So with January coming to a close, this is usually the time that I start slacking on my fitness goals and it becomes a downward spiral until it’s a complete fail. This year, it has been different. I am feeling more on track and focused than I have been in quite a long time. And I am pretty sure it’s due to the fact that I have a buddy system in place.
One of my besties decided to start her own journey at the same time as I did and conveniently joined the same gym that I go to, so we have been able to motivate each other to try and stay on track. I don’t know about her but I know that the buddy system is definitely something that I need. I need someone to be accountable to and give me the motivation to keep going.
Having someone else on a similar path as yourself, in my opinion, is something that everyone needs. Someone that can relate to your struggles and your successes. This person should also be someone local to you, if at all possible. Sure, I have followed some other very motivating people on their own weight loss journey, but it’s not the same as having someone right there with you.
It’s having someone with you, that you can sit down with face to face and discuss your journey, someone who can bring out that little bit of competitive side of you in a class, someone to literally slap that piece of cheesecake out of your hand when you really need it. The buddy system has really helped me this time and I am hoping it will continue through the dreary, cold month of February that often finds me wanting hibernate more than getting out to the gym.
I am not saying if you don’t have a ‘buddy” you won’t be successful, I am the furthest thing from any sort of “diet expert” but I just know what seems to be working for me.
My “buddy” April and I have started an Instagram account @MomsFromTheBurbs that will be documenting our journey and also using as a place for others to share their tips, tricks and struggles on their own journey. So please feel free to follow along with us! There will be no judgement and will be keeping it real!
I remember when my Nana passed away; we were cleaning up her house and finding money in envelopes that she stuffed away between the mattresses. And then a few years later, when I was working at a car dealership, an elderly lady come in and payed for her car in cash in FULL.
Even back then, when bank cards were just coming out and online banking did not exist, I couldn’t imagine why they wouldn’t have just put all that money in the bank? To me it did not seem safe at all to have money lying around and not safe and sound in the bank. These days, I am hard pressed to actually have cash at all in my wallet. I am reliant on my bank card and the money just being in the bank.
It never really dawned on me why my Nana and this other lady wouldn’t trust having their money in the bank until someone reminded me that they probably were children of the depression era and saw their families or people that they knew lose everything when banks closed and took their money with them.
But banks don’t close these days, do they? My money is safe……isn’t it? But what if something happened and the economy suddenly crashed like it did in the 1930s? Being a single Mom with one income, I need every penny of that pay cheque to be there for me, my bills and what little savings I have. I can’t even imagine what I would do if my bank suddenly failed.
Single income families like my own cannot take any risks with our money. We need to ensure that what is ours stays ours. I know many of these families already have sleepless nights worrying about making ends meet and accumulating what little savings they can, so worrying about our banks closing and losing everything is not something we want to add to our troubles.
Luckily, I can rely on the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC) to protect my money. If you have never heard of CDIC, you’re not alone – less than half of Canadian women have. CDIC is a federal Crown corporation that protects your deposits up to $100,000 per financial category with banks that are CDIC members. The coverage is free and automatic; there is nothing you need to sign up for, and in the event of a failure, you don’t have to file any claims.
Since its creation in 1967, CDIC has dealt with the failure of 43 institutions. I was actually shocked when I read this information. I didn’t think banks failed in this day and age. But I guess I was wrong, and knowing that my savings are being taken care of if there is ever a problem made be breathe a little sigh of relief.
However, be aware that not all deposits are covered by CDIC.
What is covered:
Savings accounts
Chequing accounts
Term deposits, (such as GICs) with original terms to maturity of five years or less
Cheques certified by CDIC members
and more
What is not covered:
Mutual funds (including money market funds), stocks and bonds
Term deposits, such as GICs, with original terms to maturity greater than five years
Foreign or digital currency deposits (e.g., U.S. dollars, bitcoin)
and more
Up until now, I knew where my money was going and being held but I didn’t really know anything about its actual safety. It also gives me a little more insight into where I want to invest and save my money for not only my future but my son’s future as well. I don’t work as hard as I do only to have my money not protected, nor should you.
Last week I posted about my new hate for leggings. I told you about how my once friend was now my sworn enemy and my plight to get back on track and was ready to lose the weight that I had gained over the past few years. But after a few comments from my readers, I need to clarify that I didn’t mean to portray was that is was all about getting skinny.
However, I am not going to say that I don’t want to lose weight. I absolutely do, but I want to do it for reasons much more than being skinny. Now well into my 40’s, I have come the realization I will never be one of those people that are considered “skinny” nor do I care. What I care about is being healthy and happy in my own skin. And right now, I am not at that point in my life.
My clothes that once fit comfortably are no longer comfortable. Most days I feel like a stuffed sausage. I don’t feel even remotely as fit as I used to. The thought of even running a kilometer makes me cringe when at one point I was able to run almost 10km. My skin feels completely dehydrated from not drinking enough water. My sleep has been suffering and mentally it has been taking it’s toll as well.
But I woke up on New Years day with new found excitement to get back on track and so far I have been staying true to myself. I have been making much more healthier food choices, I made it to the gym almost every single day and been drinking so much water I feel like I might float away. And already I am noticing results. And not just on the scale either.
I think one of my biggest problems was not enough water. I have been keeping this huge glass on my desk and continually filling it throughout the day. And my skin is thanking me for it as this horrendous winter weather has been playing havoc on it as well. It’s also helped flush out some of the bloat. My stomach doesn’t feel like I just ate a 10 lb burger all the time anymore.
I have gone back to tracking what I eat and I know that will make a huge difference. Not only am I making healthier choices but it’s also making me accountable for how much I am eating. I can eat all the healthy food in the world but if I am eating too much of it, it isn’t going to help. I am also making use I am using my FitBit to actually count my exercise and not just using it for the watch function. LOL
For further motivation, I treated myself to some new trainers this weekend. I have returned to a gym I used to have a membership at and can’t wait to get back into the swing of attending classes that will push me out of my comfort zone instead of mindlessly walking the treadmill with nothing to push me to do better. I attended my first Zumba class in over a year and although by the end of the class my face was beat red and I was completely wiped, it felt amazing.
So regardless of that the size says on the label of my clothes, I just want to be a happier, healthier me. The best version of me, the me I was meant to be.
Up until a year ago, I had a 9-5 job that required me in the office every day wearing office appropriate attire. Something about having to fit into a skirt or dress pants on a daily basis somewhat worked with me as part of a weight management program. If they still fit, I was doing ok. If they started to feel tight, time to get to the gym more often and cutting back on what I was eating. And then leggings came into my life.
Last year my job changed and although, I was still working from 9-5 for the same company, I was relocated to my home office. I am not going to lie, it’s been a pretty sweet gig. No more having to figure out what outfit to wear to the office, no commuting hassles and no office politics to deal with. However, up until that point, I was not a leggings wearer, it was almost always jeans during my personal time.
Having always had larger thighs, I never felt comfortable in leggings. Then a friend somehow convinced me that because they were most almost always black, they were slimming and any shape could get away with wearing them. After getting up the courage to start wearing them, I was hooked and never looked back. I was wearing them pretty much on a daily basis now, but sadly I think this is one relationship that I must sever in 2018.
As much as leggings are comfy and easy to wear, they are really a wolf in sheep’s clothing. They don’t feel restricted, you can eat as much as you want and you never feel like you are stuffed into them and as a result gaining wait without too much notice. And stupidly, I didn’t pay any attention to what these leggings were hiding until recently.
Let me go back a bit in time. After I had my son, I was at my highest weight in my adult life. I was sluggish, completely out of shape, and it was playing havoc on my health and my self esteem but having a newborn, I didn’t have the time to focus on myself. Then my husband left me. And although I would never recommend it to anyone, it definitely was the easiest weight loss I had ever had. I didn’t have to think about it at all. My life was consumed with 2 things, taking care of my son and dealing with a nasty, horrible divorce. Food was no longer a “live to eat”, it was only “eat to live”. I had no appetite and nothing in me to actually make myself meals. It wasn’t healthy, I won’t even dare to say it was but in the end, I had lost over 50lbs and was now at my lowest adult weight.
At that point, I swore up and down that I would never EVER get back to my previous weight. And for a few years, I kept that promise to myself. But then when life started to settle down, the weight was slowing coming back. A few lbs each year hear and there. I would step on the scale and be up a few lbs but then tell myself that my clothes still fit, so I was ok. But that is probably the worst mentality I could use….it was NOT okay. A few lbs turns into 10lbs which eventually turned into too many lbs.
And then last year, when I started working from home and leggings came into my life. And even though I was trying to stay fit and was even posting on the blog about it, the weight still seemed to be adding on. No longer was my clothing holding me accountable to my eating and lifestyle sins. By the time fall came around, I was unmotivated, no longer tracking my calories and barely making it to the gym. And now here was are, starting 2018 and I am pretty much back to my pre-divorce weight. I feel constantly sluggish and miserable and completely disappointed in myself.
Completely disappointed in myself!
I got to that place that I swore I would never get back to. And yes, leggings are somewhat to blame. Really I have no one to blame but myself but they sure didn’t help my situation. There was nothing restricting me and giving me that extra push to say “Put down the donut”. So I told myself that starting January 1st, there were no more excuses. This was not the life I wanted to leave and not the example I wanted to set for my son. I have started tracking everything I put in my mouth and even though I was completely exhausted after New Years eve, I hit the gym. I can’t keep saying I will “do it tomorrow” because tomorrow will never come. I need to do it today. And as for the leggings, they will no longer be an every day occurrence. if that means I feel like a stuff sausage in jeans, well that will be a bit of motivation.
It’s not going to be easy, it won’t happen over night, but if I want to be the best version of me, I have to do the work to make it happen.
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