and now I'm off...

My vacations starts tomorrow!! big yay for me!!
It's almost two and a half weeks long. So so so exited!

Here's my plan on how to control my weight during the vacation:

1. I'm bringing snacks with me. I don't care what everyone else thinks, I feel safe when I know I have food available to me whenever the hunger strikes. It works.

2. Water. Lots of water. Problem - will have to find bathrooms.

3. Journal. (says the girl who doesn't journal regularly while she's home...) All I'm saying, I'll try. It's a plan, at least. I'm not going to count, just write down whatever I eat (because sometimes you forget that you ate!).

4. Try to fit in exercise (a run, at best) whenever I can. I'm bringing my running gear with me (again, I don't care if my family laughs at me), and will try to do at least two long runs a week, or some short ones, we'll see... oh, and I don't care if it rains, I'm running, and that's that.

so that's the plan. Will report back in two and a half weeks time.

ta-ta!

hardcore running

How do you know that you're hardcore runner?

When a bug flies into your mouth, and you swallow it without even blinking, and continue running, 'cause nothing can stop you! :) lol

Yeah... I had an awsome run on Saturday. And tomorrow my 1/2 marathon clinic starts - so exited!

Riding in the sun.

Yesterday I had the longest bike ride in my life - 3.5 hours! 25k baby! Woohhoo!

We are lucky to live in a city with so many trails and paths (which we haven't really explored yet). My DH's friend suggested we go check out the "beaches" along the Rideau river (I say "beaches" because to me a beach has white sand and beautiful, warm, tropical turquoise water... ahh how I love Cuba... this was not it... but, I digress). The ride, was, nevertheless, beautiful, since the path runs alongside the riverbank.

And I love water. Any water. I love to sit by a river, a fountain, by the sea. So, to ride my bike on a sunny day, overlooking the river (with my iP.od, of course, playing my favourite tunes...) was - pure heaven.

:)

p.s. my ass hurts today.

Oh the mind games!

Here's a trick that could/will help me resist my cravings (and I have those often!.... mmm... chocolate... must... concentrate...). Anyway.

I did this today, and was totally surprised that it worked! So, here's a common situation with me: I just finished a meal, I'm satisfied, but I want something sweet. And nothing can really stop me (today this feeling hit me after breakfast!), unless we just don't HAVE anything, but usually there's at least a little jar of jam in the fridge.

So, what I did, was I acknowledge the craving, I thought "Yes, I want something sweet.", I stoped (I was already conveniently located in the kitchen), took a deep breath, had a sip of water and turned around, grabbed my bag and walked out the door. The trick is not to engage.

You see, my mind is like a teenager - always confrontational and constantly talking back. Maybe the key is to listen, acknowledge, but not act on the urge. It's not easy to do, the least I can do is try.

So... updates

-> drinking TONS of water - check!
-> going to the gym four times a week - check!
-> walking to and from work - check!
-> working out at lunch two time a week - check!
-> signing up to run a half-marathon (clinic) - check!
-> getting a bike AND roller-blades for hubby, so we can go together - check!
-> getting an assesment from a psychologist, and finding out I don't have an eating disorder - check!
-> not weighing myself and not knowing what my weight is - check!

-> realizing I am LIVING a healthy lifestyle - PRICELESS!!! :)

(sorry, couldn't help myself!)

Of course, I'm not perfect... and everyday is still a struggle (why is chocolate so irresistible??), but I'm trying to concentrate on the positives.

I'm thankfull it's summer and there are so many fun things I can do, instead of being stuck in the gym! I've started running more (my half-marathon clinic starts in two weeks!), and I've taken my bike out for a ride for the first time since last summer! I am going away on my vacation for two weeks, and that makes me a bit anxious... but I'll prepare mentally as well as I can, and will hope for the best!

I love books.

It's true. But not only do I love to read them, I love to buy them too! There's nothing like a new, crisp book, with a nicely designed cover and lots of white space inside (I can't help the designer in me!). Here's a list I found in another blog, and I'm posting it here, more for my own reference, then anything else, really.

(x) - I've read it
(?) - haven't heard about this book, not sure if I want to read it or not, might consider it later
(-) - not really interested in reading it
(*) - want to read it

(?) 1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) I've started it, but found to be too much like Angels & Deamons... :(
(-) 2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
(*) 3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
(?) 4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
(?) 5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
(x) 6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
(x) 7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
(?) 8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
(?) 9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
(x) 10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
(-) 11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
(x) 12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
(-) 13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
(?) 14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
(x) 15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
(-) 16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
(*) 17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
(?) 18. The Stand (Stephen King)
(-) 19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
(?) 20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
(-) 21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
(x) 22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
(*) 23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
(x) 24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
(?) 25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
(-) 26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
(?) 27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
(x) 28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
(?) 29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
(?) 30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
(?) 31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
(?) 32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
(?) 33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
(?) 34. 1984 (Orwell)
(?) 35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
(?) 36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
(?) 37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
(x) 38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb) looooved it
(?) 39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
(?) 40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
(?) 41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
(*) 42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
(-) 43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
(x) 44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
(-) 45. Bible
(*) 46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy) will read in Russian
(*) 47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
(x) 48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
(?) 49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
(x) 50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb) looooved it
(-) 51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
(x) 52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
(?) 53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
(?) 54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
(x) 55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
(?) 56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
(-) 57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
(x) 58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough) read it in Russian, when I was a teenager, loved it
(-) 59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
(x) 60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
(?) 61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky) tried to read it (in Russian), the language was quite complicated, will try again
(?) 62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
(?) 63. War and Peace (Tolstoy) will read it, at some point...
(?) 64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
(?) 65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
(x) 66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez) I've suffered through it...
(-) 67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
(?) 68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
(x) 69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
(x) 70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
(-) 71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
(*) 72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
(?) 73. Shogun (James Clavell)
(-) 74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
(?) 75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
(?) 76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
(?) 77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
(?) 78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
(?) 79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
(-) 80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
(?) 81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
(?) 82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
(?) 83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
(?) 84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
(-) 85. Emma (Jane Austen)
(?) 86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
(*) 87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
(?) 88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
(?) 89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
(?) 90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
(?) 91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
(-) 92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
(x) 93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
(?) 94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
(?) 95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
(?) 96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
(?) 97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
(?) 98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
(?) 99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
(?) 100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

And here are some other books I've read and loved:
"Children of Men" P.D. James
"Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" Lisa See
"The Lovely Bones" Alice Sebold
"The Memory Keeper's Daughter" Kim Edwards
"What the Body Remembers" Shauna Singh Baldwin

If you've read a book (that I haven't mentioned) and absolutely loved it, please leave me a comment! I'm always looking for new book ideas!

*edited to add:
Thanks Randi for your comment and suggestions!
Most of the books that I've marked here as "read", I've loved. The most recent ones that I've read and really liked are the two books by Wally Lamb (I Know This Much is True and She's Come Undone). Also, "Children of Men" had made quite an impression on me (I've read it a couple of years ago, way before the movie came out, which I didn't like, by the way).