Casey Gets Fit: Week 5

Current Weight: 161.2 (down 3.8 overall!)
BMI: 25.2

I was so shocked to see 161 on the scale Sunday morning (I always weigh myself Sunday morning for consistency). That means I lost over 2 lbs since my last weigh in. I'm not sure if it is a fluke fluctuation, but I was showing in the 162s all week so I know I am down regardless. And now I am back to my pre-Mexico weight! Sigh, one week to put it on, 2 weeks to get it off. Losing weight is hard.

My eating was definitely tested this week! Up until now I have been controlling my own food by not eating out. However on Monday of this week we had a big meeting and ordered thai for lunch from a restaurant with no nutritional information. I ordered two small appetizers instead of my normal Pai Thai and I ate it for two meals (I snack a lot so I can get away with small meals!). Then on Sunday we ordered Chinese food for dinner at my Dad's so I researched "better" options and only took tiny portions of the junk food. Still added up to 1000 cals for dinner!! Thankfully I had been under my calorie count the previous day due to a good workout, so I wasn't worried about being ~200 over. Life is all about balance!

On Friday Cam came over and we made pizza for dinner!

Nothing about this pizza was healthy- I used white flour, real cheese, lots of meat etc. And it was delicious! However I calculated the calories in the whole pie and added up how many pieces I could have and I stuck to that and had veggies as a side. It helps to have someone around to take all the leftovers home!

Finally on Saturday night I headed out to dinner at Pickle Barrel with a friend. I looked up the nutritional information and picked a meal that I was comfortable with (chicken lettuce wraps! mmm). I also worked out that day so I knew I had a bit more wiggle room in the calorie count. Eating out with friends is really more about the company than the food to me- plus there are yummy options that won't cost you a day's calories if you look.

All in all, what I am trying to say here is that a diet does not mean giving up everything you love, it just means smaller portions, better choices, and sticking to a workout plan! I partook in all the deliciousness this past week and I am still down over 2 pounds! And trust me when I say I am not one of those women who loses weight easily. I know there are plateaus in my future, but I am excited now to see this consistent drop. Calculating every calorie that goes into your mouth isn't fun or easy, but I am finding it is sooo worth it!

Today's Pump You Up Song: Krewella- Alive

The Sunshine Award

I know sometimes blogger awards are silly, but it is Friday and I feel like talking about myself because I am narcissistic. Hahaha. Just kidding (maybe)! But Jennie at The Canadian Housewife nominated me for the Sunshine Award and I figured it would be fun to share some things about myself!



The Sunshine Award is given to blogger who brightens your day (aw thanks Jennie!) and you answer 10 questions that the nominator gave you, then you pass on the love by nominating 10 others and asking them 10 new questions!

Without further ado, here are the questions Jennie posed to me:

1. What is your favourite colour?
Blue! No, yell----Ohhhhhh!!!!
Haha just kidding. It is most often turquoise. Although sometimes it is pink. Other times yellow. Depends on my mood.

2. What country are you from and what country are you currently living in?
Southern Ontario, born and raised. In Canada is where I spend most of my days.

3. What is the #1 destination on your bucket list?
I'd love to spend a few months in New Zealand and Australia. My mom and stepdad did a trip like that about 7 or 8 years ago and I've been jealous ever since!

4. Favourite movie?
Basically anything Disney. Or Harry Potter. Or Lord of the Rings. But if I am watching TV, I always stop for Grease.

5. Most embarrassing moment?
Hmm...I can't really think of any. I have a terrible memory and poor listening skills so sometimes that can suck when I forget someone's name or something. I don't get embarrassed too easily- I am fairly good at laughing at myself!

6. Least favourite actor and why?
I'm not sure I have one! But I hate potty humor, so if you make fart jokes in a movie I don't like you.

7. Food that you couldn't live without?
It used to be potatoes, but I haven't had potatoes in a long time so maybe not. I guess candy? Is candy a food? Or Coke Zero.

8. What is your worst habit?
I interrupt people. It is horrible!!!

9. What time do you normally go to bed?
Usually I climb in around 10-10:30pm and read for 20 minutes. On weekends I go to about 12:00pm. I have gotten super lame in my old age.

10. Why did you start blogging?
It seemed like a fun hobby, but the community of it really reeled me in and now I can't imagine stopping!

Now for who I nominate...that is hard because I kind of love everyone. But I will pass on the award to

Lindsay at Happy or Hungry (she is in Cuba right now... I am jealous)
Alex at Let Life be Like Music
Melanie at Mailbox Journey
Single.Simple.Studio (have you ever told me your name?? hahah)
Michelle at Sweet Suite 10
Thalita at The Learner Observer
Jeanette at This Dusty House
Danica at Country Chic Renovator
Shanondoah at Twenty-Something in Toronto
Emily-Jane at Not a House, But a Home

If you guys don't want to write a post, that is a-ok with me! But I do demand you leave your answers to my questions in the comments. Or I will never forgive you :). And if you aren't on my nominated list, please feel free to chime in too! Because I love everyone.

1. Cheeseburger or hot dog?
2. What is the best vacation you ever took and why?
3. Do you work outside of blogging and if so, why do you do (don't need specifics, I ain't looking to stalk you)?
4. What is your opinion on socks?
5. Do you like Pina Coladas? Getting caught in the rain?
6. Have you ever tried something way out of your comfort zone? How did it go?
7. Favourite restaurant? What do you usually order?
8. Are you a dog person or a cat person? (or an iguana person?)
9. What are you craving right at this moment?
10. How many roads must a man walk down, before you can call him a man?

White Bedding= Yay!

I got a new duvet cover!

Wait a minute, you say, isn't this the same duvet cover you've always had?

Yes. Yes it is. I bought an identical duvet cover :). I didn't even bother taking a new photo. I am lazy.

Three years ago I decided to invest in the West Elm Pintuck duvet cover in white. It is organic cotton, which is soft and nice on the skin. It also makes my bed feel (and look) like a giant fluffy marshmallow! But after THREE years of sleeping in it daily I noticed that the upper corner where I slept was starting to be a little...less-white and bleach wasn't aiding it. Also, recently I've noticed the pin stitching starting to tear and there were a few holes appearing on top and it was getting worse.

I loved this duvet cover and I have nothing bad to say against it, because it did last three years before it started to give up the ghost. So when West Elm had a 20% off bedding sale I swooped in this week and got another cover for $95. Not cheap, but I am sure it will last me another three years!

Source

I know a lot of people are against white bedding, but I really have not had any major issues with it. I am not a fan of white sheets and pillow cases because I sweat a bit when sleeping and sweat discolours sheets over time. To protect the duvet cover I use a flat sheet most of the time and I wash it often. I also almost never eat or drink in my bed. On rare occasion I do it is often crackers and water. Not really consciously thinking about the bed...I just love crackers. When I catsit I often cover the duvet in a blanket until the cat cleans itself (they seem to piss on themselves in the carrier...piss covered cat + white duvet is a bad mix). When I have guests I set up extra seating in the living room so I don't often have people sit on my bed, but if it happens I don't stress out. The best part about a duvet cover is you can always just pop it in the wash if something happens!

Source

What I am trying to say here is give white bedding a chance! It might be just what your room is looking for!

PS- I need to learn to style my bed better. I think a headboard would help but I have been delaying that project for 5 years :)

Humble Penguin Giveaway Winner!

And the winner is....


Stephanie K.!!!


Steph, I will email you The Humble Penguin's information so you can get in contact. Congrats!!

Thank you to everyone who entered, and do not be sad- you can still get 15% off with the code WDB2014 until April 10th!

Alang Light Redo

You might not remember this, but last January I installed a motion-activated light under and Alang shade in my bedroom area. Well, I am not sure if I ever updated you on it, but you may have noticed it disappeared sometime last year. I had issues with the light randomly being activated when I was tossing and turning in bed or getting up to use the washroom. Blasts of light at 1am are very unwelcome!! And then one day it just wouldn't turn off at all. Grrr...

So down the whole thing came! I can't even remember when this was but I think it was before the winter (when a light it most needed!!). I spent another winter in the dark!

Then one day earlier this year I got an email from one of those Deal Find sites for a light with a switch (instead of motion activated), for about $20 and I ordered it! Then I promptly sat on the project for a month of so because the switch needed some fancy battery that I couldn't be bothered to go find. I finally picked up the battery in Feb and finally this weekend got around to installing everything!

The light has a mounting plate, which I hung up with 3 tiny screws AND a command picture hanging strip. The ceiling here is just drywall and can't support much so I didn't trust just using screws and anchors!

Now the only problem was how in the world to attach the shade! I used command picture hanging strips last time, but it wasn't really very secure. The Alang shade just has three little tables at the top that are inset a bit from the ridge of the shade- and one of the tabs is more inset than the other two. It wasn't designed to be hung like this at all (it is supposed to be magnetically attached to their lighting system that it comes with).

I didn't take a photo of it, but here is the diagram from the assembly instructions.

I tried a bunch of things (all fails), but then remembered I had this cord wrangling hooks that I had never used!

I hot glued them to the tabs on the shade, so now my shade had three even tabs that were level with the shade! I used command strips again because the shade is very light and with the new tabs it was a much more secure contact with the ceiling.

Oh- and as for covering up the hole I had cut in the shade (for when the light was motion activated), I just cut out a big circle of bristol board and laid it over top, and then kept the fabric cover for the bottom- the old hole can't be seen at all!

Yay to having light again! of course, now it is light in the mornings again...haha. But still, this will be handy for the evenings. The light isn't as bright as the old one, but it does the trick. I haven't decided where to put the switch yet (it can be wall mounted). I might just leave it lying around the area so I can access it from bed.

Let's hope Alang lamp round 2 is a success!

PS: my giveaway for a Humble Penguin bow clutch ends TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT!! If you haven't entered yet, please go over to the page and enter!! Winner will be announced tomorrow!!

Casey Gets Fit: Week 4

I think it is week 4. I'm not very good at counting weeks. :)

Weight: 163.6 (down 1.4 lbs overall- up 2.2 from before Mexico)
BMI: 25.7

I gained a couple pounds in Mexico, as was to be expected (unlimited nachos and margaritas!). This actually doesn't bother me because it meant instead of eating only salads in Mexico I was enjoying this:

Totally worth it. And yes, I did try to put some veggies on my plate now and then :)

But now I am back and getting back into the swing of eating healthy and working out! Actually my eating has been totally on track this week and my weight is down a pound from what it measured on Sunday morning when I got back! Hurray! I've actually gotten into a good groove of eating smaller portions and being under my calorie goal each day (except Saturday night when I partook in nachos and beer. But I wasn't that over!)

I think a lot of losing weight is figuring out what your weaknesses are and understanding where you will slip up. For instance, I simply love to snack. I don't think this is going to change. I want a snack whether I have had a 1000 calorie meal an hour before, or a 300 calorie meal. So this week I tried eating low calorie meals and allowing myself to snack every couple hours- and I was just fine!

I have also gotten back into my running and I had started using a new app- RunKeeper! I love it because it uses GPS to track my distance and pace and I have it set to tell me every 5 minutes how far I have gone and what my pace is- very useful for figuring out when I am slowing down or speeding up too much! You can also manually enter other workouts like the treadmill or swimming and it calculates the calories burnt based on your height and weight.

Here are my splits from the first run of the season that I took outside! PS- on the pace chart the spikes are where I took walking breaks. It was super cold and windy on the way back home!!

The best part about this app is that it links to MyFitnessPal- where I track my calories! So whenever I complete a workout it automatically feeds into my daily calorie count. Neat, right? You can also schedule it to remind you of workouts and it has a bunch of run training plans for free. So far I have been using the free app, but there is a paid option that has a few more options- like comparing your runs and stuff like that. I might end up upgrading, but for now I am just playing around with the app to see what it offers. 

And on that note- I should probably get out and do a workout now! :) I shall leave you with this weeks Pump It Up song to get you motivated!!

Timber by Pitbull