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

What I'm {Not} Eating Wednesday

Over the past few months I've been taking a really big look at my digestion.  I've had digestive issues since forever (we decided I had IBS in elementary school) but after starting my studies at CSNN I realized just how seriously an unhealthy digestive system can effect the body!  Not only have my digestive issues hampered my physical health, I also feel that they have caused me a lot of anxiety and upsets emotionally and socially.  Anyone who has had symptoms of IBS will completely get where I'm coming from.

Although I've made efforts to improve my food choices on and off throughout my life, these past few years have seen me putting forth more time, effort, and thought.  The more in tune I become with my body though, the more I realize that food choices alone aren't going to fix this, so I enlisted the help of a holistic nutritionist (The Healthy Ginger), an acupuncturist (Open Gate Acupuncture & Herbal Clinic), and a naturopath (Kootenay Health Centre).

While I'm slowly working towards healthier digestion, I've realized that this is a really intricate journey and not something that will happen overnight.  I'm trying to journal my successes and failures and hope to be seeing a huge improvement by this time next year.  While I am having improvement compared to this time last year, I think that realistically it is just going to take a lot of patience and belief in myself to get to where I want to be!!  While food choices are an important factor, what is most difficult is realizing how involved emotions and feelings are.  I guess I've known this for a while (deep down) but now am realizing I'm going to have to learn how to deal with stress, anxiety, feelings, etc. in a way that hopefully won't effect my digestion, I feel that it will be my biggest struggle.

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So this weekend I had about a million digestive issues.  Since it was a weekend and I was feeling nice and calm I decided it had to be food choices and not stressy feelings that were messing me up, so I got to thinking that maybe I needed to evaluate what I've been eating lately.  I referenced my handy Health Binder where I keep track of such things, and noticed that my intake of prepared - yet healthy - foods has been quite high lately.

While I try really hard to cook and bake everything from scratch at home, sometimes it is sooo tempting to grab a healthy pre-made alternative.  I think in rare instances this works well for me, but as it becomes a more frequent habit my system starts to go into rejection mode.

I've decided to nix these (my faves) and most other pre-made foods until May 19 (the day we leave for California), my favorite go-to's, my sometimes saviours, and also the stuff that could very possibly be contributing to the violent gut ache I had all weekend.  I'm already excited to add them back into my diet at some point...  So long for now friends...

WHAT I'M {NOT} EATING WEDNESDAY

Vans Waffles

Amy's No-Cheese Pizza

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Amy's Gluten Free Indian Aloo Mattar Wrap

Mountain Range Spelt Brownies

Store-Bought Sauces

I want to point out that these products are GREAT options for alternative food eaters and have really awesome ingredients, it's just that I took using them to the extreme.  

Check out Peas and Crayons for tons of other WIAW posts, it's a great way to get inspired!!

Click the WIAW tag on the side of this page under "Labels" for more of my What I Ate Wednesday posts.

Have you had problems with your digestion?  Do you have an IBS success story?

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

Five Things Friday {2}

Happy Friday!!!  We are welcoming the weekend with a surprise snowy visit, which as usual, I'm into! 
 
Cody is heading back to work on Sunday, which is sad, but in the meantime we have some things to look forward to such as buffet dinner with the fam tonight, seeing our friends Marshall & Heather, dinner out at Pedal and Tap with Danielle & Will tomorrow, and (for me) A LOOONG WEEKEND for BC's Family Day! 

I'm back for another Five Things Friday link up thanks to Clare at Fitting It All In!!

Five Things I Ate: 

My favorite breakfast - Sweet potato hash, chicken cranberry sausage, and an egg. 

Barbeque bacon burger with rosemary garlic mushrooms (Against All Grain), with potato wedges.  Add a little homemade guac, low sodium ketchup, and some Amazing Dad's BBQ sauce on the side for dipping and it's a perfect Celebrate Thursday meal!!

The most delicious quinoa bowl!!!  Loaded with prawns, tofu, broccoli, red pepper, carrots, sweet onion, and green onion and flavoured up with World Foods Turmeric Lemon Grass sauce.

Deer meat taco bowl.  In love with how low fat and truly free-range this deer meat is!

Perfect Fit protein pancakes!

Five Teas I'm Loving:

Traditional Medicinals Echinacea Plus

My go-to cold remedy tea.  As soon as I feel any cold symptoms, I brew up a pot of this tea and truly believe that it helps me fight it off.  Something that I love about Traditional Medicinals tea is that they leave a little love note on all of their tea bags:

Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane Lane

I think this was my first favorite tea.  It's like a Christmas party in your mouth.  Deliciously candy cane like, it's a seasonal tea and one I try to stock up on to get me through the year until the holidays come around again.

Banff Tea Co. Candy Mint

Similar in flavour to the Candy Cane Lane, but in a league of it's own.  I love that it's loose leaf and I also love that it's made in Banff!

Pukka Night Time

I found this tea at Sprout Grocery and decided to give it a try at bed time.  I'm thinking it works!!  On the nights that I drink it before bed I have a WAY easier time falling asleep!! Although it smells kind of like it's not going to taste good it actually has a really nice mellow flavour.

Silk Road Chai Tea

My brother bought me a tin of this tea for Christmas, and it is so aromatic and delicious!  It's loose leaf, which as I mentioned before is my favorite.  My mom introduced me to making a Chai Latte, which is my favorite way to use this tea: half a mug of steeped chai, half a mug of warm almond milk, add raw honey to taste. 

Five Random Things I'm Loving Lately:

The warming socks treatment!!!  I've had nothing but success fighting colds with this handy little trick.

Vega Recovery Accelerator in Tropical.  I swear by this stuff to help my muscles not ache for dayssss after a workout.

Hawaii Five-0, our new favorite show!!!

Local bacon, I feel SO much better about eating local meat.  You can find this stuff at Centex in Kimberley.

The fact that OUR TRIP IS BOOKED!!!  We are heading to Manhattan Beach in May, I am so excited!!! 

Enjoy your weekend!!!!

XO - Michelle

WIAW {2}

Breakfast:  Perfect Fit Protein Pancake topped with coconut oil and pure maple syrup

Snack: Chia Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

Lunch:  Amy's Indian Aloo Mattar Wrap

Snack:  Coconut Cream Lara Bar (recycled picture)

After Work Snack:  Smoothie with Greens Powder (not pictured)

Dinner:  Tofu & Prawn Quinoa Bowl

Check out Peas and Crayons for tons of other WIAW posts, it's a great way to get inspired!!

Click the WIAW tag on the side of this page under "Labels" for more of my What I Ate Wednesday posts.

XO - Michelle

Believing And Achieving

Today I wanted to write a quick note on hoarding... well, that's where I'm launching from anyways...

I'm a bit of a hoarder.  Not in terms of "stuff and things" but in terms of bins full of my old stuff.  It's gotten to the point that this stuff is a burden and a constant weight on my shoulders.  I have trouble going through it and trying to get rid of old momento's, most of which are paper and notes etc, but I finally feel like I'm in a place where I can deal with it, step by step.

Letting go of this baggage is one of the things on my list of how I want to live in 2014.  A couple of weeks ago I got up the courage to go through an old truck full of "stuff", and I have to say it was a great feeling of accomplishment to organize it into keep, recycle, chuck; and guess what...  I barely kept anything!  The extra bonus being that now we can use this great trunk for something useful, we've decided to fill it with all of our winter gear!!  I still have a lot more stuff to go through, but this was a great first try.

Just a portion of the trunk contents:  yearbooks, diaries, notebooks, school books, jewelry, newspaper clippings, etc.

Something that quickly became quite clear to me while going through all of those old notes and diaries is that I've always been a dreamer and had a lot of thoughts.  The whole "if you believe, you will achieve" proves to be quite accurate, because as I looked through my old musings my life has checked off a lot of those boxes that I noted down at some point during my youth.  Ok, I'm not a professional mountain biker, but I digress....

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As I chuckled and sighed through my old thoughts and dreams, I realized that as of late, I've stopped doing this kind of thing.  Could it be that the fear of failing is holding me back from dreaming?  Am I just tired?  Oh, I still have thoughts of wanting to be this or do that, but I haven't set a goal and forged through to attain it since planning our wedding, which went just great!  So, I'm jumping back in the game.

I've started a separate tab at the top of this page called "Believe & Achieve" and will be documenting the things that I set out to do, both small and large.  Check it out here.

What are you working towards right now?

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