Feb
2015

For your health!

IMG_1280I got my report card this week! I got all A’s & B’s. I had a play date with my friends Dhiya and Simaya. And I find out if I make the advanced gymnastics team in the next week!

IMG_1310He said

The theme around the TeeterPod this week was focused on wellness. At work there is a challenge as part of a health and wellness commitment with the mindset of employees getting in better shape and eating a lot more mindfully. Being that every year post Christmas with the luggage I add on to my frame I look to make a more concerted effort to get that weight back off in January and February, it made perfect sense to join this challenge. And if I get enough points in the challenge, I get a fancy glass water bottle with the Apple logo on it.

IMG_1305In previous years I have just made the effort to be a little more mindful of how much extra I eat and lot more regimented about my trips to the gym. But this challenge really puts the focus on eating – and eating a lot better – as much as it does the exercise. You gain points in the competition by keeping your calorie intake down, but also by eating a much higher diet of fruit and vegetables. And I really like how it has me thinking a lot differently about what I am eating.

IMG_1293When Danielle made her health and getting into shape a high priority one of her biggest learns was around choosing your food much more healthily. They say that 80% of weight loss begins in the kitchen, and we really saw that when she  got a lot more purposeful about what she ate, and as a result I saw those benefits as I by proxy ate much better too. This fitness challenge focuses on encouraging both exercise, nutrition, and – what Danielle said was most important in her success – food logging.

We’re just ending the first week of the challenge and I am happy to say that right now our team is leading all the teams in the competition, and more importantly I am down 9 lbs since I started really logging my weight (about two weeks before the challenge started). I am definitely feeling a lot better and haven’t noticed missing all the bad snacking food that I’ve snubbed my nose at. I am excited to see where I end up in three weeks time when the challenge ends! Certainly by then a lot of the healthy behaviours will be second nature.

IMG_1292The rest of the week was a blur of snow, snow shovelling, and work. I did have Monday and Friday off which was helpful given the weather and the driveway’s continuing state of white fluffy coverage. Friday I picked up Emelia from school and then we got to spend time together while we picked up our Pilot Big Bro coffee beans and of course a hot chocolate and a chocolate chip cookie for Emelia at our favourite local coffee shop Locomotive. And then after that we made off to the Asian grocery store to pick up the fixings for a recipe for a Salmon Bowl & Asian Vinaigrette that I got from our Wellness page (that was amazing by the way).

IMG_1281It was a really nice couple of hours just her and I. And I am sure Danielle liked the time free of a child that easily bores and gets frustrated with the daycare activities focused on kids 5+ years Emelia’s junior. We came home and by 5pm all the daycare kids were gone and we were able to get Danielle to the gym while Emelia and I played in the Treehouse Room. After that we came home made the recipe and enjoyed the quiet close of a week together.

IMG_1279This weekend was all about work. I was in both Saturday and Sunday which made it a bit of a challenge both days to get to the gym and meet all the goals, but we made it work both days and I am proud to say I end the week with seven days straight of hitting every single target.

So on that note, I am going to pass the mic over to Danielle so she can recount her week and then we can meet on the couch to rest, relax and just enjoy the last few moments of quiet and slow that Sunday evenings can offer.

 

IMG_1295She said

My week for us was pretty low key. As John has mentioned in his part the renewed focus on fitness and nutrition that has been a major focus in my life for over 2 years has really been centre this week. The big centre is the challenge’s focus on vegetable intake. We already ate a large portion of veggies at each meal but this challenge took it to a whole new level so there have been adjustments in our meals to assure that John is reaching his fitness goals.

IMG_1317This week our schedule was far more co-operatitve with John’s work schedule to allow us to get to the gym almost every day this week. It felt amazing to be there as often as I used to be and my body certainly felt it by the end of the week. I find the older I get the more I need the exercise to help me every day to feel my best.

The other theme of the week this week was snow and lots of it. We have had a relatively light winter for snow for our city. Normally by December we are already sick of the white stuff, so considering we are in February and this is the first time we are saying ‘ok enough already’ then I think we are doing pretty good. But man this week it seemed day and night we were dealing with digging out the crap from the driveway. We had so much Sunday night into Monday morning that Emelia had a snow day from school.

IMG_1315Needless to say the winter cabin fever blahs have kicked in and we are all on the countdown to spring. In the spirit of the long winter and Emelia’s insane growth spurt this year we got to think a bit more about spring and summer. I had decided last week I would dig out her totes of clothes from the last couple summers and see where we stood with clothes, and well we are starting from scratch, she has grown so much that other than a couple pairs of shorts and one or two dresses we have nothing that still fits her. So off we went to packaging up what she had and finding new loving homes for it all. So far we have a few bags of play condition mismatch outfits going to her best friends so they are quite happy.

With a whole new wardrobe and a little girl who has recently decided that she wants bigger girl clothing we are making a real shift to a whole new style of clothing. Thankfully what she seems to like is still very appropriate for her age (thank GOD) and after a fair bit of trial and error she thinks she has an idea of what she likes along with what she for sure doesn’t like.

IMG_1313Today after gymnastics class while John was at work she and I did our rounds to a few clothing stores and got a few t-shirts for the spring and summer and we go out again next weekend as her new favourite store is having a big sale. So we are getting there, painfully but getting there. We are moving to an interesting stage with Emelia when she wants a real sense of who she is and expressing herself. So guiding this has been interesting to say the least.

Honestly that was the week that was, snow, fitness and summer clothing shopping. And on that note I am exhausted and want to veg before I am back to the grind tomorrow.

2 thoughts on “For your health!

  1. Congratulations, Emelia on your success at school and getting a chance to make the advanced gymnastics team! Good Luck!
    Great progress and investment in good health and healthy eating, John! Good thing Danielle already got you started on the revised eating life.

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