Come to the Dark Side ..... We have Cupcakes

Resist! Resist!  DON'T come to the dark side.  It isn't a pretty site as we all know.

One of my biggest hobbies / side businesses / relaxation techniques is baking and cake decorating.  I've been doing it since I was little and have become, to toot my own horn, pretty darn good at it!  So when a friend of mine included the Martha Stewart Cupcake book in a care package, a mutual friend and I decided to make a couple of different cupcakes out of the book to send back to her when my husband leaves for Edmonton on Sunday morning.

Cupcakes, cupcake batter, cupcake icing are the devil.  We made a coconut cupcake and a salted caramel chocolate cupcake.  OMG, salted caramel with chocolate cake ~ I had to only let myself have a tiny bite or I would have sat down and eaten it all.  It was a fun evening actually making it all.  I also proved how much willpower I can have when I give myself credit.  Not only did I split one of the coconut cupcakes with both my friend and husband, I also did not have a chocolate caramel one.

My trick/method/whatever you want to call it?  My husband's healthy balanced meal beforehand of a salad with avocado, mango, and grilled chicken and a small side of whole wheat pasta and my homemade turkey meatballs.  After that dinner, I was perfectly satiated and didn't have any of the sugar cravings while baking.  I must remember to eat a balanced meal before baking in the future to help me resist licking the spoon and "taste testing" the finished product.  Who would have thunk it?  lol... most likely everyone other than me!!

Other than that, I did another shopping trip to the States with my husband yesterday morning / afternoon.  He needed jeans, t-shirts, and shorts.  I finally got him into some nice fitting jeans.  He likes his jeans big, baggy, saggy, and light blue ~ they look horrible on him!  So this trip was all about getting proper fitting jeans.  He is an odd size with a skinny waist and long legs, so out of all the stores at the outlet mall, only the True Religion, Lucky, and Levi's fit him properly.  He didn't want to spend over $150 on a single pair of jeans since he is working on bulking up his leg muscles and might size out of them, but splurged on 2 pairs of Lucky Jeans for $100 instead.  They make his ass look fantastic!  My husband may be stick thin, but he has a booty.

My good news from the shopping trip was that I tried on a pair of size 18 jeans at The Gap...and.... they fit!!!  Well, fit as in looked good from the belly button down.  However, I'm weird and different in the fact I like my jeans higher waisted.  I have a very long torso, so I can wear my jean above my belly button without looking like they are touching my boobs (in fact, if I don't, most normal length t-shirts look like mid-riff shirts on me!)  Why am I weird?  Because I like my jeans to hold in my stomach instead of having said stomach hang out above my jeans.  I prefer a smooth silhouette when I wear my shirts instead of rolls.  I just don't have the confidence to rock my rolls like so many girls.  So I didn't buy my Gap Jeans That Fit, but instead will wait until my stomach no longer sticks out further than my boobs before rocking that look!!

Oh.. and in healthier fitness news, I went to my third spin class last night as well! Wohoo!  I burned almost 30% more calories than previous classes.  I really didn't want to go, I was tired from the States trip, I was tired thinking about making the cupcakes afterwards and my legs were bothering me from the Wednesday morning workout and which then made them hurt even more with all the walking and standing while shopping.  But I dragged my sorry butt to the class and actually enjoyed it!  It gave me energy and put me in a good mood to come home to make and resist the cupcakes!  One more class to go...

In even healthier fitness news, my husband and I decided to buy bikes for each other as our one year anniversary gift.  We went to a bike shop when we were across the border yesterday to see which we liked and will be checking out the Vancouver Police bike auction on Saturday morning to see if we can get a good deal.

The downside of this?  The auction preview is this afternoon from 12-6.  For me to make it there and still work my full 8 hours, I had to skip morning bootcamp so I can leave work at 3:30.  With our existing plans to meet with friends and family in the evening, it doesn't look like I'll get a workout in.  As well, the auction is Saturday morning, which means I'll once again miss my circuit class on Saturday morning.  I'm praying that the day leaves me an hour to get my own cardio session in!  Even better for me would be to get a great bike at a great price and go riding on Saturday!

It is always a challenge to get workouts in when your schedule is in flux.  But to keep the healthy habits up, you make it work.  I'm not going to sacrifice sleep, but am not going to make hobbies, like TV or reading, more of a priority.  Balance is key.

So are you sick of my long winded post?  Apparently I had a busy Thursday!


I now have a question for you:
How do you balance exercise and healthy eating when your schedule gets out of whack?


* Since I gave you Tuesday's calorie round-up on Wednesday, here is Wednesday's and Thursday's.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012 (oh so close!!!):

Totals	1,834	213	54	94	29	1,667
Your Daily Goal	1,785	245	59	66	20	2,500
Remaining	-49	32	5	-28	-9	833
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Fiber	Sodium
	*You've earned 425 extra calories from exercise today

Thursday, May 3, 2012 (barely squeaking by!):

Totals	1,577	209	44	82	23	1,730
Your Daily Goal	1,637	225	54	61	19	2,500
Remaining	60	16	10	-21	-4	770
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Fiber	Sodium
	*You've earned 277 extra calories from exercise today

Oops, I did it again....

That would be not get out of bed in time to do the 7 am bootcamp.  *sigh*  I sometimes think that if the classes weren't free, even if there was just a $5 charge, I'd be more likely to go!

 Now just to make me (and hopefully others) smile:

photo credit

That poor dog... so scary, yet so so funny.  My husband refuses to let me do anything fun to our white dog's hair!  We're afraid to cut it since the part of this tail fur he burned off in a campfire hasn't grown back (No, we did not torture I dog.  He backed into a campfire while trying to jump into a chair ~ he has a long tail and part of the fire caught a flame - he wasn't hurt, more concerned over why everyone was yelling at him!)

And in other disappointing news, my tenants just gave notice for the end of May.  This gives me 5 weeks to sell my condo or else end up further in debt.  We only rented it out and moved since we couldn't afford to keep living there after being hit with a huge leaky condo levy.  They introduced new bylaws last year where if your tenant moves out, you move back to the bottom of the rental wait list.  In our strata we are only allowed 7 rental units at a time and those spots are all taken and I know there are at least 4 - 5 people on the wait list.  So now I have to sell.  It is about a year before I was planning to do it and throws everything into a loop.  Change means stress to me.  Stress means my body goes into conservation mode and makes it nearly impossible for me to lose weight.  This means I'm going to have to be extra vigilant in my workouts and eating.  Man, I'm nauseous just thinking about it; heart is racing, mind is racing, beginning to sweat ~ yup the stress has started. 

That means that this:

wed afternoon individual cardio session

isn't going to cut it anymore.

I've never been so happy in my life that my husband is coming home.  I need that support right now.  Heck, we have 2 condos to sell so I might as well get used to it!

Well, on the positive side, it will accomplish one more item on my 101 things to do list.

Now... where was I?

Oh... yeah, the not waking up in the morning.  I think I'm going to leave that challenge for another day. 

My weekend in Pictures

First attempt at a wonder mould cake. I under baked it and had to restart ~ and avoid the temptation to eat it all.  I succumbed to eating just the part in the bowl.

Really tough Saturday morning circuit class - 647 calories is almost a new record.  I died!

First hot car sighting of the day - the gym I do Saturday circuit at is upstairs and a guy rents the downstairs to store 2 very nice sports cars

A healthy and successful shopping trip to Costco - veggies, strawberries, egg whites and 4 new perennials!

Hot car sighting #2 - I think all the sun Saturday morning brought them all out.  I'm not complaining!

And then after shopping - a nice nap on the couch.  This is how my dog sleeps - hiding his head under the coffee table.  I swear he thinks that we can't see him this way.

Saturday evening was spent making a birthday cake for a girl's 3rd birthday.  The second attempt at the wonder mould cake worked much much better and left me with no scraps to eat - wohoo!

Sunday morning I was up early posting wedding items and misc items on craigslist.  This is part to help accomplish 2 items on my 101 things to do in 1001 days.

Lots and lots of laundry today - these are the last 2 loads.  Aren't you just jealous of my hot pink carpet? lol.

To Be Accomplished Still:

Picking all the wonderful dandelions that have popped up in the last 2 weeks.  I also want to plant the new perennials I picked up yesterday

Gotta get my veggies in!

Chicken defrosting - I will be batch cooking the chicken and broccoli tonight so I have healthy lunches and dinners for the weeks

Canucks Game at 5!  Go Canucks Go!

Overall, fairly healthy, fairly active, and getting much accomplished!

Workout number 5 of the week

For the second spin class....

I survived!

201 calories burned

I'm taking a 30 minute beginner spin class at a local recreation centre about 15 minutes from my house.  4 half hour classes for $12, taxes in.  I can't go wrong.

I figured after my hour long class, that maybe, to prevent my bum from revolting on me, I should ease into this whole spin thing.

I know when people look at me they assume that I never work out, must be in horrible shape etc.  Given that this spin class is at the back of a large, very busy, weight and cardio area, I felt very awkward and unwelcome walking through there to find the spin area.  The class is not separated at all from the rest of the workout area, the benches were about 6 ft from my bike ~ so not knowing this I worse a tight tank top.  BIG mistake.  I felt so self-conscious as we were sprinting because my second wave arm flab was just a-moving.  I caught a glance of myself in the mirror and immediately thought, T-SHIRT next time, big baggy t-shirt.  *sigh*  All these hot young guys do not need to see my arm flab or belly roll.  (hmm... wasn't I just talking about not caring about what people thought last time... apparently I do care)

Anyways, back to the spin class.

There were 8 of us in total.  Four of them were all younger (mid-20s) girls who all knew each other.  One single middle aged lady and then a mother daughter pair.  All were much thinner than I was, other than the mom.  Boy, did I ever feel sorry for the mom.  She reminds me a lot of my mom, shorter, large busted and carrying all her weight around the middle; she was the only person in that gym bigger than me.  About 10 minutes in, the instructor showed us jumps (standing up then sitting down again).  On the last jump, that poor woman slipped, missed her seat and ended up stuck in an incredibly awkward position. Her feet were stuck in the pedals and her knees were on the ground.  Her daughter and the instructor rushed to her side to try to help her up.  Since I was on the bike beside her, I too got up, but there wasn't much I could do.  Her feet were eventually unstuck and the instructor and daughter lifted her up.  She was a trouper.  She got right back on and kept going (however not doing the standing up when we were doing hills) for the rest of the 30 minutes class.  I was so glad that no one stood around and stared at her and I felt nothing but compassion for her.  She was there, she was trying and I really hope they come back for the second class.

I think I will continue with the spin.  I need to definitely work harder on pushing myself.  My average heart rate was only 112bpm.  In boot camps and circuits it ranges anywhere from 130-160bpm.  The class did show me that I do need someone on me to push me in order to get the calorie burn I want when I'm feeling unmotivated.  However, 200 is 200 and it got me moving!  So far, I'm doing well, working out or doing something very active 6 times a week.   I just need to learn to push myself.

Tomorrow morning is our 7 am boot camp class.  Depending on who the trainer is, I'm going to ask them to kill me.  I need my ass kicked after a week of lacklustre workouts on my part.

So I've got the workout thing under control.

Food... *sigh*  How about we don't talk about the 1/2 box girl guide cookies I ate on Monday?  Or the 1/2 bag of mini peanut butter cups I ate till I felt ill yesterday?  My curse is having no healthy snack food in the house and boredom.  I started eating stale pretzels when I got home since I knew I needed something.  I should start my knitting again to keep my hands busy, but I can't motivate myself to go searching for all my needles and cast something on.  I desperately need to go grocery shopping and organise my crafts so I'm not sitting around home doing nothing.

I have a children's birthday cake to do this weekend, so I know I'm going to indulge in a icing and cake batter, so I really shouldn't make cookie dough tonight or eat any of the chocolate in this place.  I don't even have milk to have a bowl of cereal.  I think peanut butter on crackers is what it will be.  I REALLY want to make myself some cookie dough but I am going to be good and resist. I want that number on the scale to be down at least 1 lb on Monday morning.

So to everyone out there: stay strong on your food and don't be afraid to try new workouts; if you fall, get back up!