Keke’s BodyBlog

So, I’m doing pretty well towards my goal. I struggled with water retention for some reason from this weekend, but recovering now. I’ve realized that I have my body needs 3 days to balance out. Whether after a treat meal, or an unexpected water retention issue it’s always 3 days of clean eating and 3-4L daily water intake to get me back on track. 

My cravings are running made wild right now…. It’s the last days of summer and I’m feeling for a frozen yogurt treat from Baskin Robbins… hmmmmmm 

Tormorrow is going to be a good test of my self restraint. I’m holding a brainstorming sessions with some of my team and ordered in pizza. One of our EA’s helped me order two small pizzas. In the event I choose to indulge, I made one; thin crust, whole grain bread, easy on the cheese, easy on the sauce, chilli chicken, fresh mushrooms and sundried tomatoes. I’m bringing foil in my lunch bag, and will bring my slice home for my weekend cheat. Isn’t that a good idea????? Ha-ha I’ll have to blog and let you know how well that plan works out for me!  Have you ever tried a workout of Giant Sets? This is where you do several exercises for one body part in a row without resting in between exercises.  For example, on back day; modified seated dead-lifts, seated rows, straight arm push-downs, close grip pull-downs.  I suggest resting 2 minutes between each interval and repeat 4 times. 

Wow, I’m surprised that I’ve found some time to blog back to back days. I always have the intention to do so, but next thing I know the 24^th hour of the day is upon…. This has been what my days have felt like ever since I finished competing this season. It’s a wonder how I got through those weeks of training…. Some things in my life were definitely neglected! So, I’m finding the time at 7:30 AM this morning since I got up to have meal #1 and put our weeks worth of chicken breast in the oven to start cooking. I’m heading to the gym for 8:30 AM, so I have some time. 

Anyhoo, speaking about intentions…. Yesterday, I had every intention to make it a clean eating day. I went to a BBQ that was organized by my hubby, his brothers and cousin. From the top of the week, I told myself that because of this new goal I am working towards, I can not afford to cheat on the Saturday. I had every intention…..Even yesterday morning, I was so proud with the progress I’d made shedding 5 lbs during the week. I had a look of leanness when I woke up in the morning and I generally felt ‘light’. So, my intention was to keep with that momentum and make it through the day sticking to my meals. 

Somewhere during the day, something happened. I don’t know what that defining moment was, but suddenly the battle in my head began. It went something like this; Man, gurl it’s the last BBQ of the summer, how can you pack your food to bring. Man, gurl you’ve still got another 6 weeks (42 days) to hit your goal. Man, gurl it’s not going to set you back that much. It’s not like you’re going to gain back the 5 lbs. The best one was… ‘People might find you rude and ‘too good for the food’ if you pack your stuff and bring.  So, I’m unfortunately blogging today with the news that the inner voice won out! I did not go there with any food packed but rather with every intention to eat what was there. Oh, the kicker is my inner voice said; ‘Don’t worry Nke, we’re just watch the portions and make sure to stay away from the carbs and just focus on the chicken and greens.’ 

I had a solid week of training and focused eating. I weighed in this morning at 152. Which comes in 5 lbs less than last Monday. It’s mostly water weight, but with the amount of cardio I did this week, coupled with the clean eating I’m pretty sure there’s 0.5 – 1 lbs of fat loss in there… ha-ha. 

I had every intention of hitting the gym this morning for a 60 mins cardio session, but have decided to stay home and get some more sleep instead. I trained Monday – Friday straight, so I believe I’ve earned this day off. I have to hit the gym with Camillia tomorrow so I’ll save my bonus cardio session to then. 

Here’s a question to all the fitness / health fanatics out there. Have you ever been asked ‘When will you start eating normally again?”, or “Are you still on your special diet?”. It’s funny, but these are two questions that I am asked quite a bit. It made me start thinking about what we here in North America consider normal eating. I asked a colleague of mine, and he said he considers my diet ‘special’, because I’m always bringing my food to work and I don’t eat out or indulge in chips, chocolate, fast-food, etc. We had this great discussion as to why he feels that’s what normal eating is and why to him my meal choices are ‘abnormal’.  In the end, we both agreed it comes down to choice. We have both chosen what works best for us, and the way he and I eat is no different than someone choosing to be a vegetarian, or to eliminate meats from their diet etc. It was a very enlightening conversation. He said that he’s always viewed the way I ate as ‘special’ and that I am depriving myself and not truly enjoying life. 

I tried to find a 5 KM run that I could train for in 2007 and couldn’t find one in the city that provided me with the time I’d need to train. So, it’s more likely that I’ll do early next year. Perhaps I’ll go for a 10 KM run instead as I’ll have more time to train.

So, as I like to have a goal on hand, I decided to pick the wedding I’m going to on Oct 6th as the date to achieve my ideal weight. So, including today, it leaves me with 48 days. I started fast and furious today and totally geared up to reach my goal. I’ll be blogging through my progress. I stepped on the scale today so that I can bench mark a starting point. I read it at a whopping 157 lbs! My next weigh-in will be Saturday, so we’ll see how we do this week. I took some starting pics, so I’ll share those shortly. Let me just tell you that they’ll show I’ve been enjoying myself this summer!!! Haha

My weekend was so much fun! If you’ve never tried Dragon Boating, you’ve got to give it a shot. Our team did really well. Considering that only 10 of us (not including myself) got together to practice only twice prior to the race … there are 20 people on a boat.

On Sunday, we went to watch Tennis … courtesy of my BF Jully!! Thanks again Jully, it was GREAT fun! She sang the national athem and man did she do an amazing job!!!!. As usual, people were singing along, but towards the end she added her unique touch and completely blew us away. Juls, you were absolutely amazing!!

Before I sign off for the day, here are some calorie cutting tricks I was discussing with someone today that I thought I’d share.

1. Make the switch to skim milk and sweetener in your coffee or tea. You can save up to 75 calories.

2. Similarly, switch to skim milk in your cereals (one of the most popular breakfast options). This can save you up to 85 calories.

3. Choose eggwhites over regular whole eggs. Or, use one whole egg and add eggwhites. You can save up to 60 calories from cutting back one whole egg.

4. Use mustard in your sandwich instead of mayonnaise. Unless you use light mayo, you could save up to 95 calories by cutting out the regular mayo. The light mayo I use is about 30 calories for 1 Tbsp.

5. Switch your soft drinks to diet or better yet, go for water. I have to check, but I hear that a 16oz bottle of soda has up to 182 calories.

All of the top 5 are items that people tend to eat in one day. So, imagine that by making these simple changes you can cut back.462 calories in one day alone. Add 30-40 mins of exercise and you’re well into the calorie deficit you need to trim down. Amazing how simple cut-backs can amount to such big gains to your weight loss goals.

Anyhoo … I’m working out in the mornings now, so that means getting up at 4:30 AM and getting to the gym between 5:15 and 5:30 AM. So, I’m going to sign off for tonight and will holler back again sometime later this week.

Have a great evening!

Cheers, Nke

Can I say … what a CRAZY week I had! My gosh, I’ve never been so busy and soo challenged at work before. It was CRAZY busy, but the week flew right by. I’m not sure if I’ve ever expressed it before, but I love my job. I love what I do and love the company I work for. It’s always about ‘something different’. I love change, and my everything is so dynamic where I work that things are always changing! It’s going on 6 years that I have been there, and there is not one day I can say that I was ever bored or did not feel challenged. 

Anyhoo …. My week was so crazy busy that I just never found time to blog. So, it’s 5:52 AM on Saturday now. I’m up for my first meal and I”ll take a quick moment to catch you up on my happenings. 

So, I’ve decided that my next fitness goal challenge is to do a 5 KM run. I’m not a long distance runner, so this will be a good challenge for me. I’ve always been about short distances. Either with track, or soccer. I’m going to train to win. My plan is to run 5 KM in the next week, outdoors. I’ll time myself and then do some research online to see what time a 1^st place finisher does. Then, my goal is to train myself to be able to beat that time. I’m going to visit the Running Room and invest in some good runners. I already know about the food part. I don’t need to get too lean, but losing about 5 lbs would be good. Also, helps to get me to what I consider my ideal weight of 145 lbs. As I might have blogged earlier, I allowed myself to climb higher than that, and currently sitting around 153 lbs. I just can’t help but build muscle. It’s hard to sacrifice muscle, and I’m one of those fortunate ones where it does not take too much for me to be able to pack on the muscle to my frame. Being 145 lbs, makes me feel good and light. For my height and bone structure, it’s a good weight for me to be at. 

To get me back into goal oriented mode, I snapped some before pictures this week and will now blog my progress to my first race.  Also good … I have a wedding early October, so this will help to ensure that I fit nicely into the dress I’ll be wearing. 

Today is going to be a fun day. My hubby and I are participating in a Dragon Boat race. We’re on one of my company’s team. We’re racing against other companies and organizations to raise funds for United Way of York Region. It should be fun times!! We did it last year, and had a blast. Hopefully, we get some good weather today.  Anyhoo … I’m off to make up some whole wheat wraps, made up with some chicken breast that we can bring along to eat through the day. From what I remember last year, it’s only hamburger and hot-dogs that they sell out there. So, yuck … I’ll bring my own food. I figure the wraps, along with fresh veggies, nuts and fresh fruit will hold us for the day. 

If I don’t get a chance to blog again tomorrow, have a great weekend! 

Cheers, Nke   

I’m inspired to write today after reading a great article. It was all about what to do once you’ve reached your weight loss goal. My answer to that is …. Don’t stop!!! Set a new goal right away and start working towards that finish line.

The article pretty much stated what we all know. Which is, say ‘Congratulations’ to yourself and then start a new goal. What ever you do, just don’t get complacent.

A lot of the ‘fad’ diets out there, provide you with the tools you need to lose the weight but never provide you with the tools on how to maintain the weight loss. As we all know, sustaining these fad diets are hard. That’s why a lot of the talk these days is around creating a healthy lifestyle for yourself. If you pick up and read any heath mag these days, there is always at least one article talking about how to go about changing your mindset, lifestyle and the way you look at food to not only help achieve your weight loss goals, but to also keep the weight off permanently.

I’d have to say I’m living proof of that concept. While my weight does fluctuate a lot during the various seasons, it’s never too far away from how I like to look. Oh, that’s another thing.. I’ve gone away from saying ‘where I want my weight to be’ to ‘how I like to look and feel’. For me, that’s a much healthier mindset and works a lot better for me. You see, in the summer I like to look leaner since I strip down on the amount of fabric I wear. In the winter, I don’t mind being less lean as my clothes are heavier and allow me to ‘hide’ the extra weight.

So, explore the internet, magazines, books… basically just get reading and educating yourself about how to maintain your weight once you’ve reached your goal. Also, talk to people… that’s a great form of education… and a lot of times, it’s FREE!

Keep with the keeps …. Keep challenging yourself, keep up with the ‘right and good’ things you did while you were on the road to lose weight, keep your support system you had … and finally … keep doing what you do!!!

Have a great weekend, and see you here sometime next week!!

Cheers, Nke

Today was leg day with my girl Camillia. She’s prepping for a couple of shows, so I really made sure we pushed it hard today!!! Gurlie, you’re getting stronger with every workout. Following legs, we did a good 30 mins cardio session and then stretched for about 10 mins before leaving the gym. It has been ages since I stretched like that and I was amazed at how knotted and tight my muscles were. From this day forward, I am going to stretch before and after I start training. I’m committing myself to making the time to stretch.  Today is really a lay lay day for me. I came home from the gym and spent some time prepping our meals for the next few days. E and I had some stuff to do, and now I’m here blogging and trying to figure out how to spend the rest of this beautiful holiday Monday.  I don’t have much to write today. So rather than just babble unnecessarily, I’m going to sign off now and find something to do! 

Have a great day, and see you back here soon.  Cheers,  Nke

What an amazing weekend I’ve been having … for me, it started on Thursday with our trip to Niagara-On-The-Lake (NOTL). Can I tell you how romantic of a place NOTL is. We had a fab time, and it was just a day of relaxing, great company, sharing moments, good food, and a bit of gambling … that’s right, we ended the evening at Niagara Falls and went to the casino. We checked out $50, and lost $10. We took our $40 winnings and went for chicken wings, which ended up being the worst wings I’ve ever eaten in my life!!! It was such an awful cheat!!! Yuck!!!! Anyhoo …  We went for an 85 mins couple’s massage at The Pillar and The Post. If you are ever in the Niagara area, I strongly recommend stopping there for a spa day. The facility is very beautiful and extremely calming. They have this great hot springs that we fully took advantage of after our massages.  My brother and his family came in late Thursday / early Friday (depending on how you look at it). It’s been great hanging with him, my sis-in-law and nieces!!! Miss them sooooo!!!! They live in Ottawa, so I don’t get to see them too much. 

On Friday night, I went to a pretty decent ol’ school jam with my girl Sips. We had a great time! Can I say hot hottie hottie Sips was looking! She’s an inspiration to us all. She’s been fierce on her journey to lose weight and man, what poundage she has lost. Absolutely incredible…..!!! Also ran into my girl Tash down there… who also was looking tres fierce and sexy!!! Lastly … it being Caribana weekend and all, I ran into a whole lot of ex-peeps (gurls … y’know what I’m talking about). So, that was great too! Some I was really excited to see … and others that … well let’s just say I was damn happy I looked good and take care of my body!!! Ha-ha!!!!  If there’s one piece of advice I can give to all the women out there …. Take care of yourself!!! Make sure you are always looking HOTT!!!! Do it for you, and reap the rewards that it brings to the self-esteem. Love yourself at all time and guaranteed it will shine through! 

The Caribana parade was okay. It’s pretty much the same thing for me every year, except I’m getting older and just look at it different as each year passes. It was great seeing everyone out and having a good time! The weather was on point, and there were loads of people out to enjoy in the festivities … young and old!  Today was Beef rib day … my brother and sis-in-law, brought us these SWEET honking ribs from a butcher shop in their area. The men BBQ’d them up today and man …. Were they ever tasty! I fully thought I stop at just one … y’know .. the preach about the whole portion control thang … well nope … I had 3!!!! Hey, there’s not much meat on them y’know … ha-ha 

Oh, did I mention that I since I had a nice and clean eating week … I decided that from Thursday evening, right thru to Sunday I was going to enjoy myself and just eat what I felt like!!!! So, to that end I had a Big Daddy’s treat in there. For those avid readers of my blogs … y’know, that eat was all about the crab cakes and ribs!!!! My girl Jully gave me an awesome idea, which I exercised that night. Both the crab cakes and ribs are on the appetizer menu. So rather then ordering the crab cakes and then ribs as an entrée, I ordered both off of the appetizer menu and my portion sizes went right down and manageable!!! Awesome idea Juls! Thanks a mil for that!!!!  Well, I’m off for the night to spend some more quality time with my fam. Hope you are enjoying your long weekend … for those on the Canada side of the world. For all others, hope your weekend has been blessed and merry!  Cheers y’all! Nke

Do you ever wake up, and just know that it’s going to be an awesome day? That’s what I feel like this morning.  Yesterday, I blogged about my workout experience …. Well today, I am definitely paying the price. The alarm was set to go this morning, but I decided that today was going to be an ‘off’ day from the gym. My body just simply told me that ‘uh-uh, not today’. So, I kept my butt in bed and slept off the time I’d have been at the gym. Tomorrow … back at it!!!  We’ve got a great day planned today. We’ll be hitting the road in an hour or so. The drive is just over 1 hour. We’ve got a bike tour planned, a mini spa day scheduled at one of the local inns and a great healthy picnic packed and ready to be devoured. I went with packing loads of fruit, home-made sandwich wraps made up of dark & white baked chicken, lettuce and a cheese stick topped with calorie wise mayo, and salads. If we are feeling a treat, we can pick up some ice-cream somewhere on the road. I don’t drink at all, but I promised my hubby I’d try a small glass of wine this afternoon with him. It should be a great day trip, and we might even take in the casino in the evening since we are not going to be that far from Niagara Falls. 

It seems like it’s going to be a scorcher too, so I’ll have to pack some change of clothing.  Anyhoo … got to finish packing up our things, so I’ll be leaving you for the moment. 

Have a great day, and see you back here tomorrow.  Cheers,  Nke

I have to admit that I woke up feeling quite sluggish this morning. I had quite an emotional day on Tuesday, so I am not sure if this is what attributed to it in the morning. However, I got to the gym and found some energy deep in the bowels of my inner-being and pumped out a wicked 60 minute cardio session. I did 30 minutes on the Stairs using an interval type training that took me right up to level 11. I was literally running on that sucker. Then I switched over to the treadmill and got in my 30 minute running interval. Needless to say, I was sufficiently drenched and pumped when I completed the hour. Following that, I went on to torture my glutes!!! Man, I should feel that workout tomorrow.  So, the Cleanse is working its way through. It seems to be cleaning up my skin as well. I can see it in my face. I continue to eat clean and taking my daily supplement intake. I’m liking my daily supplement regime. It feels good to know that I’m getting the essentials that may be lacking in diet.  It’s a busy day at work today, but I’ll also have to find time to plan out our trip to NOTL tomorrow. We were going to try St. Jacob’s but when I looked at ‘What to do’, on the cities website there really wasn’t enough to plan for a whole day trip. 

Well, I’ve got to get going but hope to see you back here tomorrow.  Cheers,  Nke