Goals, Ghouls & Gossip

I've been up to a lot since my last post {which looking back I realize was in May *cringe*}.  So I guess it's only fair that I update all my non-existent readers on my goings on. 

Goals:
Back in January I did a post of some fitness goals, I'm gonna be honest here and say they fell pretty flat for a while and I have no one to blame but myself.  I'm owning up to my failure.  However, I renewed my faith in myself and reassessed my goals when I went Paleo back in late April and amped up my exercise.  Here's a recap of where I was at and where I am now:

January 24th, 2012   ---> April 2012   ---> October 2012 

Starting Weight: 225    ------>    Weight: 230       ----->       Weight: 190 

Goal Weight: 145         ------>  Goal Weight 160  ------>    Goal Weight 160

{40 pounds down, 30 to go.  Once I reach the 160 mark I will reassess again to see if I feel I need to return to the 145 goal or not}

Even though I initially went Paleo because of my wonky blood sugar problems, it's really been a catalyst in my weight loss and overall health.  I honestly can't remember the last time I felt this good mentally and physically.  And I have to say, it's awesome.

Ghouls:
On a completely different note: the weather has steadily moved into Fall! Which means my favourite time of year has arrived!! Some people wait around for their birthday or Christmas to arrive but me, I wait for October.  The leaves are changing, the air is crisp and cool and pumpkin everything is on the menu.  Not to mention three events that I wait with baited breath for: Halloween of course is one of them and along with it comes The Zombie Walk and The Toronto After Dark Film Festival {TADF}.

The zombie walk has come and gone already {last weekend in fact} but it was a glorious day of blood, brains and shambling corpses.  I decided to pull out an old, but much loved, costume from a few years back. Say hello to Zombie Sailor Moon, complete with a black cat trick or treat bag made to look like Luna.

 {Chasing humans by moonlight...eating brains by daylight...giving everyone a real fright....she is Zombie Sailor Moon}

It never ceases to amaze me just how many people get a kick out of dressing up as a zombie and staggering around downtown Toronto yelling out for "Braaaaaaaains".  If you've never made it out to the Toronto Zombie Walk, I recommend it strongly, it's a lot of fun.

Along the same lines and happening around the zombie walk is The After Dark Film Festival. It's 9 nights of horror, sci-fi, action & cult movies that screen at the Bloor Cinema.  I consider this week a special treat that I give to myself every year.  I splurge on an all access pass which gets me in to every screening they have {if I so choose to go to all of them} and gets me in before the standard ticket holders.  I like to spend most of this week flying solo, although I do welcome the company of my friends for the odd movie.  There is something special about taking time to myself to watch gore and monsters fly across a movie screen.  I take myself on the best dates.      

Gossip:

In my time away from the blog I have also started back at school part time.  I spend my Saturday mornings in chef whites at George Brown College cooking up a storm.  Thus far I have completed Culinary Arts 1 and am currently in the middle of Culinary Arts 2.  I am working towards earning a Culinary Arts Certificate which I hope to use to get into food styling.  I still have one more prerequisite to take {Knife Skills} and 6 electives which run the gambit from canning to butcherie, bbq to Italian Cuisine and many more.  On top of that there are probably at least a dozen other cooking/baking courses that I want to take.  My excitement knows no bounds.

 {Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork Chops on a Bed of Greens and Sauteed Apples}

I have also found myself {partially thanks to a social night out with a few too many drinks} with the daunting task of making cupcakes for a wedding.  I am both eager and nervous for this, though I know deep down that I can make it work.  It's something that is completely in the realm of things I am capable of doing but enough out of my comfort zone to be challenging.  I hope for my sake, and the couples, that my little cakes turn out well.  I will be sure to take pictures of this adventure.

I think, aside from my list of clutsy minor injuries I always seem to accumulate, that about sums up some of the main things that have been going on.  This post got a bit longer than I had planned, but after such a long break I guess it's to be expected.  I will endeavor to be a tad more consistent in the future.  I actually seem to be a much better blogger once the weather turns crappy and I spend more time indoors.  Perhaps, as a rule, just expect me to go on hiatus whenever Summer roles around.  That might not make me an ideal blogger, but it sure helps my baseball swing.

G. 

 

  

The Gradual Evolution Of My "Diet"

 I have become a cavegirl!!! 

 Well more specifically I have adopted the Paleo way of eating, which is to say I've gone waaaaay back to our roots. The Paleo "Diet" {I don't really like the term diet because, for me, this is more an adapted life change and not a fad or crash diet solely based on loosing weight as fast as possible.  It's more about living a healthy lifestyle.  But I digress.} is all about eating more like the cave men used to eat. Lots of veggies, lean meat, seeds, nuts and healthy fat and cutting out dairy, grains, processed foods/sugars, legumes and starches. For a more in depth description you can check out this site: http://paleodietlifestyle.com/ which will describe exactly what it is way better than I could.

So how exactly did I end up here? For me it seemed like a natural progression.  After all of my weight gain due to injury I found myself lacking energy and generally feeling like crap all the time.  In addition my blood sugar began to jump all over the place.  I've always had to be careful to make sure my sugar levels didn't drop or I would feel really sick, but it was at the point where I wasn't even hungry but they were acting like I hadn't eaten in hours.  I started to re-evaluate my diet and lifestyle and try to figure out what I could do to even out my blood sugar, lose some weight and start feeling healthy again. I started by making more health conscious choices and getting more exercise in.  A few months ago I decided to cut gluten/wheat out of my diet, and in the process I read the book Wheat Belly.  It opened my eyes to the kind of food I had been consuming and I decided to give the diet a try.  I cut out a lot of crap from my diet and went through full wheat withdrawal as I purged it from my system.  I found that I was having a hard time motivating myself and that I didn't love all of recipes in the book.  But I was starting to feel better.

I am a notorious recipe searcher, I can spend hours combing the internet/books/magazines/etc for new ideas on things to cook.  I knew the answer to my motivation problem lay in the blogosphere and started looking for sites that had recipes that were "wheat belly" friendly.  I found a lot of gluten free/celiac friendly blogs at first {they are close but not quite what I needed. They still contained components that I no longer ate}, then I began to see sites talking about the Paleo Diet.  It was really similar to the diet I was already on, but seemed a bit more cohesive.  There were some differences that made more sense and it made me excited about the food I was eating.  The more recipes I scrolled through, the more I read about what exactly this eating habit entailed and how I could adapt to the lifestyle.  I thought to myself, well you're almost there anyways mine as well give it shot.

I realize that a lot of people think I'm crazy.  There is now a long list of food I can't eat and the majority of it used to be what I consumed most. I am now one of those difficult to go for dinner with people too, most of the menu items are not on my list of 'can haves'.  In fact my first restaurant experience since my switch was last week and resulted in me being very sick for a couple days.  The initial move to this diet is not easy, you have to re-adjust what your body thinks it's craving and really dedicate yourself to it 100%.  There is A LOT of temptation, but so far the results I am starting to see are nothing but positive. I have not had a blood sugar drop in weeks, I have dropped about 10 pounds, I am finally at the point where I don't miss bread, my energy levels are up and food is soooo good! When I eat I am full but not bloated/over stuffed, just perfectly satisfied and every day I miss my old diet less and less.  I am still new at this, learning the ropes so to speak, but it's not going to stop me from making delicious meals and yummy {paleo friendly} baked goods.  For me this is a whole new way of thinking and living, and so far I'm loving it.


G.

 
P.S. Stay tuned for updates on this AND my adventures in culinary class.

Going Gaga Over - Current Obsessions

1) Hair Feathers. I was really on the fence about these at first, but I bought some cheap ones to try out and I loved them. Even though they only really work when my hair is straight, they do add a little extra something to a fun outfit.

2) Sunshine. To be fair I am always obsessed with sunshine. However I find my love for it is the greatest as Spring begins and the cold days of Winter are left behind. My maxi dresses get dusted off and I can go back to my long walks through the city on a sunny day.

3) Cover FX Mint Tint in Coral Chabils. This is my new go to lip colour! I own soooooo many different types of lip stuff (glosses, tints, sticks, stains) and I am constantly finding new ones that I love. But this one I LOVE love. Just a hint of colour with a burst of pepperminty freshness, it's anti-aging and super moisturizing. All my other glosses I have to put a layer of Blistex under to make sure my lips don't get chapped. Not with this one. I will be for sure buying this in many colours.

4) Gluten Free Cooking. A couple weeks ago I made the decision to cut all wheat/gluten out of my diet as part of a healthier lifestyle choice. So far it's been great and I've been feeling really good. I'll check back in with this in a couple months to see how much of a difference it's made.

5) Head Scarves. My collection of scarves is steadily growing! They are really cute accessories that can make an outfit pop and they do a really good job of disguising bad/lazy hair days. I generally wear them with straight bangs, some stray hair to frame my face and a big bun.

G.

What's Going On In My Kitchen

Cooking is one of my most favourite hobbies. There is something very soothing about chopping veggies or measuring out ingredients for delicious baked goods. Nine times out of 10, if I am showing up at someones house for dinner, I am bringing dessert. I really want to post more pictures of the food I am making both in recipe posts and more general quick photo updates. Right now I am finding that my current camera and lack of proper light is a bit restrictive when it comes to picture quality. So bare with me as I experiment. This is some of what I've been making lately.

For a Superbowl dinner I was invited to I whipped up this batch of Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with a Vanilla Cream Cheese Icing. Instant hit.

{These delicious morsels are rich in flavour but light and airy from the Guinness used in them.}

In case you haven't noticed: I make a lot of desserts! I use to make them randomly whenever the urge came upon me, but now I try to restrict them to occasions when there will be many people to eat them. It's much better for my waistline that way. Along that same thought, I've also been trying to work on keeping healthier snack options around. Things like pre-cut veggies, frozen chocolate covered banana bites and these Apple Crisp "Cookies".

{Grated apples, sugar, cinnamon, butter. Baked low and slow}

Have I ever mentioned how much I enjoy Jamie Oliver recipes? Especially the more rustic ones found in his Jamie At Home cookbook. Over the weekend I decided to try out his Steak & Guinness Pie. You cook the stew like filling for a couple hours before you let it cool and transfer it to another dish where you cover it with puff pastry and bake until golden. This dish is good! I mean really, really lick-the-bowl tasty.

{Seriously you gotta try this! The picture does NOT do it justice}

Carnitas! They are at the top of my 'food I love' list. I got a big hunk of pork shoulder on sale not too long ago, and decided to cook it for hours until I had a big vat of mouth watering shredded pork. Tossed it on some corn tortillas with homemade guacamole and shredded cabbage. Perfect.

{Not very many things can beat a good carnita. Just sayin'}

Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast with Blueberry Sauce. The title kinda says it all. This didn't actually get made in MY kitchen...but I did make it. It was part of a brunch me and some friends had a while ago. Just looking at this picture make me salivate (YUM!).

{Make french toast with Challah or another type of egg bread. It can't be beat!}

Now that I've managed to make myself hungry all over again, it's time for a snack! And just remember: Stressed backwards spells Desserts! Bon appétit!



G.

Fitness Goals - The Beginning

In an attempt to cut back on my expenses I recently cancelled my gym membership. I love the facility and people there, but the early closing hours and my procrastination keeps me from going enough to justify paying for it. To make up for this I am now making a plan for home fitness using my kinect.

Basically I am going to use the dance central game and a personal training game (mixed with better nutrition and whatever sports I sign up for) to see how fit I can get. I believe it will be an interesting experiment regardless of the results. Hopefully by putting my plan and progress up here it will help me be a little more accountable for the promises I make to myself. And to up the anti a little bit more I am going to do what most girls try to avoid: I am posting my actual weight on the internet.

January 24th, 2012
Starting Weight: 225
Goal Weight: 145

Daily Accomplishment Goals:

• 6-8 Glasses of water per day
• Portion Control
• Heathier Snacks
  
• 30 Minutes of Cardio per day
• 3-4 full workouts per week
• Improve Posture

More updates to come! Wish me luck!!

G.

Texting..Texting...1,2,G...

Last Sunday I left my cellphone at my parents house. When I realized this, first I thought "crap that sucks". Then, when I talked to my Mum and she informed me I'd have to wait a few days before I could get it back, I moved on to "That's going to be really inconvenient". My inner self was ready to move into full on panic mode. But I figured it's only a couple days no big deal if my main source of communication is well incommunicado. I can handle this.

Naturally I went straight to Facebook to update all the people, that clearly pay attention to my every move, that I would be without a cell for a couple days and the only way to reach me would be online. Sunday became Monday and Monday stretched out until Tuesday arrived. I think I spent most of Tuesday thinking about how I would be getting my phone back. Then it was delayed to Thursday. The rest of my Tuesday inner dialogue went something like: "THURSDAY? 2 MORE DAYS WITHOUT MY PHONE!?!?! HOW AM I GOING TO DEAL WITH THIS? No, no calm down you've gone 2 days what's two days more? Get a hold of yourself. You're right, I don't need my phone I'm not ruled by it. OMG WHAT IF I MISS A TEXT OR PHONE CALL!?!? No big deal it's fine" *twitch*.

On Wednesday night, on my way home from volleyball, I had managed to pull myself out of my cellphone induced craziness. That is until I arrived home to the front door of my building being locked and me not having my key to get in. I couldn't call my boyfriend who was upstairs or my neighbor. Even if I could find a pay phone I didn't have change or know their numbers. I did manage to connect to some sketchy wi-fi with my iPod and email my boyfriend in hopes of him reading it. Then I just stood under my window and shouted his name until he finally heard me. Okay that sucked, good thing I'm getting my phone back tomorrow.

Thursday...well hello snow, so nice to see that you are showing up just enough for my Mum to push the delivery date back to Saturday. Wait..Saturday?!?!?! FML.

So now it's Friday and I am ranting (whining?) on my blog about not having my cell for five measly days. Which brings me to ask: When did my cellphone become my life line? I know that at some point carrying around quarters to make a call was normal and I had all the numbers I needed memorized. Now panic sets in if I leave my phone at home for a day. When exactly did I become so dependent on this little piece of technology? I remember for years I only ever turned my phone on to make a quick call then turned it off again (I also remember how it infuriated my family and friends that they couldn't get a hold of me easily because of this). I used to refuse to text message people because of how impersonal it felt. Now I probably text more then I call. My phone feels like an extra appendage, and I don't even have a some super fancy model like an iPhone or Blackberry. This little blue thing with buttons is controlling my life! I'm so tempted to just toss it away and be rid of the damn thing.

What a good idea, I could be phoneless! Hell I could delete my Facebook profile, say goodbye to Twitter, stop pinning things on Pinterest and quit blogging about crap that goes on in my head. I could break away from these invisible chains that hold me down. Maybe I'll just walk away from my computer...from society! I could run away to be a hermit in the woods where I would live off the land and only accept mailed letters as forms of communication! Yes!! Why haven't I thought of this before? I could do this, it would be wonderful and oh so freeing...I'd answer to no one but myself!!! But then again...those LOL Cats are pretty cute. Guess I'll just wait until Saturday instead.


G.

Going Gaga Over - Current Obsessions

My never ending list rages on!

1) Tarte LipSurgence Natural Lip Stain. I have a few of these but my favourite is Enchanted. It's a lovely berry colour that goes with just about anything. These lip stains are easy to carry, easy to apply, moisturizing and full of peppermint-y goodness.

2) The Kinect for Xbox 360. This kicks some major butt. Lots of fun games like Adventures and Dance Central will have you leaping and turning around in no time. I like that I don't have to hold a controller and there is no half ass-ing it, you get some good workouts.

3) Pinterest. Seriously if you haven't checked out Pinterest yet do it! I love LOVE it.

4) I'm totally wanting a new camera so I can have some more exciting pictures to use on the blog. Right now I'm struggling with the quality I'm getting from my little point and shoot. I don't want to go too over the top or fancy though. Currently looking at the Nikon Coolpix p500 12.1mp digital

5) Red Hair! I went through a long stretch of dying my hair all sorts of variations of red and black. I eventually switched to dark brown then grew out all the colour damage. It's probably been over a year since I last dyed my hair and even though I appreciate my natural hair colour, I am feeling the itch to dye it again. Right now I am pouring over every different shade of red trying to decide a colour. All I know is I want it to look like a natural red, I will be tinting my brows to match and it will be done at a salon.

Taaa for now!


G.

Back To The Grind

There is nothing like the deep internal sigh that happens when you know your vacation is over. It's saying farewell to sleeping in, relaxing and the guilt free over eating that only the holiday season can give you.

Even though my time off work this year was short, it was one of the nicest and most relaxing weeks I've had in a long time. Once the whirlwind of Christmas passed, I got to spend some much needed time at home with my fella and accomplished a lot of household projects that had been sitting on my to-do list for months. For the most part, aside from groceries and bang trims, I basically didn't leave our apartment. We even decided to spend New Years at home drinking champagne, eating pizza and watching movies. But now it's back to life back to reality. C'est la vie.

Happy New Years everyone!

.