Valentine candy, crass behaviour, and rewinding the clock

• Posted by Elisa on February 13, 2009 at 3:30pm

Why celebrate the example of others? Years ago a man with the name of Valentine was martyred and they celebrate on February 14th. There are several stories that are out as to why and how he lived his life and not really related to how it's celebrated today. I know that from past experience, when this time of year comes up, children hand out valentine cards and treats to their classmates. We got no notice from my son's teacher that he was required to hand out cards and I asked him if he would like to. He said he already did. He made one in class and gave it to his friend, a girl (LOL not the time to panic haha). When my son got home from school, we emptied out his bag and it was full of candy and cards. I felt like he just came bag from trick or treating or something hehe. I began to sort the candy from the cards and I put the candy in a baggy and set it aside. I am thankful for cards and the encouragement and my son can now focus on that as well. As we go into this weekend, and the rest of the year we can focus on encouraging others and that is worth celebrating.

Now for crass behaviour.......NOT a fan. Wasted pride and energy....it's ugly, destructive, and self-serving. It poisons the environment around you....don't surround yourself with it! (WOW, what a vent!) ....Where did it come from? I have neighbours who have been parking on the grassy areas in our condo complex.....sadly enough with leaking antifreeze and oil and with being the closest unit to the parking lot, it's kinda unfortunate that they would do so. The reason they started parking there? A few parking stall outlets are not working (including ours) and when the temperatures dipped in the minus 30s, they needed to be plugged in. After discarding their garbage, cigarette butts, and phlegm on our neighbour's car, it was time to ask them to stop parking there. I asked once, they moved the car and then parked it back there, with more......3 cars this time. I posted notices on their cars, and it was ignored. Police have been monitoring their actions and today as I saw them about to get into their vehicle, I asked politely if they could park in the parking stall. All but one was agreeable. And that one didn't even drive the car or LIVE there!! Not to say that in approaching them that they would be compliant, but I figured it was worth asking. Not only would they be towed, they would be fined as well.

After returning inside, I starting thinking in reverse. I started thinking about people I know and turning back the hands of time through their lives. Seeing their lives in the past and how they handled it reflects in the lives they live today. I am now realizing, that some of the people I know that are successful, accomplished, giving, and loving lived some pretty harsh experiences. They chose to be strengthened and also chose to act and respond in a way that would not encourage the harshness to continue in their lives. They made a change for the better. And I can not even imagine what the lady that started to bark at me lived like in the past. Even if her life was hard and harsh, it's how she chose to respond that has made the difference in her life today. Maybe even in who she has chosen to be surrounded by have rubbed off on her and she has chosen to "celebrate" their example and pass it on to others.

What positive, nurturing, life and love advocating actions and examples am I going to celebrate? Those of my family and friends that I have chosen to surround myself with as well as those that have set the example I want to follow in the past. There are even people I don't know (yet) that their positive contribution to the environment around them have influenced my life positively as well. I am grateful for "negative" interactions as they confirm that I want to move in a positive direction and stay that way.=D


Elisa

Numb....

• Posted by Elisa on February 12, 2009 at 10:48am

I'm not sure if it is done successfully or not, but I wonder how people get along well with little to no support. In just over a month it will have been one year since I joined ClubFYM. Before that I struggled with feeling alone and unsupported, looking to share my thoughts and struggles with someone tangible who would listen. Someone who would respond with emotion and concern, and express an interest in who I am as a person.

Without giving away too many details or letting my mind go off on a tangent, I am in need right now. I am feeling weakened and struggling for strength. To maintain sanity, I have put myself into sharing my thoughts and reaching out to others. I have had little sleep for a number of reasons and it leaves me open to feeling undone......it can be a good thing as it helps to bring about the necessary change needed, but I am lacking tolerance and focus. I thank you all in advance for your support and encouragement.

The doughnut you ate was not chewed on by your thighs

• Posted by Elisa on February 11, 2009 at 9:00am

I listened to Holly's interview with Scott Colby and I must say, it is fun to here the fun they have on these calls. But something in what Holly shared stood out in my imagination. It was in regards to spot reduction exercise. I know that many people tend to forget that their body is a complete system and see it for it's individual parts instead of as a whole. But the imagery that came to mind was a woman rubbing fat onto her thighs and then the other was of someone stuffing fatty foods under their skin. We don't consume food into the one area of our body. We put the food into our mouths and the "extras" get stored as fat after being circulated through our bodies (it's a generalization, but you get the idea).

Anyone have those cargo pants? With the big pockets? I used to wear these often and would just stuff the pockets full of stuff. Imagine if our body stuffed the extra fat in our eyelids? Or the gums in our mouth? How about our tongue? In our nose? We wouldn't be able to function. The fat gets stored on parts of the body that still allow us to have a range of motion and function as best it can to help us to survive. When we put into our body what it needs to function optimally, then the rewards of what it gives back encourages us not only to survive, but to thrive. With a full body workout program (i.e. FYM) and supportive nutrition habits we can focus on the whole package functioning instead of particular body parts holding on to fat.

Of course this parallels with how we contribute to our own success and in encouraging those around us. Do we focus on the flaws of others or do we encourage them as a whole package? Do we keep working hard at our flaws or decide to work our strengths to help strengthen our weakness and encourage others with what we are strong in? We as individuals are a part of the whole and what may be our "flaws" may be a strength to someone else. As I continue working on keeping my focus directed in a positive and productive way, I hope that by looking at the whole picture I may benefit by encouraging others and others encouraging me =D. Glad to be a part of whole picture here at ClubFYM.

Thank you ladies =D.


Elisa

I totally BONKED this morning

• Posted by Elisa on February 10, 2009 at 11:00am

Ok, I decided I would try out some info I came across to confirm if it will work for me or not. I woke up early before my children and decided that since I "missed" my workout yesterday as I chose to get the rest I needed after a fulfilling, but draining weekend, I would jump first thing into a workout today. I had a glass of juice and was going to get to it. Then my oldest woke up. Got him breakfast (hemp granola, plain yogurt and a few goji berries) and then headed to my workout. I jumped in after a quick warm up and I felt I was cranking. Actually I realized I wanted heavier weights cuz I counted past 12 in the set. I did a quick check to find out the store across the road would be getting a visit from me soon since I couldn't see any DBs on the site. Then my youngest woke up....put him on the potty (woohoo #2), got him cleaned up and sat him down for breakfast and went back to my workout. At this point I was thinking, "Well that sucks! It's well past 15 min and I am SURE I used up all the energy running around not focused on just getting my workout done." So I jumped back into the second set and I pulled off the first set, but at the end of it, I was waning at the end of it. Started into the second set and my oldest came down chatting at me and asking questions, trying to show me stuff......and yeah! Annoyed, out of energy, and lacking in focus, I let it be done at the end of the second set. I figured since I would be heading downtown to run an errand for the hubby, I could get the intervals in as I ran for the bus, as usual. Hubby noticed something missing on what I was going to turn in for him, so he had to get that taken care of (out goes the interval session).
What did I learn? I am STICKING to having my full breakfast first thing in the morning, and THEN I will proceed with my workout with a bigger window of opportunity to get my workout in....I'm a mom after all. I noticed I have a lot less frustration and a lot more focus after having a proper breakfast. My recommendation, go to bed at night with having had a decent dinner, have a good breakfast in the morning, and post-workout meal is not negotiable, especially as a mom =D.


Elisa

On the road again.....the ease of meal planning

Posted by Elisa on February 7, 2009 at 6:33am

I just finished my breakfast at my friends house a few hours south from where we live and I was satisfied with not only the meal, but with how easy it was for me to plan out our meals for the weekend while at our friends house. It's funny how I have been struggling with meal planning at home on a day to day basis being that last year it seemed to be simple enough to do. It took me, at most, 5 minutes to write down in my planner easy snacks and breakfast, lunch, and dinner options for 3 days. Let me share what I brought with us:

Cooked quinoa
Trail mix bags I put together (almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds, goji berries, raisins)
Sliced zucchini and red pepper
Apples
Hummus
precooked chicken
Organic plain, unhomogenized yogurt
Carrot muffins I baked
Rice milk
Hemp Granola
Multigrain tortilla chips
Juice

I packed the trail mix in little snack bags at the beginning of the week and set them aside. Then the morning before we left I cooked the quinoa as we had breakfast, sliced the veggies and mixed up the muffin batter before I walked my son to the bus stop and then baked the muffins as he was in school and in between packing up our stuff.

With just a little time spent planning at the top of the week, I had 3 days of fun options for the kids and myself, and we can spend our time having fun and enjoying the company of our friends instead of worrying about what to eat and if we can eat it or not. As it is not just me with food sensitives, but my kids as well, I wanted to make sure that my options were better than the tasty temptations we may encounter, but also simple to prepare. It also took up very little room and that is always a good thing when you are bringing food that needs to be refrigerated (and the fact that we were packed into the back seat of the car).

I have given myself a little peace of mind that one of our fundamental needs are met and not left in the control of those that may not know how best to meet that need. It's all up to me.

Tags: meal, planning, prepare, snacks

ROAD TRIP to Calgary!!!.....4 week results

Posted by Elisa on February 5, 2009 at 1:23pm

I'm excited that after years, we are finally heading South to Calgary for the weekend. It will be a welcome break from a lot of things including time with my hubby HAHA. He'll be going winter camping with the brothers (Male bonding ....grunt, grunt!) from the Calgary church and I will be visiting with friends in the city and be in fellowship with our church family before we head back up Sunday evening. Ahhhh, what a feeling =D.
Also, I began week 5 of the NYTC and I wanted to say YEAH!!! Love the deadlifts!!! Love the fly!!! And LOVE the way my lower back looks. My skin is looser, my tummy looks flatter, and I like my shape =D. I have no excuse for not getting in a workout really. I started my FYM journey with 2 minutes a day! It's what you make of it. I know that I can through in pushups or squats throughout my day. But at this time I am choosing to get the full benefit of how the FYM workouts are laid out as I know they yield results with my body.I'm still getting back to it, but I am thankful for where I am at with my focus at this time as I am able to share the time line with all the other tasks on hand atm. I'm going into business it looks like and it is just the beginning. So many options to work with. I am really enjoying my move to the advanced workouts and glad that my body is primed and trusting in me to give it what it wants and needs. My body trusts that I will protect it from harm and when I slip, it jumps in to help (not sure what I ate or was triggered by the other day, but always thankful for the additional cleaning hehe).

A picture of me in one of the goal jeans (don't let the picture fool you these are SNUG 80's style)...TRUE to life skinny jeans, but really warm in cold weather HAHA. I bought all the jeans SNUG,so I have no option,but to stay as I am or get a little leaner and THAT is my physical goal. And Mary, I got the brown boots....not as sexy as the black ones and I think that is a good thing HAHA (pssssst). I can't WAIT to see ME after 12 weeks let alone all the other women in this challenge. This ROCKS!

Results so far:
Weight: 145 lbs down to 140 lbs
Arms: 11" down to 10 3/4"
Chest (above breast): 33" up to 34"
Chest (under breast): 31" up to 32"
Waist: 29" down to 28 1/2"
Abdomen: 30 1/2" down to 30 1/4"
Hips: 36" up to 36 1/2"
Thighs: 21 1/2" up to 22"
Calves: 15" same

Tags: friends, goal, results, trip

Mung Bean Pancakes

• Posted by Elisa on February 4, 2009 at 5:46am

This is a recipe that was inspired by both Korean (bindae duk) and Indian (Pesarattu) recipes combined. I put my modifications into this version in italics.


Ingredients

* 1 cup split mungbeans (original recipe calls for hulled, I use whatever I have on hand)(I used whole)
* 1/4 to 3/4 tsp cayenne
* 1/2 tsp salt (original recipe calls for 1 tsp. omit and increase other spices according to your own salt comfort level).
* 1/4 tsp turmeric
* 1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds
* 1 tsp garam masala (I think I add this to everything LOL)
* 2 scallions, cut into very fine rounds
* 1 medium tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped (I just chop it) (I don't do tomatoes,so I chopped 1/2 red bell pepper)
* 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
* 2 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 1/2 cup water, plus soaking water

Instructions

1. Soak the mung beans for seven hours in lots of water. Drain, rinse the mung beans and discard the soaking liquid.
2. Put all the ingredients except the scallions, tomato and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Blend or process until you have a smooth and light batter. Transfer the batter into a bowl.
3. Stir in scallions, tomato and cilantro.
4. Spray a good non stick pan with a little oil and wait until it is warm (the original recipe calls for lots of oil, but I find that not necessary). Pour about 1/3 cup of the batter in the center of the pan. Spread the batter with the bottom of a large spoon and form a pancake.
5. Wait until the bottom part seems done. Turn around and bake the other side.
6. Enjoy!

I dipped with a little tamari soy sauce, but can be eaten plain. Also keep your eye on the pan as they brown quite quickly (at least for me ;D).

Tags: beans, breakfast, recipe