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Make Room For It

Clutter is so detrimental.  In your closets on your counters but most especially in your head.  Outside clutter can be discarded with a little time and elbow grease but removing mental clutter is a whole other ball game. I'm going to speak about fitness and healthy eating but this can be applied to anything that has you stuck. I've fretted for months about losing my exercise routine.  A new career move meant a new schedule in direct conflict with my gym time.  It had been my gym time for as many years as I can remember and when I lost it (even though I love my job) I lost a little part of myself. My mind was over-active with new approaches to exercise but honestly they were mostly excuses about why I didn't really need to, mixed with a touch of self loathing. This thing that had been so important for my physical and mental well-being was getting further away...until a moment of clarity. Let me ask, have you tried meditating?  Going quiet, letting thoughts
Recent posts

Can FEAR Be A Good Thing?

As I sit down to compose an entry for this week I find myself at a loss for words.  My mind is going a mile a minute.  What will they want to read about?  I can't talk about that, can I?  Does anybody really care?  So I sit.  Fingers tapping the counter top until the answer mercifully reveals itself and it couldn't be more simple.  JUST WRITE! This blog is for me.  It's not because I'm special, I'm just me.  Raw, open and honest.  That's the best me and it's the me I want to share. Most of us are guilty of spending too much time 'representing' an image.  Caring just a tad too much about what 'they' have to say about the way we live.   Fear of judgment can be crippling.  You know it, I know it. I spent nearly 15 years living one life but dreaming of another.  Fears, all kinds of them, held me back.  Fear of financial hardship, fear of failure, fear of hurting people, fear of being talked about, fear of being the bad guy.  I gave

New Life, New Job, Same Goals

Hi Friends! It's been a while.  I lost my blogging mo-jo a few years back just before everything in my life changed.  I've been through a time of extreme reflection, growth and change.  I left my marriage in 2017, started an amazing new job at Kelowna's NEW 103.1 Beach Radio in the spring of 2018 and somewhere in there found the love of my life. This period of adjustment has been at it's core, a shift to happiness.   Ensuring my daughters are happy and secure in the new arrangement has been of paramount importance.   This transition has been so worth while but as with any new journey some of the old, familiar things fall by the wayside.   If you follow me on social media or if you read this blog when it was active (2011-2014), you know that healthy eating and exercise have always been part of my daily life. Through my 20's and 30's, I was up and out of bed at the crack of dawn running, riding or doing some form of exercise.  I'm still up

Body BOGO

Hello Friends!  We all love a good sale. That feeling of getting more value for less dollars. In that spirit, I have to share with you my most recent fitness obsession that really is a Buy One Get One scenario.  I am the first to admit I'm not really faithful to any one form of fitness exclusively for more than a few months. I get bored...                   Me being bored! ...and I don't apologize for that. Fitness is part of my daily life and if it's not fun then I can't be bothered. So, after a pretty regular gym routine for the past few years in prep for bodybuilding competitions, I was ready for something entirely different.  That's when Kelowna HIT opened it's doors.  HIT is a high intensity, interval, kick-boxing workout that is unlike anything I've ever done. It's done in a circuit style, two minutes at 12 different stations, alternating between upper body, lower body and abs. It in no way resembles other women's only, circuit style workouts,

LASER UPDATE

Hello Friends. Just checking in after what's been a long break from the blog!  I wanted to update you as I continue my laser treatments at Advantage Body Clinic. A bit of history ~ I have stretch marks from two pregnancies.  I had a tummy tuck six years ago to get rid of sagging skin and repair a separated abdominal muscle.  The surgery was wonderful, no more sagging skin, but it didn't get rid of the stretch marks. For the last half year (or so) I've been undergoing treatments at Advantage.  Using 'Fractional Laser' technology, Kathryn and Karen are adamant I will be stretch mark free when this process is complete.  I have had six treatments, I have noticed much improvement in the appearance of my stretch marks, but they aren't gone.  It seems my surgery, which stretched the skin, impacts the laser treatments.  It doesn't mean it won't work, it will just take longer. Again, one of the great perks of these treatments, which promote collagen prod

Quest Bar Cookies!

Hello Friends, Many of you may know that I am a fan of Quest Bars.   Sugar free, gluten free, low carb.  Here's the link for all the nutrional info on them.  www.questproteinbar.com Anyway, I was super excited about the new cookie dough flavour that's been released, but alas, it's not available in Canada....I wanted to try it because my friendly neighbourhood FUEL Supplements store owner, Aaron, told me he heard you could bake them up like little cookies. Well, that got me to thinking.  Why would it be limited to the cookie dough variety, why not peanut butter or apple pie.  With just a few available moments this morning I tried it...so great.  Instead of noshing into a bar, I nibbled on 10 tiny cookies...crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. Here's how I did it. I chose to use the Peanut Butter Flavour.  I cut the bar into squares and placed on a tinfoil covered baking sheet, misted with PAM. Into a 325 degree oven for about

Sandwich Time!

Hello Friends, I'm just back from a glorious Mexican All-Inclusive Vacation.  When I hear the words 'all-inclusive' two things come to mind...food and booze!  Combine those with a bikini and my anxiety goes into over-drive. Those of you who follow my blog, know about my food and body issues.  A year (2012) of competing in figure competitions and the extremely strict diet that comes with them have both helped and hobbled me when it comes to accepting how I look.  I know how I look 20 pounds lighter...and quite frankly I liked it.  However, I also know that a continuous diet of fish, yams and spinach does not a life make.  So I am working continuously to balance it all out. My downfall on this trip were the delightful little sandwiches that arrived at our pool every day at 11:30.  Some days they were shiny little buns stuffed with tuna salad, other days coissants with ham and cucumber.  There were clubhouse style (with white bread of course) and always lots of