Five Things Friday {3}

Happy Friday and Happy Valentines Day!!!!

I hope that everyone has that wonderful Friday feeling going on, and that someone (romantically OR not) makes you feel special today.

I'm linking up with Clare from Fitting It All In for another Five Things Friday!

Five Things I'm Proud Of From This Week:

Setting up my Wahoo Fitness speed & cadence sensor on my bike and actually went spinning more than once!!!

Attending my first yoga class.

Finishing my Anatomy & Physiology course!

Getting 91% on my Symptomology 1 course!

Making the decision to cut prepared food out of my diet to hopefully improve digestion.

Five Things I Love About Valentines Day:

Although it's just a corporate holiday (yadda, yadda) I think it's a great opportunity to show some love to all the amazing people who make life so great.

It's the anniversary of the day I left to head up to my first camp job in Fort McMurray.  That decision ultimately lead to health, happiness, and love.  I cried the whole way to Edmonton, crashed Marshall & Heather's V-Day, and to this day revel in the memories of that whole experience!!

Chocolate (duh), even though I'm not eating any this year it looks deeeeeelicious.

The fact that it's snowing right now!!!  Mother Nature's V-Day gift to me, thanks lady.

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My lovely new Lulu Wunder Unders that Cody got me for V-Day!!!!  Now I don't have to wear the same pair over and over, which is great news.

Five Shows I'm Super Into Lately:

Killer Women

Nashville

NCIS: Los Angeles

Arctic Air

Teen Mom 2 (I've been catching up on mtv.ca)

Five Things I Ate This Week:

Honey-Lime Salmon Tostadas from the Against All Grain Cookbook (love).

 

Extra delicious sweet potato hash for breaky all week.

YUMMY burger patties with sauteed mushrooms, bacon, sweet potato fries, avo, and spicy ketchup at Danielle & Will's.  Good company + good food = doesn't get better than that!

I added peanut butter to my protein smoothie and was introduced to a whole new world.  Smoothies will never be the same (in a good way).

A prawn and tofu quinoa bowl - one of my new fave staple meals.

Five Faves I Caught On My Camera

The stem cap on my bike.

A gorgeous bluebird day to get out for a walk.

A colourful blend of veggies to saute up for my quinoa bowl.

Cuddling up in Cody's sweats for an evening of catching up on my girly shows while he's away.

A huge crew of elk crossing the road on my way to work.  Sorry it's super fuzzy but I had to quickly snap a shot once I was stopped.

XO - Michelle

Marvelous In My Monday {2}

And another weekend bites the dust.

I had a busy Saturday and a lazy Sunday, which is basically how I like it.  Here's a little bit of marvelous (hosted by Healthy Diva Eats) from my weekend :)


We went out to shoot Cody's new gun, which was way more fun than I was expecting!  I got over shooting guns for hours on end about 4 years ago so I was less than enthused to find myself headed out of town with a truck full of arsenal, but as soon as we hit the back roads I was feeling pretty excited.  It was a blue skied, sunny, sparkling snow kind of day and I'm really glad I got to spend so much time in the fresh air.

Photo Credit:  Troy Zohner

Danielle and Will were kind enough to invite us all over for a dinner over the fire kind of evening.  It was cold out, but with the fire going we managed to stay warm.  I tried Mennonite sausage for the first time, which is delicious, and Danielle also made salads and really yummy cookies for us to enjoy; lucky for me she texted me ahead of time and told me to bring my lactose pills!!  We also got to meet her brother's new hound puppies (so cute!), I got to hold the squirmiest one named Eddie.

Booking our trip to California!!!  It's happening, for real.  It's a great thing to look forward to and also a great way to hopefully motivate myself to get back on the fitness wagon.  I have until the middle of May to meet my goal bod.  WOOHOO.  I am seriously so excited.

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Family dinner at Heid Out.  Our last family gathering before Troy and Keefer make their way home.

What's up for this week:

• Completing my Anatomy and Physiology test, once it's done I get to move on to a course that I'm really excited for!
• Not eating in excess.  Although I'm pretty good at eating whole foods, I've gotten really good at eating a lot of them.  I feel like I need to scale it back and start paying more attention to those random snacky urges.
• Try my first real yoga class at Glow Yoga & Wellness.  Danielle and Kirsten speak so highly of the yoga class that they have been going to that I just have to try it.  But I'm SO nervous!!
• Enjoy the week with Cody before he heads back to work.
• Seeing our pals Marshall & Heather, who are home for a visit coming up this weekend!

  Hope your Monday is off to a fantastic start!

XO - Michelle

Outdoor Excitement

Happy 2014 & Happy Friday!!

How exciting that a fresh new year is finally upon us!  I am so thrilled at the prospect of 2014, a chance to rediscover what makes me happy and reaffirm my healthy lifestyle love.

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I have been lucky enough to spend the end of of Dec and beginning of Jan doing just that.  I had the opportunity to spend time cross country skiing, downhill skiing, and snowshoeing!  Enjoying the great outdoors was just what I needed and I think it's safe to say I have re-caught my childhood ski bug.

I went cross country skiing with my family and while I'm quite honestly a terrible cross country skier and fell about 6 times during our outing, there is no denying the beauty in getting outside and enjoying the fresh air and scenery... even if it is with gritted teeth and a snowy butt.

My downhill ski experience was much more positive and I easily fell back into the swooping turns that gave me such a thrill as a kid.  No literal falls for that day, what a relief!  I had so much fun with my friend Heather and was really happy to find out we are at a similar skill level which always makes for a more carefree day.  Riding the chairlift is always a fun time and we got to chat with some fellow skiers throughout the day, you never know who you'll end up meeting but I always find people so friendly and chatty and really enjoy talking with them.  Chairlifts = Love.  Kimberley Alpine Resort is a hop, skip, and a jump from my house and I plan to take advantage of that this season.

My friend Danielle and I got out for a snowshoe in the South Star Trails courtesy of our trail guide Dag (Danielle's mom).  Danielle and Dag happen to be in epic shape and I got my sweat on big time but was so proud that I didn't have to stop to catch my breath, what a change I'm seeing from previous years!  Danielle and I both got blisters so thankfully we turned around before going too far in, but my Wahoo GPS says we did over 5 km on our outing!  We lucked out with a gorgeously warm bluebird day and paired with the awesome workout my endorphins were sky-high!

I got back to the ski hill again yesterday for a night ski with Cody and some friends.  It was the perfect temp for night skiing and I think I got 5 runs in!  Cody hasn't snowboarded in 6 years so he did 2 runs and called it quits, but it meant so much to me that he came up and gave it another try.  I think if we get out a few more times together he will start enjoying it more.  Last time I skied my dad lent me his rad Atomic Blogs.  Last night I was back on an old pair of Rossignol's (I think Saphir) that I bought used in Grade 12... I have to say, upgrading my skis has just gone up on my wishlist.  No matter the gear, it was a great night and I'm already excited to get back on the hill!!

With all of this awesome outdoor excitement going on I have had the chance to think up a ton of positive ideas and get myself stoked on making this the year that I get my health and body to where I want to be; but while right now it seems SUPER attainable I also have so many fears about following through.  As someone who previously gained a lot of weight, then lost it, and am now gaining it back - see My Weight Loss Story - I'm quite frankly terrified!  When will the temptation stop and the full on healthy living begin again?! The fact that my personal choices are the answer to that question is both inspiring and intimidating.

I've come up with a few ideas on how to help keep my goals in the forefront and will be turning my plans into actions this weekend.  Stay tuned!

XO - Michelle