02.26.08
Posted in Diary Entries at 9:14 am by Nicole
If you always believe
What you have always believed
You will always feel
The way you have always felt
If you always feel
The way you have always felt
You will always think
The way you have always thought
If you always think
The way you have always thought
You will always do
What you have always done
If you always do
What you have always done
You will always get
What you have always gotten
If there is no change
There is no change.
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Posted in Diary Entries at 7:24 am by skay
It’s been a hectic month so far, full of surprise parties, wonderful gifts, too much very bad food and not nearly enough exercise. Of course, the big news is that I turned 40 this month and besides still feeling like I am a teenager in my mind and a senior citizen in the morning when I try to get out of bed I think I am doing OK.
Nicole was very sneaky and set up a surprise birthday party with a mix of work people and outside work friends at a place called Wegz which was really cool, a kind of sports bar / activity bar. The nachos were great as were the onion rings! I can’t belive Nicole managed to hide the whole thing including a HUGE card from me! I guess that is why I married her, she is always full of surprises! We also went out on the morning of my birthday to Golden Griddle, a kind of tradition now for my birthday with work people. Once we were finished, they all went to work and I went home to bed to sulk and wallow in my self-pity! HAHAHAHAHA!!!
I actually had too much breakfast and ended up sleeping for a large portion of the day which in retrospect was just what I needed. I did exercise, well, I did the treadmill and for the last couple of weeks I have been jogging on the treadmill not just walking. The reason for the change is that Nicole and I bought each othe heart monitors for Valentine’s Day. Although her watch rewards her with little trophies at the end of each week for all her hard work, mine has yet to take the disapproving frown off its face! Nevertheless, I have been jogging which is HUGE! I Started out the first week with 5 minutes out of the 45 I walk (by the way, my watch tells me that walking is about as much use as sitting on the couch as far as heart helath goes! – At least the speed I walk is). That went OK, and for the next week I though I would try to run 10 minutes and I would allow myself to quit as soon as the 10 minutes were up. I started taking 45 minutes to finish 10 minutes running, however by the end of the week I was down to 30 minutes. The following week (last week) I was up to 15 minutes and one day I completed the 15 in only 22 minutes!!! So far I have been taking about 30 minutes to finish my total time which is not bad! This week however I am up to 20 minutes and my back is already sore. I am going to persevere though and try to make sure I do at least 4 20 minute runs this week. I have also redesigned my weight schedule to accommodate time at the gymnastics gym where I can do some bodyweight work. All I have to do now is actually do it!! And maybe stop eating so many sausages.
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02.20.08
Posted in Diary Entries at 9:36 am by Nicole
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02.19.08
Posted in Diary Entries, Fitness & Exercise at 8:10 am by Nicole
The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in the impact of your determination.
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02.18.08
Posted in Diary Entries at 3:54 pm by Nicole
What a fun night! Thank you to everyone who came out and celebrated at Wegz with us! It was so fun to have all of our friends there wishing Simon “good luck” on his 40th. However, I must admit, he doesn’t look or ACT 40 (thank goodness!) I have posted a few pages on Facebook so check them out when you get a chance!
Because today is Family Day, we will be visiting my parents to help with Dad’s new internet connection and then party it up at Massey’s for Simon’s bday. I am guessing he will order “the usual” nachos. I went to the gym today, ate a slice of cake, 3 Easter Creme eggs and a pop. I should have salad for dinner. The entire weekend I have had pain in my neck and trap muscle. It must be from the upright rows I did at the gym on Friday. Did I forget to mention my bum also hurts from the cycling class I took? Why in the world do people subject themselves to that kind of pain?? Mind you, it didn’t hurt at the time!
I am still trying to come up with the perfect gift for Simon, but it is really hard when he has everything he needs (and you refuse from buying him a Wii)….hopefully I’ll come up with something romantic, fun and creative in 2 days.
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02.14.08
Posted in Diary Entries at 8:49 am by Nicole
Today, February 14th, is Valentine’s Day. Remember, just because someone gives you a box of chocolate doesn’t mean you have to eat it ALL!
For me, every day is Valentines day 
I am so lucky to have such a great husband who shows his love daily. Unfortunately he is Anti-Valentines Day. I really don’t mind, but I have grown up with Valentines day gifts and cards and to not get any is very strange. I’ll get over it 
Here is my Valentines Day “card” for my baby,
I don’t ever want to take you for granted.
I don’t ever want to forget what it was like before you or how it would be without you…I don’t ever want to forget our first kiss or our last touch,
or let a day go by without telling you how much you mean to me,
how deeply I love you, and how much I need you…I don’t ever want you to doubt the way I feel or how much happier I am because of you.I love you – on Valentine’s Day and every day.
I love you – on Valentine’s Day and every day.
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02.13.08
Posted in Diary Entries, Fitness & Exercise at 10:33 am by Nicole
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02.07.08
Posted in Diary Entries at 8:18 am by Nicole
KEY #1: Choose your attitude in advance – When you wake up…you have a choice. You can be in a good mood or a bad mood. You also choose your attitude. You can wake up and mutter to yourself “this is gonna be a cruddy day” or you can tell yourself “this is gonna be a great day!” That immediate choice is the start of a great attitude. You’ve already decided it’s going to be a good one.
KEY #2: Visualize success – What this means is picture yourself having a successful day. Runners in the Boston Marathon picture themselves crossing the finish line. Maybe not in first place, but still finishing the 26-mile race. Self-visualization is a key factor in having a positive mental attitude. Will it work 100% of the time? I wish it would. However, by visualizing your success, you’ll be able to have a better handle on what does happen. And a better chance of making it happen.
Key #3: Demonstrate humor, energy and enthusiasm – We call these three items the MAGIC ingredients. Because without each one, creating a positive mental attitude will be very difficult. First, HUMOR. There is normally humor in every situation. Finding it is the KEY. Sometimes you’ll need to stretch and dig a little deeper to find the humor in a situation. But once you do, you’ll feel so much better. The ENERGY we talk about is important because without some ‘energy’ in your attitude, you’ll be dragging along behind everyone. Energy is closely related to the third ingredient…and that is ENTHUSIASM. My father used to tell me “Nancy, enthusiasm is contagious; let’s start an epidemic.”
KEY #4: Resist negative influences – It’s a fact. When we have a negative experience with a company, we’ll tell more people about it than if we have a good experience with the same company. And many times, when you hear that someplace wasn’t very good, you’ll believe the person who told you and choose not to do business with that company. However, you may only be hearing HALF the story. Check things out for yourself. Especially if the negativity involves a person you work with or know. I bet we’ve all heard negative things about someone we didn’t know and then when we had the opportunity to meet them ourselves, we find that they’re not as bad as someone had alluded to. In fact they might be nice. But you need to be the judge. Take negativity out of your life. Steer clear of those who drag you down and say negative things all the time. Being around other positive people is a good start.
KEY #5: Be a WHATEVER-IT-TAKES person – This “KEY” means be a problem solver. Life is going to put obstacles in front of all of us. How we go around those obstacles is the KEY factor. There’s normally a good answer to every problem put in front of us. Dale Carnegie said it best. Ask yourself, “What is the worst thing that can happen here?” And move up from that.
KEY #6: Embrace change…expect it and accept it – Some people are very good at handling change…and some resist it a lot. We had a fun saying at our house – I can still hear my father saying it: “Nancy, the next time you change your mind…get a good one.” The major KEY to handling CHANGE is to accept it. Deal with it. In most cases there’s little we can do to stop it.
Key #7: Be grateful for what you have – I’m not sure this KEY needs to be explained. So many people have so much. And yet those same people are often the ones that constantly complain. Why wait for some life altering experience to be grateful for all you have? Be grateful, NOW…before something bad happens and makes you aware.
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Posted in Diary Entries at 8:10 am by Nicole
WATCH YOUR HABITS, FOR THEY BECOME YOUR CHARACTER. DEVELOP YOUR CHARACTER, FOR IT BECOMES YOUR DESTINY!
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02.05.08
Posted in Diary Entries at 9:37 am by skay
Well it’s that time of year again. Usually around this time if my resolutions have failed and I am feeling particularly ambitious I will give up something for lent. I have had unusual success with lent quitting, I recall such things as giving up sugar in my tea which lasted forever, and giving up caffeine for a year and pop for a year both of which were successful enterprises.This year however I am going for something a little more ambitious, however vague, it is something that I feel I need to attempt. This year I am giving up being a fat person. I have been a fat person for a long time now, ever since the surgery and I seem to have fallen into a cycle of self-pity that is really not helping. I suppose were I on Dr Phil’s stage he would tell me to stop playing the victim and although I resist this notion I feel that there may be a ring of truth to it. So I am deciding that it is time to get back to my life. The life I had before the surgery. Working out regularly, eating well, running and playing sports and generally not being a lazy fat person. I know that the risk of hurting my back is still very much a part of my life however I guess what I am saying is that I am not going to let that rule my life any more. This is in large part a result of my upcoming birthday too. Turning 40 is not something that I am particularly looking forward to but at the same time it is an opportunity to do something exceptional with my life. Of course this is all well and good to decide now but it is in the trenches that the wars are won. It is in the darkly lit living room where the snacks attack and the tired afternoons where the lazy person craves the couch. These are the battlefields where the fat person is defeated. They are also the places that the fat person is created.
So call it the maple syrup from the pancakes I had for breakfast talking but I am feeling particularly motivated right now. I am disappointed that I cut so much weight for the wedding and gained the majority of it back and although that does not really make up a big part of my motivation, it is a sign that my self control and my discipline are sorely lacking. So it is time to be my own coach. I feel that I do a pretty good job coaching the girls at gymnastics, and I know that in the past I have done a great job with my own workout discipline. It is about time that I stop listening to the fat person inside my head and reprogram that voice with the motivated, healthy and fit person that was in there before.
So here I go, officially for lent I am giving up being fat! Wish me luck!!
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