Lace em up...

Lace em up...

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Hiding abs, sexy lounge singer and retired 501's...

My week (November 20 - 27) in pictures from Instagram...


November 20th...


This morning I woke up to my lightest weight since I was training for the Around the Bay in 2013. I've lost 18 pounds since September 1st. I've been consistent and I've got an awesome on line coach (Mac Fitness). I figured out a way to show my abs. I just need to pull my extra skin away from my body and there they are. The comparison before pics (left) are from 2012 (nicked them off my old blog), just before I reached my goal weight. I wore size 12 and my exercise was long distance running. There's a 2 pound difference here. I'm lighter in the pics from this morning and I'm currently fitting into a size 8.

Seeing my weight go down like it hasn't in years is exciting and motivating, and keeps me focused and driven to move forward. Today is an exciting one. It's my heavy macro day and I've already indulged in my coffee and rice cakes with peanut butter, banana and chocolate chips. Just going to down some water and head to the gym to lift some heavy things. I've already planned most of my food for today so I can have a glass or two of wine with my cousin this afternoon. Ain't life grand? Have an awesome Sunday!


November 21st...


Today was not my favourite day. I spent my work day in an all day training. It took place in the auditorium of my office building. The temperature in there can only be described as similar to a meat locker. I swear that my coldness is the only thing that kept me awake. I've had a headache all day. Which is odd because I don't get headaches too often. And they normally go away with water. But I drank water like a fish all day and I've still got my headache. I almost cancelled on Brodie tonight but decided I couldn't do that because today is the only day I can see him this week. He's off the rest of the week because he's moving homes. It's lights out right now. I'm up at 4am to train. Exciting times. Shaun sent me new workouts. I'm gonna do my first in the morning. Lots of cardio so I'll need 1.5 hours at the gym from now on. Good night 😫


November 22nd...


It's #TransformationTuesday. On days where I'm being hard on myself, it's important for me to remember where I started. And it's important for me to give myself props for working as hard as I have to get where I am today. Lots of sweat and tears has gone into my transformation so far. And I'm sure there's more to come because I'm not done yet. There are no short cuts. There's no magic shake, pill, wrap, or 30 minute exercise video that got me these results. It all has to do with what I do at the gym and what I eat. That's the bottom line.

The absolute best decisions I made during this fitness journey (besides walking into Dr. Poon's clinic in September 2011) is hiring a personal trainer (Tony), an on line trainer/macro specialist (Shaun), and walking into Brodie's boxing gym. My trifecta of coaches are responsible for my strength and my changing body shape. I do what they tell me to do (without MUCH complaint) and learn so much from each of them. I learn important tools I can use for the rest of my life so that I will never go back to my before picture.

Yes I work hard at the gym and planning meals, and yes it's time consuming. But it's 100% worth it to me because I can't ever return to the woman on the left. Although she also taught me a lot about myself, that chapter of my life is closed. And I never re-read books no matter how good they were... 


November 22nd...


Everyone keeps telling me I'm sick. Remember when I had a cough and cold a few weeks ago? Well it never went away. That's not completely true. The tired, run down way I felt went away. The cough is lingering. I have sexy lounge singer voice and I kinda like it. The cough can get annoying and it's not like I feel sick. I don't at all. I'm just coughing and talking all sexy like.

It's just after 8:30pm and I'm ready for bed. I was up before 4am to get to the gym bright and early before I had to drive to Toronto for day 2 of my training. All day training is brutal. The commute home today was so so slow. After I picked Julien up from the sitter, I made us dinner. I'm done eating for the day so bed is naturally next.

During work training, everyone looks at me with pity in their eyes. There were tons of snacks. All carbs. Don't cry for me. I'm good, and I still get exciting food. The first thing I put into My Fitness Pal everyday is my peanut butter and rice cakes as my evening snack. Then I build my macros around that. I look forward to it everyday. It's replaced my wine. See? Good junk food.

Today a coworker asked me what my ultimate fitness goal was. I didn't know how to answer that, but I guess it's to be as strong as I can. Ohhhh! And do pull-ups. Women doing wide grip pull-ups is no easy task. That's the long term goal. My short term goal is to look good naked. I'm going to have to start dating at some point in time. Lights out for me. I've got a date with Tony in the morning...


Novermber 23rd...


I might be smiling all smugly but this also sucks in a way. Remember a couple months ago when I'm all like, "I just bought my first Levis 501 jeans and they're awesome" blah, blah, blah? Well, I can take them off now without unbuttoning them. They cost me $60 which I know goes against my clothing rule, but I wanted them because I've never had Levis before. Note to self. No more purchasing of new clothing for a few more months. It's back to Value Village for me.

Today I went to my mechanic in Scarborough to get an oil change. I've not been there for 3 months. Chris said, "Hi Leigh. You've lost weight again. Like a lot of weight". He didn't even ask how I was. I honestly didn't think it was that noticeable. Tony always tells me that he can't tell because he sees me all the time. Brodie noticed though. And between me and you, Brodie is officially my favourite coach (that I see in person Mondays and Wednesdays), and only second to Shaun who is tied for first with Tony.

I can't pick. All my coaches are awesome in their own way. I'm blessed to have a trifecta of coaches looking out for me and pushing me to my best potential. Back to my photo and my unfortunate giant man hand that's resting on my hip. I swear it doesn't look like that in real life. In other news I finally learned how to make My Story on Instagram. It only took 6 months or however long it's been on Instagram. Macros were close enough today and I've gotta get to sleep. Alarm is set for 4am and it's snowing. I'll need extra time to clean my car off in the morning.


November 25th...


I'm dead. Dead and appetiteless. But I do want to drink all the water. Had to force feed myself dinner. I'm not sure why. I had a pretty gruelling training session with Tony this morning. I did my first dead lifts. My form's not great, but it got better by the 4th set. They'll take a bit of time. Just like everything else I learn to do.

I spent the day in my car. And I was brilliant enough to drive near 2 major malls. Not sure what was going on in my head. The Black Friday crowds were ridiculous. I dressed for comfort and warmth today. I wore leggings and for the first time (probably) ever, I admired my own ass in my reflection of the windows at the King City ONroute. Is it the squats? Back extensions? Donkey kicks? All of the above? I don't care. I just keep doing what my trainers tell me to. They know best.

Last night my girlfriend, Mary came with me to watch Tony's band play in Toronto. It was a fun night and Flash Johnson sounded real good. Something I've noticed over the past couple of months is a difference in my hair. It's growing quickly and feels fuller. It also feels silky. I'm not sure of that has to do with biotin, hair products or macros. Or maybe all three. This post is all over the place. Probably because I keep falling asleep while I'm writing this. Good night. Gotta get up to go to the gym in the morning and then off with Julien to visit my papa.


November 27th...


Wanna know what makes today magical? It's my heavy carb day. First it's coffee time. Then I'm going to eat my rice cakes, peanut butter, banana and chocolate chips. Then I'm going to lift some heavy things. I need to eat something first because I slept in and I'm starving. I think I'm going to go to Harvey's and have a grilled chicken sandwich on a multi-grain bun for lunch. Yesterday was spent in Scarborough with my daddy and the boy. Today the boy and I are going shopping and to see Moana. Exciting times for sure. Good thing I like kids movies. Can't remember the last time I saw a movie I chose. It's been many, many years. Have a wonderful Sunday😊

Until next week...

Saturday, November 19, 2016

Decimated arms, potluck blues and a disappearing bosom...

My week (November 14 - 19) in pictures from Instagram...


November 14th...


Sixes, twelves and twenty fours. That was my workout with Tony this morning. All upper body and all challenging because the idea is that I'm supposed to fail. So I did 6 assisted pull ups (it was set so I was pulling 100 pounds), followed by 12 ring pulls, followed by 24 arm curls. All done one right after the other. I rested for 90 seconds then repeated the sequence 3 more times.


Then I did 6x 100 pound pull downs, 12 push ups and 24 lying tricep extensions. That was also done for 4 sets. On my last set of tricep extensions, Tony announced that I failed. Which I did. I think I only got to 16. Then he had me "decimate" my arms with a few more rounds of arm curls and some tricep kick backs. My arms felt tight and tired. Today's macros were just okay. I ate 4g too much of protein and not enough fat. Off to bed. 4am alarm...



November 15th...


The pic on the left was taken on September 3rd, the day after Julien and I went to Wonderland (note hand stamp), and 3 days after I began on line training with Mac Fitness. The pic on the right was taken this past Sunday. The difference is 13 pounds and I think I look leaner. Brodie and Tony both insist there's a difference. And I know there's a difference because I can feel it in my clothes. It's only going to get better from here.


I've been cut by 400 calories per day and I'm working out harder. So working harder on less food leaves me mangry (macro anger) and I'm hungry more times than not. But I'm not sluggish or light headed. I'm learning to space small meals frequently throughout my day which helps a lot. I do crave protein though. I never thought I'd say that. I always complained I had too much to eat in a day. Since protein has been cut by about 25g, I want it back. You always want what you don't have.


Now that I've started to whine about how horrible my life is, I may as well continue to roll with it. I'm sore (cue the violin). Thank you Tony. My arms were completely useless today. I almost cancelled on Brodie tonight but went, had an awesome workout and then let him throw the medicine ball at my gut again. I'm feeling all sorry for myself right now and dreading the gym in the morning. But I will be there at 5am with the few of us who are there at that time. My good friends; Profusely Sweating Bike Guy, Machine Grunting Guy, and (my bestie) Cross Fit Girl With Perfect Makeup and Zero Body Fat. I might have a girl crush on her. I'm part of a club and I feel included. Granted it's a silent club and none of us actually speak to one another. We just nod acknowledgement of our existence. But if I don't see one of them there I wonder. Wonder where they are. I'll not do that to them. It could ruin a person's workout. And I always strive to be a good friend. Lack of food has me talking gibberish...



November 16th...


Today was a challenge all around. I woke at 4am and sobbed quietly for 15 minutes before I convinced myself that it would be worse if I didn't go to the gym. So I went. And the same thing happened that always happens when I don't feel like going. I had an awesome workout. I came home, ate, showered and dressed, then grabbed my work bag and my crock pot full of honey garlic meatballs and made my way to the T-Dot.


Why the meatballs you ask? It was my unit's potluck lunch and that was my contribution. You wanna know what I did for lunch? I got a salad from Subway that I had already figured the macros for on a nutrition calculator. I ate my salad while my colleagues ate jerk chicken, samosas, lasagna, baklava and homemade perogies. That's right. I said homemade perogies. And they ate my meatballs and told me they were delicious.


And that awesome Banana Republic blazer I'm wearing on the left? To add insult to injury, I got honey garlic sauce on it. Just got it from the cleaner last week. I bought it at Value Village for ten bucks or something. But on a positive note, the boots I wore today? I got them from Reitman's at the end of season last year. They were 20 bucks and I couldn't zip them up the top of my calves. I figured I'd wear them with boot cut jeans. But I was pleasantly surprised when they easily zipped today. And my coworker told me that she can really notice a difference in my hips and legs since I started counting macros. We had a moment and I may have told her I loved her.


I went to see my athletic therapist, Megan, today. It's been a few weeks due to scheduling conflicts. I fell asleep while she was working on my shoulder on account that I was exhausted. But no time for rest. After my 10 minute power nap, I got Julien from the sitter, made dinner and then we headed to the boxing gym. I was done when my 30 minutes was up. Eighty 1-2 punches with my aching arms was not easy. Which brings us to my favourite part of the day. Rice cakes and natural peanut butter. And now it's lights out. I've got Tony in the morning. It's leg day which means trap bar, squats and RDL's...



November 18th...


Today was a good day. I took a vacation day. It started out with a massage. The massage wasn't too much fun. It's not a spa massage I get. Sports massage is mostly painful and requires concentration and breathing exercises. Kinda like labour. But I always feel better afterwards. And my masseur Mark told me that even though we've been talking about my new fitness program for a couple months, today is the first day he noticed real definition in my body. That's nice to hear from the only man who sees me mostly naked. I said mostly (for the gutter brains:-)!!!! I saw him 4 weeks ago so it's nice to know that progress is being made.


After my massage, I drove to Scarborough to meet my brother and we took care of some financial stuff regarding my father. That was a relief and lessened my stress level instantly. I took my brother out to lunch then headed back to Hamilton to pick up Julien from school. We went to his school's Christmas bazaar where he blew $10 in record time. When I got home, I changed into my lounge wear, made dinner and drank sparkling water with lemon because you know, wine does not fit my macros today. That makes me mangry. But I've got Sunday to look forward to.


Today was a rest day from the gym. I've already done 6 workouts this week. I've got the weekend to get through and I get to start all over again on Monday. Macros were okay. I'm done eating for the day and I've got 2g of fat and 2g of protein left. Only two more sleeps till my heavy macro day! Maybe I'll have dark chocolate and red wine...



November 19th...


I regret to inform you that although I'm losing fat in some places I should, not all areas are cooperating. I asked my bosom to remain intact as I've already lost an enormous amount of boobage, but alas, it did not listen. I've noticed my bras are getting bigger. All of them. Sports, push up, padded, strapless. You name the style, it's getting way too roomy. I'm not wearing a padded bra today. This contorted pose wasn't easy to hold, but necessary in coming clean.

I'm a fraud. A fraud who wears figure enhancing bras. Because I have to. Look at pictures in previous posts. All a sham. I don't got it, so I have to fake it. But this just helps me solidify my decision of whether or not I should get a breast augmentation. I believe, with 100% certainty, that this summer, I will be getting the mommy makeover. Tummy tuck and breast lift with implants. And no I'm not getting ginormous breasts. Just ones big enough to fill out what I should naturally be without all the sagging and loose skin. So basically the way I look in pictures but I won't need the padded push up bra anymore. RIP once again bosom...


November 19th...


  • Looking through a box of old pictures I got from my dad's house this afternoon. Found some that made me smile. From top left; My mom on her second Christmas with my dad. She got a television. Their first one. That photo's from 1959. The photo below is also from the same Christmas. My parents in their first apartment on Jameson Avenue in Toronto. The photo below that is my second birthday. My mom put me in a headdress any chance she got. So politically incorrect:-) Those are my brothers, my sister and my foster sister. My parents fostered children from 1965 until my mom's death in 2003.


  • Beside that is my dad and me, of course. That's from high school. As you can see, I was obese then too. And next is my dad in his uniform. He worked at the Royal York Hotel for 40 years. That's how he met my mom. She worked at a hat factory on York Street and he'd tip his hat to her when she passed him every day. And the top right photo is from 1957. That's my mom working in the hat factory. That's one year before she married my father. I love that picture. I'm going to get it restored, enlarged and framed. I'm taking a bunch of old photos to share with my cousin over wine tomorrow. Looking at old photos is bitter sweet. They make me smile but also sad. So many loved ones gone.

Until next week...

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Fashion finds, decimated abs and new macros...

My week (November 7 - 13) in pictures from Instagram...

November 7th...


Today's outfit because you know, fall is the most wonderful time of the year. Everything except the boots was either thrifted or under $10. One of the best parts of losing 140 pounds is appreciating how I look in clothes. Shopping is still not my favourite thing because it's work, but being able to put fashionable outfits together is something I'll always be thankful for. I used to only be able to wear what I could find that could fit me. There was little fashion involved. Actually no fashion involved. Experimenting with clothes will never get old, now that I can.

Yesterday was my heavy macro day. I ended up eating all my extra carbs in rockets and rice cakes. It was a good day. Today I rested. I looked at my training schedule for the next couple of weeks and I'm not resting again for a while. It will do my body good. Excited for the changes that are going to happen over the next couple of months. Today I struggle with hunger. I played this wrong. I need to rest on my heavy macro day. My rest day is always when I feel like I could eat all day. But I won't. Have a wonderful Monday.


November 8th...


It's #TransformationTuesday and I can't believe that next month will mark my 4th year on maintenance. The pic on the left was from 2011, the summer before I began Dr Poon. I started Dr Poon on September 17th, 2011 and stayed with it for 15 months. Although I've maintained roughly the same body size (size 8/10) over the past 4 years, lots has changed. My body composition is completely different. I should dig up some old photos and compare. I've got tons on my old blog. I just need to check out my archives.

I still have goals and lots of work ahead of me. I look forward to it. There's an infomercial I see once in a while at my gym. It's for an apparatus that looks like a mini surf board and you do the twist on it. It looks like fun for sure, but the people demonstrating it are wearing street clothes and saying that it doesn't even feel like you're working out. If it doesn't feel like a workout, it isn't. There are no short cuts to getting results. You have to put the work in. That's it. Although my journey has not been an easy one, it's been worth it. And the saga continues. Looking forward to many more "shit my pants moments" in the future. If it doesn't challenge me, it's not worth it...


November 8th...


Gag me with a spoon. For real. Finally moved onto my final meal of the day. Fat free cottage cheese. Someone's gotta live the glamorous life. I had a heavy workout day today and I'm sore. This morning I had Tony. We were supposed to do trap bar and squats, but I stupidly did legs twice this weekend and they needed a rest. So we did shoulders instead. And I did some new exercises which I can feel in my aching muscles right now.

I also got to punch Brodie tonight. He worked me hard. I know my abs are going to be screaming in the morning. I worked them with Tony this morning too. But Brodie had me do a round of sit-ups and a round of medicine ball slams. It's different than what you're probably thinking. Instead of me slamming the medicine ball to the ground, he picked up a 5 pound ball, had me lie on the mat and threw the ball into my abs. I had to be quick and flex before it made contact with me. Then I passed it back to him whilst doing a crunch. This is to prepare me for getting punched in the stomach. Good times indeed.

Bedtime right now. I've gotta get up at 430. I've left enough time for exactly 1 hour at the gym. And I've got boxing again tomorrow night. Another week of back to back to back to back to back workouts.


November 9th...


OMG! I smile, through my pain. Right now it hurts to breathe. Thank you Brodie. I almost didn't go to the gym this morning. But I rolled out of bed and dragged myself there for an hour. Rewarding, yes because I didn't expire. After the gym was a full work day followed by homework, dinner prep, then another date with my tormentor. No abs today. He said they need to rest before he tortures me again next week. And I pay for this extra special kinda love.

Yesterday I bought this Guess sweater, brand new, for...wait for it...$12.50. Now, I'd not normally buy anything with a brand name on it, but it was so cheap, how could I walk away? And I also got a halter lace bodysuit for $7.99. I might save that gem to wear to the fights that Brodie's putting on next month. Nineteen matches in a bar. Should be interesting.

Eating was okay today. Just left a couple grams of protein and a gram of fat. Made an awesome marinara sauce for my spaghetti squash and grilled chicken breast. Reminiscent of my mother's sauce. It was good and almost made me feel like I was eating pasta for real. I lie. It was nothing like real pasta but tasty just the same. I need to pass out about now. I'm up early to train with Tony in the morning. My legs are almost feeling normal. Time for Tony to make them ache all over again.


November 10th...


The second day after getting your abs assaulted by your boxing coach is definitely worse than day 1. Even Tony took pity on me and didn't make me do any core this morning. I did trap 235 and I squatted 145. Both were up from last week. I tried to do 245 on the trap bar, but I couldn't get up. I'm still pissed about that. I hate failing. But seriously, just existing hurts right now. This too shall pass.

I had an awesome chat with my on-line coach last night. We're stepping it up a notch. He says I'm doing awesome, but I imagine the honeymoon is over. New macros come tomorrow, new workouts to follow shortly. I am pumped. I love seeing changes in my body. I'm starting to notice and so are others. It only gets better from here. Just as my abs begin to heal, my legs are aching from the trap bar and squats today. I can't remember the last time I didn't feel an ache in a muscle somewhere. Maybe when I sleep it goes away. Good night all. I'm up at 5 to do the gym. Only pondering question is what do I do? Definitely not core or legs. Shoulders and back it is...


November 11th...


You wanna know what hurts most about this photo? My leather biker jacket that I bought at Danier 2 years ago (for 50% off), which used to fit me like a glove, is too big. It no longer hugs me. I love that jacket. I can get away with wearing it for now, but what about when I'm smaller still? My consolation is that the remainder of my fat is mostly around my hips and upper thighs. I'm holding out hope the stubborn bottom fat will finally leave sooner than later and my upper body won't change too dramatically. Except my abdominal fat of course. This jacket is so not going to fit me.

I got my new macros from Shaun today. I'm being cut by 400 calories per day and my carbs are being cut right down too. But my heavy macro day? The amount of carb I get is monumental. For me anyway. Every other day my carb count is real low. It's all good though. It's just like it was when I was on Dr Poon. I did it then, I can do it now. And once a week, I get to have a carb fest. New macros start tomorrow.


November 12th...


Peace out...Not much to say today except my day sucked big time. So much stuff to do that my head is spinning. Solid effort at the gym this morning and my first day with new macros went swimmingly. Dinner was especially gag worthy. Just reminds me how much I have to get groceries. Because tomorrow is gym (maybe), groceries, food prep and laundry (of course). And I should be excited. It's my heavy macro day! Goodnight. My body is weary and I just might be getting up to go to the gym in the morning.


November 13th...


Good morning friends. Today it's sunny and freaking cold. I'm having an internal war with myself. If I rest today, I feel like I should be going to the gym and it will bother me. If I go to the gym, I won't rest till next Sunday and that's just too long. Going to the gym is just part of my morning routine now and it feels strange not to go. Like I forgot to do something. But I need to rest once in a while. Even Tony, who goes to the gym twice a day everyday has started to take a rest day.

And Sunday should be my rest day always because it's my heavy macro day and on rest days, for reasons I can't explain, I am hungriest. Go figure. I still have 8 workouts scheduled for this week so I think I just suck it up, go get groceries and meal prep my ass off. With my macros adjusted it's more important than ever that I eat as much whole food as possible. That way I get more. Today I get all the carbs. A Harvey's grilled chicken wrap is in my future...

Until next week...

Sunday, November 06, 2016

Reflection, Halloween and good food...

My week (October 30 - November 5) in pictures from Instagram,,,


October 30th...


The best thing about heavy macro days? Coffee. I stopped drinking coffee when I started taking pre-workout about a month ago. The caffeine in that made my craving for coffee go away. Today is my rest day but I feel guilty resting because I dropped a workout day on Friday due to illness. So I did 7 instead of 8 workouts this past week. I'm going to take my rest day regardless because I'm still not feeling 100% and fuelling up and giving my aching muscles a break will do me good. It all starts again tomorrow!

My body has definitely changed over the past couple of months. I'm getting stronger and leaner. With my body changes comes looser skin. I get emails via my blog all the time from those just beginning their journey about how scared they are of loose skin. I embrace my loose skin because it means that my goal of dropping body fat is working. And if faced with the health problems morbid obesity brings with it, I'll take loose skin any day. I will get skin removal surgery once I've gotten as lean as I want. I've seen the results of some premature tummy tucks and the outcome is never good if more fat can be lost. And I need to get my weight down for opponent match-up re: boxing.

Although I've known for a couple weeks, I haven't shared till now. I didn't make the fight team for the Fight to End Cancer again this year. Disappointing yes. The end of my boxing career? No. The woman who was supposed to be matched with me backed out. The other women I could have been matched with by age were not in my weight class. I'm too heavy. And I know Jennifer and Virgil (Directors of FTEC) would never ask me to drop weight (because of my journey thus far), but they could have.

I completely understand the rules of boxing and regardless of how I look to others, I've got lots of fat to drop. Ask my macro coach! He sees my progress pics. So I need to drop some pounds by the new year so Brodie can hopefully match me for a boxing event this spring. I'm committed to moving forward and I know Shaun will be able to get me there. So let's goooooooo MacFitness...


October 30th...


Busy day today. Went to Value Village to get a costume for the boy. He's going to be a zombie so I bought a dress shirt, suit jacket and pants that would all be shredded and stained. And I can report that fake blood looks just like real blood and stains the exact same way. It's even sticky. I'm not convinced that Dollarama isn't selling vials of real blood.

The house has been decorated and the pumpkins carved. And my guard rat did not scare the squirrels away. They still made off with my pumpkin's eyeball. This one made out better than the one on my step. He's got no teeth. I roasted all the pumpkin seeds and bbq'd a shit load of chicken breast. Heavy macro days are not easy to eat through. The carb and fat is simple enough, but protein increases too. I drank the last 25g. Only left 1g of fat. That was no simple feat. All my laundry is done and I'm headed to bed. Alarm is set for 4am. I have to be home from the gym and showered before Julien even gets up. I need to make him look all ghoulish for school tomorrow. Zombie clothing is done. Make-up will be the fun part.


October 31st...


Another Halloween is in the books. Today started out super early. I was up and out the door by 430am. Would have been an awesome early morning gym start if I remembered my gym doesn't open till 5am on Monday (then closes at 11pm on Friday). So I sat in the parking lot for 15 minutes. It was all good though. I had a good workout and was back home, fed, showered and dressed by 8am. I had to get my zombie ready for school.

Then I had 2 appointments in Toronto. After finishing up with my clients, I headed home a bit early so I could eat before the trick or treaters came around. Julien went out with a friend's family and I gave out the candy. After I finished my dinner, I was left with 7g of carb. What's a girl to do? Have a roll of Rockets, that's what! My fave candy, my only Halloween treat and exactly 7g of carb! The only macros I left today was 2g of fat.

Today was one of reflection as I looked back on my relationship with the woman who had a tremendous impact on my life. I lost my birth mother 4 years ago today. I can't believe it's been that long already. She was in my life briefly, but left her memories of our shared moments in my heart. That picture is from April 2010 and was the first time we had been together since I was an infant. I think of her often and cherish the time I had with her, even though it ended much too abruptly. And I thank her. I thank her for making the decision she did for me, as hard as that was for her. My successes in life are due to the choices she made for me. She remains always in my heart.


November 1st...


An interesting comparison photo. There's only a couple pounds difference in these pics. I know exactly what I weighed in the photo on the left because I took it around the time I was on the Marilyn Denis show (April 2015) and in one of the candid shots they took of me at my home, I stepped on my bathroom scale. I'm only a couple pounds less in the photo on the right but I'm much leaner.

The left photo was before Tony and strength training. I only did cardio back then. I still do cardio, but only a fraction of how much I used to do. I showed this pic to Tony this morning and he said, "you are chubby in that before pic". Funny thing is, I thought I looked good. And I did in comparison to the 300+ pound me. But I also know the reason I've a wrinkly tummy now is because I've lost abdominal fat. Seeing these kinds of changes in my body is exciting for me. And don't tell me that weight lifting makes you bulky. False!!!!! In other news. I trapped 230 and squatted 125 this morning. Both are PR's for me.


November 4th...


It's been a while. I'm alive and kicking following a very crazy and hectic week. I can report that on Tuesday and Thursday my macros were completely fucked up. I was just in situations I wasn't expecting where I didn't have a lot of food options. That's real life for you. I did manage to stay within my caloric goal, just not my macro goals. I also managed the gym very early everyday. But the same craziness kept me from Brodie this week.

Everything has calmed down and I am back to regularly scheduled programming next week. Well, actually today. But next week I see Brodie again. I've missed him so. Do you know how much stress and anxiety is released just by punching someone?

I like the outtake on the right. I'm beginning to notice progress in my legs. My legs and back actually. I've still got a lot of work ahead of me, but when I notice changes and people in my life comment on the changes, that's motivating for me. And I still can't believe I've the guts to wear leggings in public without a long sweater or shirt. I wouldn't have done that a couple years ago even though I was roughly the same weight I am now. Off to indulge in some retail therapy. Only downside is it's food. So nothing really fun. But food is life. Happy Friday everyone.


November 5th...


I did not want to go to the gym this morning. But you know what the best workouts are? The ones we think we don't want to do. Turns out that after I got myself out of the house, I ended up having an awesome training session. I always say, getting out the door is the biggest challenge. That is 100% true. And I got to eat all the food when I got home. Something to look forward to is the food after working hard.

Exciting times ahead. I'm going to drop 10 pounds of fat by the New Year. Coach said it was doable, so we're gonna do it. All in the name of boxing of course. I get asked often how I stay motivated to keep the weight off. To be completely honest, this is the most difficult component of weight loss. But I keep making goals for myself and that keeps me focused and driven.

My first fitness goal was set in March 2012. I weighed 230 pounds and I wanted to be able to run 5k. Once I met that goal, my distance got further and my times got shorter. Now here I am 4.5 years later setting new goals. Because I have to. My options are few. Either I keep moving forward, or I start going backwards. And it gets harder. You have to keep pushing yourself or your body gets used to what it knows. And going backwards is not an option for me. I've invested way too much into my health. I refuse to regain. Y'all know how frugal I am. No way am I wasting away my investment! Happy Saturday. Make good choices today!!!


November 5th...


Today was a wonderful eating day. When I got back from the gym I was famished. So I ate a cup of egg whites, an avocado (which was perfectly ripe and made me so incredibly happy), red cabbage and a grilled chicken breast (11c/32f/57p). I had a late breakfast so I called it brunch.

I did get an afternoon snack though. I saw someone post it on the private MacFitness Facebook page. It's a rice cake with a tablespoon of natural peanut butter, banana slices and 15g of chocolate chips (25c/11f/5p). What a delicious indulgence. I just may have to do that again tomorrow.

And dinner was spaghetti squash with an Alfredo sauce made from a roux that I stirred up with olive oil, a tbsp of flour and 1%milk. I added mushrooms, grape tomatoes and grilled chicken. I sprinkled a tbsp of parmesan cheese on top (35c/21f/88p). It was sooooo good. I'm a bit obsessed with spaghetti squash right now. Love it. And of course I drank all the water with lemon like I do everyday.

I'm thinking of wine, but don't think I'll indulge tomorrow. It is my heavy macro day but I feel like having something bready. Probably a wrap from Harvey's. It's time to fall back folks. Gym time in the am and I've no excuses not to be there when it opens seeing that I get an extra hour of sleep.

Until next week...