Guava's Growth

[guava]

I am Canadian.

Wow, to be living in Canada again after more than three years away is great.

Wednesday night, after four intensive house-searching days, we purchased the perfect house. It's not extravagant, but it's simply beautiful. We didn't have to compromise on any of our needs. It's in a small community, on a quiet crescent, but with all the essentials close by. The kitchen is large and open to the dining area and family room, which was the most important feature for me. It's only steps away from a major grocery store chain, and McDonald's too. I haven't found a gym yet, but I'll be on the lookout. The kids will be enrolled in skating lessons (we can walk to the arena) after Christmas I hope. We don't know if we'll be able to fit a pool table in the basement, and we haven't decided yet if we want to buy their hot tub which is currently in the garage.

The last I weighed myself, the scale said 51.9 kg 16% body fat. In the land of Tim Horton's I've still managed not to gain. Must be all the stress.

I feel sluggish after just one week of no weight lifting (I've been sneaking in a few crunches and push-ups when time is available) but with Christmas coming up, it will be tricky to find room for exercise until the new year. We've been staying with a friend while looking for the house, and possession won't be until December 22nd, so tonight, we're off to a hotel for three nights, then I'll be taking the girls to my mom's until the end of December. The hotel has a nice pool and elliptical, but no weight lifting equipment. However, my mom lives about 15 km from a beautiful quiet gym with a good supply of weights.

Who's tried McDonald's new deli sandwiches? Never before have I tasted a sandwich so delicious. I'll never need to go to Subway again.

The pink lady is exquisite. Extraordinarily sweet, but pleasingly tart and a wonderful blush color. I have a new favorite apple.

[Makeupmonsterdog]

Originally Posted by guava

The pink lady is exquisite. Extraordinarily sweet, but pleasingly tart and a wonderful blush color. I have a new favorite apple.

Yay! I just bought a bunch on sale at my local Whole Foods--I really can't wait to have one now!

[Destiny]

What part of Canada are you in? My boyfriend and I hope to move to Toronto in the next few years.

[guava]

Destiny,
We're about an hour away from Toronto. It's great. Yesterday we went to Ontario Place to see Barney, the Wiggles, a movie about Christmas and a live Santa Claus show. Today, I might see if I can convince my husband to take me to The Bay downtown Toronto. It's supposed to be all decorated for Christmas. Tomorrow, we're flying to Winnipeg to visit my mom for a few weeks.

This morning and yesterday morning I did a workout on the elliptical in the Holiday Inn we're at. I feel much better. My back feels weak. I need to get a chin-up bar to do some home workouts.

My goals for this phase are to grow healthier. I don't have very well defined goals, but I suppose it would include increasing cardiovascular endurance and increasing strength. Weight and body fat percentage could go in any direction; that's not the important part right now.

My kitchen:

[shyapril]

Great kitchen Guava!! Just love it!

Hope everything goes well in the new home!

[hibiscus09]

Congrats on the new home, Guava! Pretty kitchen!

[akm3]

Nice House! Congrats!

I guess all kitchens look pretty much the same, but that one is vaugely familiar for some reason... Oh well!

-Allen

[Paul K]

Congrats on the house and the homecoming. It's always good to be close to family. Regarding the open kitchen area (dining, family room) we have that as well and my wife and I love it. My family is a big in the kitchen on holidays and get togethers and now we can roam into other rooms and still be invloved...it's really nice. Anyway, congrats again!!

Paul

[guava]

Thanks for all the good wishes on the new home. I'm so proud of it.

Christmas shopping is hard. Maybe not so hard if you don't have kids and aren't also trying to completely stock your house at the same time, but for me right now, it's definitely complicated. For every gift I buy on my list, I pick up two essentials for myself. Anyway, despite being tired, I still managed to keep in good spirits. I found a suitable Christmas present for my daughter, but I haven't figured out how to shop right in front of her yet. Perhaps I could have written out a note to a clerk at customer service, asking them to package up the item that I wanted in a bag, then I'd come back in ten minutes to pay for it and pick it up. I didn't think of this at the time, so I hope my mom can somehow help me out with it in the next few days. How on earth do single mothers survive?

On the agenda today were skates for the female part of the family. All good Canadians should own a pair of ice skates, eh? Sport Check resulted in no success, because they specialize in high end skates for teens and adults. Sport Mark likewise. Champs doesn't sell skates, but recommended Canadian Tire and Zellers. At Canadian Tire, the skates were not comfortable for my older daughter, and I didn't find any that suit me, but I picked up a pair for my younger one. Zellers resulted in success for me, but my older daughter still wasn't comfortable. Finally (four hours later, in fact) made it to a used clothing store where they had beautiful quality skates that fit her well, and at a very good price too. As well, they had the identical pair I'd just bought for my younger daughter, at about half the price. I passed on them, but I'm regretting now that I didn't pick them up and return the new ones to save $20. So we're all set to go skating, I just have to check the schedule at the arena, or find a good outdoor rink. I haven't been on skates for about ten years, so I hope I don't make a fool of myself.

I've been looking in the Sears catalog at the fitness equipment. I don't know if I'll be able to find a gym near me, so I might be buying an elliptical and a home gym and setting them up in the basement. I'm looking at the Platinum Home Gym and wondering how I can tell if it's good quality or not. The ellipticals I have no clue about, there's such a wide range in price. I imagine I'll need to get into a fitness supply store and actually try some out so that I can tell the difference between the $299 ones and the $1299 ones.

[jRS]

From experience I wouldn't advice you to buy a multi bench. Most likely you will never get to use the leg raise, and all the other stuff don't fit your body and they are sparely adjustable - if adjustable at all.
In my opinion you will get more out of dumbbells and a bench (without side rack), barbell and rack for legs. And the cardio equipment of choice. When it comes to cardio equipment, money is quality. How cold does it get where you live during winter?

[shyapril]

Originally Posted by guava

I found a suitable Christmas present for my daughter, but I haven't figured out how to shop right in front of her yet.

Same problem around here... I usually try and distract the kids with a game; buy something else at the store; leave the child playing saying "stay here for a while while I go and give this to the nice lady so she can wrap it up; result: you are on one side of the store and your child on the other!! While near the shop lady ask for the present and for her to wrap it up and put both presents in on bag, pay for both, leave the lady and go near your daughter.

mission acomplished!!!!

Hope it works for you! It has been my key to success every year!

[Reno_1ted]

(Subscribes to thread).

[guava]

Thanks for the advice on the equipment. I'll look harder for a gym in town before I invest my money in something that's not going to work very well. That one I linked to is $1200. There's a couple of other gyms available that are much cheaper, like the Free Spirit Power Booster. Sounds like I have a lot more research to do. I don't like the idea of a bench and barbell because it doesn't seem as safe without a spotter.

It gets to -20 degrees celcius frequently here in the winter. I won't do any sort of cardio outdoors unless it's over 10 degrees above, which is only guaranteed about six months of the year. Last August it didn't reach 10 degrees many mornings.

I'm frustrated to be living out of suitcases. My husband is still at work in Ontario while I'm in Manitoba at my mom's. I dragged out the weights here at my mom's place this afternoon. Biggest he's got is 10 pound dumbbells, so I strapped the 5 pound ankle weight around my wrists and did some bent over rows that way, but it still feels like a cop-out of a work out. Front raises, lateral raises are all good, and I'll be using the exercise ball for some leg work shortly. Since I've got no babysitter for the kids, I haven't gotten to the gym yet. I'm doing my workouts interspersed with laundry, making meals, vacuuming, washing dishes, wrapping presents, etc. My sister checked the schedule and there's public skating tomorrow night, so I'm excited to be getting started at that, if I can borrow my mom's car.

Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. ~Will Rogers

[guava]

The skating was fun. But thank goodness my sister joined us. My daughter didn't trust that I could skate - rightfully so, I may add; my stopping consisted of gliding to a halt. I could barely manage to keep myself up AND my daughter. My eight-year-old did okay by herself, and by the end of the hour, I could finally skate faster than she could (and I managed to stop a couple of times too ) We're planning to go again on Tuesday afternoon.

I did some resistance training with the stability ball in my mom's office. Reading the recommended "death by bodyweight" and other links from another thread were helpful. Tomorrow I'll do some wall squats, which I've been forgetting.

Eating someone else's food will never be satisfying. For supper tonight was barbecued chicken breasts, but they must be soaked in some sort of brine before freezing because they were WAY too salty and the texture was not exactly "chickeny". I made oven baked potato wedges and steamed broccoli and cauliflower to go along with them, so the meal as a whole was still satisfying.

I'm frustrated about my kids eating habits again (still). They only want junk, and I don't see it improving. (Daughter: I'm hungry! Me: there's yogurt in the fridge, some apples, oranges, bananas, carrot sticks, or you can have a bowl of cereal. Daughter: No, I don't like that stuff Me: Then you're not very hungry!) She's convinced that pizza pops are a legitimate meal option, and that it's acceptable to pass on the fruits offered at breakfast and the vegetables offered at supper.

I read November's issue of Nutrition Action, and on the back page there's always this section called Food Porn which details terrible grocery or restaurant choices. From this I learn that Schneider's, as part of their Lunchmates line is now offering a Cheesy Chip Nachos Big Combo. It's 750 calories' worth of nachos, cheese, salsa, orange-flavored punch, Fudg'ee-O cookies, and Wonka Nerds. This is marketed as a lunch for goodness sake. It's going to be awfully tough trying to get across to my daughters that this is not real food.

Tomorrow, Christmas begins. My stepfather is having his children and their significant others over for dinner. Since I'm staying here, I've been invited to join them with my children, but I feel a bit like I'd be butting in. I think they've planned to serve ribs, which is another reason for me to consider making plans with my sister instead.

I sometimes think we expect too much of Christmas Day. We try to crowd into it the long arrears of kindliness and humanity of the whole year. As for me, I like to take my Christmas a little at a time, all through the year. And thus I drift along into the holidays - let them overtake me unexpectedly - waking up some find morning and suddenly saying to myself: "Why, this is Christmas Day!" ~David Grayson

[guava]

It is 33 degrees below zero. Did I mention I'm sensitive to cold? I spent the afternoon at my sister's place, and her place is like a meat cooler. Maybe why I'm a little grumpy right now. My mom's house happens to be designed such that the room I sleep in is the coldest in the house (every other bedroom is open to the main floor which is heated by a gas fireplace.) However, since I've been sleeping here for years, there's already a heater here with my name on it, which I've dragged out and plugged in. :d_rolleye

Yesterday, I was in the mood for something "muffiny". I don't have my recipes with me, and the internet wasn't working so I couldn't look up the orange bran flax muffins or sugarless bars that I craved. I could have used my mom's recipe file, but I've made squares often enough to know what I like in them. My adaptation of a healthy square went something like this: Mix 1/2 C chopped dates with 1/4 C chopped prunes and 1/2 C orange juice in a small sauce pan. Cook until it comes to a paste. Cool slightly, then add one egg and one tablespoon each margarine and oil. In a bowl, mix together 1 C whole wheat flour, 1/4 C ground flax seed, 1/4 C oat bran, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp cloves. Look for walnuts, and if you can't find any, put in whatever nuts you find. (in this case pecans, almonds, and sunflower seeds). The recipe really needs raisins as well, but she didn't have any. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients. Add 1/4 C milk because it's too dry. (Consulting the internet, I see my mistake. I should have used only about 1/4 C flour.) Bake until it sets, which might be 15 minutes in a regular oven, but it took me about half an hour. My mom later told me that the toaster oven I was using doesn't work as well as it used to. These bars are really tasty right out of the oven. They would have been even tastier with more cinnamon. By the next day, they're really not so good, unfortunately, but a spoonful of peanut butter on top would really perk them up.

I didn't get around to doing the wall squats. It's 11:00 at night. I'm wondering if it would be silly to do them now, or if I should go for it.

Nothing is so strong as gentleness. Nothing is so gentle as real strength. ~Frances de Sales

[hibiscus09]

Holy Moly -- that's cold! You need to move to the south!

Happy Sunday!

[guava]

Happy Sunday Hibiscus! Thanks for visiting. You make this journal a brighter place.

I've completed almost all of my Christmas shopping, while my mom took my daughter to see the Nutcracker ballet. Christmas is not my favorite holiday. There are too many expectations and too many things to do. (Besides the fact that it's so damned cold! :d_frown: ) I prefer Valentine's Day, where I can choose simple and significant ways to share love and peace with my family.

I did the wall squats last night before bed. I figured it was about as relaxing as reading a magazine. I really need to do some cardio, but I'm really not sure the best way to go about it. Maybe there's a skipping rope around here somewhere.

That man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest. ~Henry David Thoreau

[hibiscus09]

I love Christmas! I just love celebrating love! LOL I love Valentine's also. Birthdays. Thanksgiving. Anniversaries!

I still have to do the stocking shopping! My kids are too spoiled! It's cold here somewhat -- 42 degrees with a much colder windchill. We're sissies here in the South! LOL

My trainer used to have me do wall squats. She wanted me to make it to 3 minutes in the squatted position -- that's tough!! LOL

[guava]

Today is not a happy day, but I'm trying to pretend it is. Nothing wrong with it really, I just have the holiday blahs.

Our house closes tomorrow. My husband is there to move some stuff into it. I should be there to appreciate it, and him. :d_frown:

He'll get to the airport around suppertime tomorrow, then we're supposed to drive six hours northwards to visit his mom. I'm not looking forward to it. Nothing wrong with her, but it's a long trip, and I feel like they hardly notice that we're there. :d_frown:

Yesterday, I bought a bunch of stuff from Value Village. It's not like I can't afford to buy new stuff, but I get a big high from buying things at 90% off their original price. Someday maybe I'll see a psychiatrist about that. I got a pair of Levi's 501s for $6. They're beautiful, but why would any company think it's a good idea to announce the garment size on a leather patch on the backside? I also picked up a book that I wanted to buy several years ago, but was too cheap to spend $30 for it. The book is called Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy. I'm probably the only person in the world who hasn't read it, but forgive me, I've been out of the country most of the time since 1998. It's organized by date, so I may just waitt until January before I start to read it. I also picked up a copy of Bottom's Up by Joyce Vedral. Anyone remember her? She must be about 60 by now. Anyway, the book lists some very helpful exercises that you can do to build muscle with very little weight. I suppose women going to the gym and lifting heavy was uncool ten years ago when she wrote the book.

So last night I was in a hurry at supper, so I ended up eating what leftovers existed in the fridge, namely the ribs from Saturday's dinner that I avoided. This morning I felt guilty and thought that I should compensate by eating purely healthy all day. It didn't work, of course, and now I feel guilty again. :d_redface

The weather is warmer. It's only 14 degrees below. "A beautiful day" quipped my mother.

Dammit, I need a treadmill so I can run off this stress. :db:

Perhaps my mp3 player will offer me some escape from my troubles.

You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need. ~Vernon Howard
(This week's not been a successful week, evidently.)

[guava]

Tuesday afternoon skating was fun. My sister was throwing up all night, so she couldn't make it. I took her son with me, but my mom came to help us out, thank goodness. The three year old tuckered out after about 15 minutes, so she went in with Grandma. About 5 minutes later, the eight year old was getting cold, so we decided to take a break. The four year old decided he'd had enough by then, so we all took a break, then I went back out for another 30 minutes with the eight year old. I got a bit more practice stopping, but I'm still not sure I could do it in an emergency.

36 below. I'm turning blue. :d_eek:

Did you know that a Cadillac has this cool feature that heats your butt? We didn't plan on renting a Cadillac, but they were out of the car that we booked, so they "upgraded" us. It's probably costing us almost twice as much in gas, so we're not exactly ecstatic.

My husband came in last night. We got out of the airport by 10:00. (His flight was scheduled to arrive at 8:00, but was late) Luckilly, he didn't plan to go ALL the way to his mom's place. We had a hotel room booked just a three and a half hour drive away. He then woke us up early this morning so that we could go the next two hours to his mom's. My daughter is not comfortable at his mom's place, so we visited just briefly, now we're hiding in the hotel room until dinner. Weird, I know.

My husband swears that the website says the hotel had a pool, but that is mistaken. It does however have a little tiny gym, but a perfect little tiny gym. Treadmill, bike, and elliptical, and a station for weight lifting that almost made me drool. The unfortunate thing is, I brought NONE of my workout wear with me, because I was told the hotel had a pool, and I was SURE I wouldn't get a chance to work out. (Did I mention we're leaving tomorrow morning?) I just might get in there with my regular clothes and sock feet (boots just won't do).

If you can't be happy where you are, it's a cinch you can't be happy where you ain't. ~ Charles "Tremendous" Jones