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

My First Yoga Class

Happy Monday everyone!!!  Us BC folks are so lucky to have Family Day today!  I'm using my extra day off to set up a speed and cadence sensor on my bike, prep some food, and read some more the The Start Here Diet.

I did something marvelous (hosted by Healthy Diva Eats) this weekend, something that has intimidated me for a very long time...  I attended my first yoga class!!!

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I have been wanting to try yoga for years now but have always been too intimidated to go.  I am not bendy or flexible and with my recently added weight I couldn't fathom the thought of squishing around into all sorts of poses.

BUT Danielle and Kirsten have been giving Glow Yoga & Wellness such high praises that I decided to suck it up and join them for a class.

It was an Ashtanga 1 class and it was perfect for my skill level.  I was able to hold the poses, but it was a bit of an effort to do so.  On Sunday I could feel a satisfying soreness in my shoulders, back, and thighs and so would highly recommend this to beginners.  It was not nearly as intimidating as I was expecting, there were people of all sizes and shapes in class, and skill levels varying from people like me to really bendy uber yogis.

What I loved about yoga is that while it was a definitely a workout for my bod, the emphasis on breathing and keeping a clear mind was so relaxing and rewarding.  I left feeling refreshed and ready to take on my Saturday.

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If anyone is like me and has let intimidation keep them from trying yoga, grab a friend for support (and to look at for help with poses, thanks Danielle!) and get yourself to a beginner class, you will not regret it!!

I'm happy to report that something from my "Believe & Achieve" tab can now be marked as achieved :)

XO - Michelle

Make A Plan Monday {3}

Welcome to a new week!!

I am happy to report that I got my butt off the couch this weekend and am definitely reaping the rewards.  It's crazy how important it is to get moving, especially at this time of year when the winter blues come crashing in.  Check out this post from Peace, Love, & Oats about fighting the winter blues!

Cody is due home today, as are his Dad and brother who are coming down for a snowboarding trip and visit.  I am keeping my expectations of myself low this week as I know I'll feel busy with visiting and hostessing, so just want to focus on a few things:

• Keep healthy options available, and choose them over snacky/socializing foods
• Try to get out for walks or do some yoga (see below for my yoga discovery)
• Keep the house tidy and laundry caught up to help me feel calm and organized

And that's it!  Other than that I plan on visiting and hopefully going out for dinner one night.

Instead of structuring a menu plan for this week's dinners I just came up with a list of ideas and bought the ingredients, this way we can go with what everyone feels like that night:

Dinners for the week of January 27-31

Root Beer Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

Quinoa Crusted Sole in Chili Lime Marinade

Barbeque Bacon Burger

Pedal and Tap

Butternut Squash Chipotle Chili

Quinoa Bowl with Tofu or Prawns

Remember to check out Food I'm Loving Friday for my fave eats from that week.

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In exercise news, although my week seemed off to a horrendous start I finished on a positive note.  

Saturday I got out for a great walk in the community forest with my pals Danielle and Kirsten which felt so great!!  Fresh air and conversation with friends is the best!  We walked for around an hour and then parted ways.  I then went to my parents house and they were just headed out for a neighborhood walk, so I joined them for another 45 mins or so.  It was icy on both of my walks which translates to some sore inner thighs from trying to hold myself up!  Luckily I managed to not bail, which is pretty rare for me :)

Sunday I had big plans of doing something but by the time I finished cleaning and organizing it was evening and I was beat!!  Danielle and  Kirsten had been talking about yoga the day before and that thought sent me to old faithful (Google) to see if I could find some sort of online class.  I found a great website called Do Yoga With Me that allows you to filter skill level and class length so I completed my first yoga class and loved it!!!

I hope your week is off to a positive start!!

XO - Michelle