. It was just so good! We went to this other lounge type place called Bibo after.

We ordered dessert but we were too full to eat much of it. I had creme brulee and it was insanely good. I really wanted to take it home with me. I felt sick though. I have never felt like I could throw up from eating too much until then. I took some tums and went right to sleep when we got home.
Sunday, we had to go out to the GFI again for 3 hours but this time Alli could pick when. We decided to go early so we could come back to Nelson and do some hanging out and shopping. Little did we know that Sunday was the Nelson Pride Parade! I have never been to Pride in Toronto but somehow it found me in Nelson of all places.

 

It was really great to see and even though it was short everyone showed a lot of heart in it. They even had some really well put together Drag Queens. Them girls were fierce!
Alli and I walked around for a bit but mostly a lot of stores were closed. So we went to Sidewinders and hung out on the patio with some coffee until dinner. We had decided to go to All Season's Cafe because that was one of the first places Alli and her dad went to when she first came to Nelson.

Me and the sign

The food we had was amazing! I know I say that about every place we ate but really everything was really really good. After we ate we decided to make it a relaxing night since I was leaving the next day and just rented a movie. We rented Rock Star with Mark Walberg. Alli had never seen it and I hadn't seen it in a while so it was really good. We drank tea while watching it and it was really a great end to an amazing week.
The next morning Alli and I got up early and went for breakfast. We ended up going to the Hume Hotel which was having a breakfast buffet because it was Labour Day.

The food was fantastic and I got to stuff my face one last time before heading back to Ontario and reality!
We went to crazy Castlegar Airport and Alli was able to sit with me pretty much until I got on the plane. It was nice and we talked about traveling and where we still want to go in the world. Maybe one day we'll travel together! When I finally got on the plane it was pretty sad to be leaving Alli and Nelson. It was such an awesome trip that I can't wait to go back! Maybe next time I'll spend some more time in Vancouver and see why it's so special!

Bye Nelson!

Did you make through all that? I tried to keep it short but a weeks worth of awesomeness is hard to contain. I'll try to post another blog this weekend about my first week make at school and the challenges I have already encountered!
Until then I'll be working on getting my eating back on track. This is going to be a hard on because Saturday is my Birthday Party/Outing. This means lots of drinking and possibly late night eating; two of the reasons I got to my largest weight. I know which ever outcome though I have the determination to get past it!

oxo