Wireless-less wiaw

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Cheryl Madliger

Soooo my apartment’s wireless is on the fritz which means you’re in for a treat: my attempts at blogging, emailing, and texting without autocorrects making something a laugh or two are pretty awesome.

For your sake, we’ll go mostly wordless on today’s! Good thing it’s a what I ate Wednesday…

Breakfast was eggs, spinach, and a sweet potato with almond butter/butter before laundry and chit chats with a friend.

Lunch came after a noon workout–my fav time to train but not one that generally fits in my schedule–and a PR and was pork, cabbage, and a nanner with coconut and some butter. Yes, I do eat weird things. Yes, I’m okay with you judging me.

After lunch came coffee time (it was social, don’t worry) and then I say myself down and got down to work editing and working on something that I totally forgot I needed Internet for tonight. I ended up needing more time than anticipated so I had to miss my interning at the gym. I made time for dinner-more pork this time with carrots alfalfa sprouts and almond butter-before playing instructor at bootcamp.

After a long hot shower, some dark chocolate, and this here blog post, I’m zonked!

Hopefully we get the wireless sorted out soon but for the meantime, I’m gong to enjoy the disconnect and read one of the many books I’ve been thinking about starting/finishing! nighty night!

Happy halloweenie

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

This post has nadda to do with Halloween but I bet you giggled at “halloweenie” – no?

Maybe this will get you giggling then…

If that fails, this one compliments of my sister might do the trick…

Classy.

Other than those photos and a few pumpkin treats, there wasn’t much about my day that suggests it was Halloween. I’m not too upset…

I started my day sweaty, not spooky, with a session at crossfit. Deadlifting day is my fav and today was no exception! My 5RM is up to 215 and I managed to eke out 4 consecutive pull ups again today. That in itself would make for an accomplished morning but we also did rope climbs (love!) and the conditioning was 50 burpees for time or 3 minutes of awesome suck (3:06 to be particular)!

I popped into GFC to get checked and then was ready for a busy day. I also fuelled up with a banana and some raw almonds while I ran a few errands this morning.

Does anyone else think raw almond suck? I’d much rather have them roasted. And roasted in a nut butter would be best…but in terms of overeating I’m sure it looks like this in terms of worst offenders: peanut butter (roasted, salted, sugary, hydrogenated, etc.) = all holds gone > roasted natural nut butter > roasted nuts > raw natural nut butter > raw nuts. Hmmm…

I think I’ve gone through a half a jar of almond butter this week and you’ll see why if I fill you in on my meals for the day:

breakfast: eggs (with coconut milk), almond butter, apple, dried cherries

lunch: pork with kale, squash and raisins and cinnamon

snacks: 2 almond flour muffins (one with chocolate, one with raisins) + a pumpkin cookie I didn’t snap a photo of (but my bootcampers and my fellow CrossFitters approved of my second go at my paleo pumpkin cookie recipe)

dinner: pork chop and almond butter, straight out of the jar

At least I know what I could have done better: less nuts, more veggies.

I spent the afternoon on campus talking to some of my former writing professors about journalism, grad school, and all that kind of jazz. It feels good to be moving forward with my applications–I’ve got a lot of work to do but I’ve done it before and I am excited to write them again! It also felt good to be on campus, even I dare say it to be in the library working on my next freelance article about the paleo diet and cycling. It’s due in a week so I’ve got to get an outline and a draft together soon–it’s not like I’ve got a whole lot of free time to work on it!

I did some work but I definitely could have been productive. I got sucked into the Whole 9 website again and was reading all kinds of entries on it when I “shoulda” been working. Whatevs. Now I can share with you the link that got me sucked into the website…it was the blog “Lies We Tell Ourselves” and sheesh it was awesome. I clicked over to the posts about being addicted to stress, which really rocked my socks. I like that they include actionable things in their posts and that they’re personal about their writing. I like that The Whole 9 takes a big ol’ simple approach to things: either something makes you healthier or it doesn’t. Remember my realization that there’s no sideways/standing still in life? Same thing! What they talk about is a lot like Eat by Design and is probably the most user friendly stuff I’ve found in my reading. I have “It Starts With Food” and of all the “paleo-ish” books I’ve picked up, it might be my favourite recommendation for someone thinking about experimenting with their diet.

Anyways, now that I’ve rambled a bit…back to my day! I called it quits on campus mid-afternoon and came home to clean my apartment a bit. I was greeted by my level 1 certificate from CrossFit! I already knew that I’d passed but to have the certificate in the flesh feels pretty legit.

This evening I made it to a Moksha Flow class across town by the gym where I teach bootcamp. It was a sweaty hot class (I’m aware this is obvious) and we did lots of hip openers in what felt like an “easier” flow class. I really can’t complain–I probably needed more of a yin class than anything today since I’m pretty sore! The time was perfect though and the owner of the studio was teaching (always a treat!) so this class could become a regular thing for me. I had just enough time to shower and to eat a nanner before I headed across the street (literally) to teach bootcamp. I put my recruits through a tabata workout today (squats, pushups, lateral jumping, running, step-ups or box jumps, and planks). They didn’t like me but I had the pumpkin cookies to win them back over once we had stretched and cooled down!

And now here I am…ready for bed. For a day off, today sure was busy! Tomorrow I’ve got plans to get writing, a bootcamp to teach, some shopping plans with a few lovely lady friends, and a workout in the mix. If I’m feeling too much writer’s block a yoga class in the evening (yin, maybe!) could be just what I need.

Have a happy halloween!

What’s your favourite kind of nut butter?
Did you do anything to celebrate Halloween?

Tired but inspired

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

“My formula for living is quite simple. I get up in the morning and I go to bed at night. In between, I occupy myself as best I can.”
Cary Grant quotes

Well howdy there!

As my title hinted, I’m tired but inspired–so this is the kind of tired, “I had such a kick butt day” that I think every day should be like…

We started our staff training today at the gym on campus. Since I’m teaching at campus rec this fall, I was in on this. I’m kind of a lifer now–and it feels cool to go back and see a whole new bunch of faces (cough *cute new boys* cough). The aquatics staff, events staff, memberships services, and fitness people all get together and do sessions that we have to (think computer sessions to teach us how to access info) and ones that we get to choose from (think workouts).

I started my day off with leftovers from last night. I’ve commented before about how I don’t really differentiate too much between what I eat in the morning and at night (does it really make sense to only eat certain foods at certain times of the day, after all?), but I did add in an apple to today’s breakfast.

Leftover beef, brussel sprouts, and onions in coconut oil + an apple

After a morning of info sessions, I was ravenous. I ate my lunch out of my lunchbox (hiding it) in the computer lab because I’m bad ass. FYI, stuffing your face with kale and sausage is not really discreet, but it is delicious.

Eating lunch before lunch time meant I had no problemo skipping out during our lunch break to hit up the (other) gym with one of my fellow fitness instructors. While everyone ate pizza, we sweat our butts off. Britt’s trying out for hockey so she’s all about squats and deadlifts, and I’m all about getting back into this so gosh it was perfect to have company for this trek!

After a few sets of each, we did a take on a workout from a crossfit site I’ve been poking around. For me: 15 tuck jumps / 7 modified pullups / 3 ground to overhead every 90 seconds for 15 minutes — it works out to 10 rounds if you’re not a mathlete. It also works out to mass quantities of sweat, dripping on the floor, arriving back at the gym stinking up a storm, and being far too happy to hop in the pool for an “Aquatic Adventure” (one of those optional sessions).

And by hop in I mean get flipped in off a tube — we played a match of innertube water polo. Let me tell you–this was not only FUN but also pretty physical! I spent a lot of energy just trying not to fall off my tube OR trying to get back in it if I had and missing the net on my shots. I don’t “throw like a girl” but I could definitely improve! The moral of the story is: random sports are fun. I want to play more of them. Intramurals, anyone?

After all that splashing, the hungries came on hard at the end of the day so my afternoon snack was a “what the heck can I get in this hangry mouth right now” kind of situation. Almonds and then a banana with cinnamon on top fit the bill — easy, fast, good.

Top it off with an americano between appointments and errands and you’ve got perfection!

I managed to get to the grocery store to pick up some goodies (no labels here) and I am cooking up some chicken and salmon now so I’ll have food for a few days!

I ended my night with the highlight of the day — dinner! It’s not the food that was awesome, although the salmon and salad was pretty bomb.

Tonight was my second Life By Design 101 dinner. I brought a pal along with me today who’s interested in chiropractic and on the same health wavelength as a lot of what LBD talks about.

Last month, I said Dr. K did a really great job of introducing what LBD is about. But today, he was like a whole new level of rockstar! I haven’t seen so much passion and enthusiasm in one person since…the last time I talked to him? I’m not really kidding, but tonight he was on fire! I can’t wait for next month (who wants to join me?). I was sitting there smiling and thinking — I want to do this (lucky for me I have a vision and it’s in line with that…:)!).

In short, the dinner is an intro to what LBD is about — the chiropractic side of things, the thinking, eating, and moving.

For me, the refresher brought some new insight. I think a big part of this whole journey for me is waking up and being present. Getting to hear about something I’ve already heard about but from where I am now is a cool experience.

One thing that Dr. K stressed and that I even took the time to write down in my trusty notebook was that it all comes down to reality and responsibility.

Building off of that, I’ve been thinking. I started to beat myself up for having heard this and not acted sooner. After talking about squats and my (poor) mobility, I had to shift my focus.

On that topic, I don’t have the greatest mobility. I don’t squat very deep. Dr. K suggested a wesbite to me, but as it was coming out of his mouth I already new what he was going to say (so of course I said it along with him)–mobilitywod.com. So if I know about it, I must be using it right?

Uhhhh. Not so much. Cue thinking by design and focusing on what’s strong and not on what’s wrong. My job isn’t to beat myself up over not doing something sooner. Like I talked about yesterday, you’ve got to be okay with where you are in order to improve. So instead of calling myself lazy I am recognizing how cool it is that I realized that I can do something about all of this and taking this increased consciousness as just another awesome side effect of what I’m doing — taking ownership (responsibility), for the way things are (reality).

Other conscious thinking today involved re-reading my vision, chatting, hearing LBD 101, and the reading I’m about to do! Last night I cracked Atlas Shrugged and now I’m ready to get back into it before I fall asleep.

Like I said, it was a tiring day, but the good kind of tired. Here’s to more days like this — filled with awesome! Let’s just say that I feel even more excited about what I’m doing. I feel connected to something bigger. I feel like I’m on fire by association–cuz I am!

What’s something you neglect in terms of fitness that you could give more attention to?
Do you eat breakfast for dinner? What about dinner for breakfast?
Have you ever played innertube water polo?

Feeling good, on purpose

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

HAPPY MONDAY! That’s an extra happy Monday, which tends to follow awesome weekends.

Golfing yesterday was the perfect way to spend the afternoon. It was sunny but no too hot, the company was good, and we won’t talk about the score.

Amanda, Justin and some sweaty crazy girl.

Sweetest rental clubs EVER.

After golf, I had the quickest/easiest dinner ever because I wanted to go to yoga. The morning class reignited my love for getting my zen on and I was just itching to get back to Yoga Shack, so I figured that anything I was going to do last night could wait until today in favour of going to Dave’s power flow class.

Turkey jerky, apple, and cheese = quick, easy dinner. MIA: vegetables

When I got home from the class, which was awesome and of course involved my favourite song in savasana (it must have been meant to be–seriously!), I mostly read blogs and my Oprah magazine (which went all the way to and from Virginia unopened) and ate bon bons.

Oprah has a knack for inspiring me, as cheesy as that might be. This issue was filled with quizzes, which I used to prompt some good old journalling. I had been thinking a lot lately about defining my purpose. No big deal, right? Alysha mentioned hers to me on Saturday post-race because she’s been working hard at her life coaching certification and I was so impressed with the confidence that she had. I read some posts about purpose and talked to some pretty inspiring people and realized that I’m lacking that direction and could probably stand to at least attempt at defining what I want. So what came to me yesterday after writing out some of the answers to the quiz in the magazine about what is “fun” for you flowed pretty easily onto my journal page (I’m not good at talking things out but when I get to writing, stuff just flows) and was something like:

I am here to serve as a real life example of living healthy and to use my own personal experience to launch a career and a life of inspiring, enabling, and coaching others to find their own best possible definition of health.

There are two things I have to explain in there:

“real life example” — I have room for real life things like days away from training, like meals that aren’t perfect, like hitting bumps in the road and dealing with them as they come. Sometimes coaches and teachers seem like they’re living in an alternate reality where bad things don’t happen and where everything is easy and then it’s hard to relate to them. Lucky for me, I live in the real world and I like challenges.
“living healthy” — Notice that “living” comes before “healthy” since to me, the only way to be healthy is to live. The only reason to be healthy is to live. Sure, if you don’t have your health, you don’t have much. But if you don’t want to live a little while you’re here, why bother being healthy? So you can get to your grave in one happy piece at 15% body fat with a six pack? OK, have fun with that. I’m going to be going on some adventures while you work on your biceps. Keep flexing at yourself in the mirror while I go out and get some real life fulfillment.

More thoughts:

My talent for writing is something that I’m working on turning into a skill and using it to communicate all of these things–the principles of healthy living, the lessons I’ve learned, the people who I’ve encountered and their own messages–that’s where I find myself getting into a “zone”. Blogging might be a hobby, but there’s a reason why I keep doing it.
Teaching fitness is a nice part time job, but it has never felt like work. Interacting with people is what gives me the sense of connectedness on a daily basis–either personally or as an instructor/trainer. I see myself coaching in some capacity–whether it’s fitness, racing, yoga, nutrition, wellness, life–and being a leader, teacher, etc.
I want to work on my public speaking ability because being able to talk about my own experiences is something I hope to do. Having struggled through an eating disorder, I can pinpoint a bunch of people whose speeches have empowered me and inspired me to take another step forward. Jenni Schaefer talked about the step from “in recovery” to “recovered” and my life coach, Jennifer Schramm, talked about her four step recovery and how she got to awesome. Both of these women seriously changed my life in a one hour span–and that’s powerful!
Your dream career doesn’t have to exist, you just have to be willing to create it. There’s not really a secure job in this world–you might as well be insecure in a job that you absolutely spring out of bed to do. I have a feeling that if your career serves your highest, it really won’t feel like work. My plan is to work towards this unconventional idea for a while and if I am miserable and bankrupt and in trouble in five years, THEN I’ll settle. Teacher’s college has been appealing to me because it’s something to do and it’s something secure-ish. But it isn’t calling my heart out and I haven’t applied in the last two years even though I could have, so I don’t think I should go now. Doing a masters in kin is somewhat appealing, but ditto. If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a hell no. If I can turn down Columbia, my dream school, for Journalism because I trust myself and my intuition enough to know that a master’s in journalism isn’t necessary for the 75000 price tag and all that jazz, I can say no to settling for conventional.

Creating your own vision for your career is just the first step. What else could you make amazing in your life? I want to go on adventures all the time — travel lots and do active things. I want to have nice things but I want to live simply. I want to use my money on things that I value — experiences and high quality things (food, stuff I need, etc.) and all that good stuff!
Nobody is going to stop you from being awesome, trust me. Most people are too busy living mediocre lives to care. If someone’s in your way, it could be jealousy, but I think what’s far more probably is that if you live on a big scale, you’ll inspire people. Once I interviewed Tina from Carrots n Cake and she said to me, “There’s plenty of room at the top.”–this really stuck with me. Someone who has made it to a high level and is living her passion essentially telling me that I’m allowed to do the same and am entitled to being just as successful? Holy canoli!
Stop asking for permission. You’re supposed to be great. Nobody really cares if you DON’T go for it — whether you’re scared or you don’t know how or you aren’t sure you’re allowed to. It’s entirely up to you to care. At the end of the day and the end of your life, it was ALL up to you!

My plan — could I be an endurance coach? a personal trainer? a wellness coach? a nutritionist? a life coach? a yoga instructor? a motivational speaker? a fitness instructor? a professional blogger? an author of books? a guest on the Today Show? A magazine columnist? All of these things? YES, YES, AND YES. Whatever floats my boat. Someone who changes the world? THAT TOO!

I think I’m done–for now! Today’s been a productive day after all and it’s only 10:30! Before this cheese-fest, I tackled that laundry head on, cooked up some food for this week, and made a list of things to get done for the week. It feels good to be organized, nice to be at home, and AMAZING to have defined all that stuff I just shared with you guys.

Kamut puffs, banana, coconut, walnuts, and soy milk for breakfast.

Obvs you needed this selfie. New shirt!

Home sweet home!

Now I’m going to use all this positive Monday energy to get to work on my freelancing assignments and fitness planning! Bootcamp and spin tonight are something to look forward to and I might make a little pit stop at the mall in between appointments today if I’m feeling it…

Do you ever just explode with inspiration?
Are you a golfer?
Do you have a dream career or are you creating your own?

Do what you can

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

Do you ever get wrapped up in all or nothing thinking? …cuz I do and it was even getting to the point where I didn’t want to share my day today because I didn’t think I could really do it justice.

On the surface, it was pretty normal

Breakfast:

Bootcamp:

warm up

workout

20 minutes: as many rounds of 20 each

squats

pushups

lunges

step ups

tricep dips

situps

leg raises

marathon abs

cooldown/stretch

Getting caught at Starbucks (haha, Breanna I am sorry for photographing this but it was too perfect to pass up):

Lunch (more sausage–Alex you’ll appreciate this!)

Snacking:

Packing

Dinner:

Driving to Sarnia

But I also had two big awesome things that I know are worth blogging about, even if I can’t do ‘em full justice yet.

One was my life coaching session, the other was a visit to Gainsborough Family Chiropractic. You’ll probably think I went because I fell off my bike, but the truth is I went more thanks to all the run ins I’ve had with Dr. Kreso–who I think might spend more time at Starbucks than I do and whose suggested By Design Americano (with heavy cream) was pretty delicious (as photographed above) and Dr. Rachelle, who came out and kicked ass at one of my bootcamps last week. You might remember the impromptu pep talks/discussions that I mentioned that got me thinking. Or maybe you clicked on the Life By Design podcasts that I keep linking to (I’m making my way down the archives). Anyways, all of it led to me realizing something: I want more and I deserve more. And that’s the same thing that I’m realizing via my work with my life coach.

Keeping this short and to the point, I am seeing a lot of parallels in my life and starting to make some shifts. Example A was my decision to start working with my life coach and realizing that you don’t need a problem to have a life coach. Unlike earlier in my eating disorder recovery, where I was very focused on my issues and my problems and on fixing things, I work with Jennifer with a very positive attitude. Regardless of whether I’d had an eating disorder, working with her would be empowering, enlightening, and AMAZING. I look at it this way — when wanted to go past “okay” and “better” and “in recovery” points to “RECOVERED!” “ALIVE!” and “HEALTHY!” I started working with a life coach instead of with a therapist focused on the negative stuff (I’m not discounting therapy, BTW).

Similarly, I am starting to see the light of doing something for your health before you’re in crisis. Yeah, I don’t have a specific injury right now. My hip nags, my knees hurt sometimes, and all that stuff I try not to whine about too much. But if you’ve been reading for a while, it’s actually rare for me NOT to be nursing to something, as much as I try to respect the “Listen to your body when it whispers so you don’t have to hear it scream” advice that someone passed along to me. And I often turn to physios, chiropractors, acupuncture, massage, etc. to “fix” the stuff. But something has been on my mind after the hip injury this year: WHY? And am I good to go? How do I know it’s not going to keep recurring or coming back in another form. In other words, I want to be proactive. I want to make sure the way I’m training and treating my body and taking care of myself is right before I get hurt or before I hit a crisis point. So going in today had nadda to do with my fall (though I feel like a train hit me for some reason today so a rest day was awesome and watching my participants work at bootcamp, I felt grateful, not guilty!) but everything to do with me taking a step in the right direction and owning up to the fact that what I’ve done in the past hasn’t worked. It’s been the wrong balance, it’s not been enough of some things and too much of other things, and it’s time to address that!

In other words, it’s okay to want to be better without having anything wrong.

Bam.

Epiphany.

Love it! Need more examples? There are a few where I’ve failed in the past but see myself making progress, as random, petty, dorky, whatever as they are:

My dishes: I used to let them pile all the way up in my kitchen before I’d put them away. Now I have a habit of just putting the dry ones away before I do the dirty ones. Genius.
My laundry: I struggled with this one forever. Seriously, it’s like I don’t have the gene that makes you care about having to wear your ugly clothes if it means not doing laundry. It’s kind of like a game when you have to sort through a huge pile of clean but unfolded and unsorted clothes to find a sports bra, right? Wrong. Another spot where you just have to take care of things before they get out of hand.
money and bills
My car: The day all those lights came on was a sign from the big guy, I’m sure. Actually, I’m sure it was just a signal that you can’t neglect things and expect everything to work. Maintenance. Before things break down.

Essentially, the post-recovery gem in this is that I realized something: we don’t need to be wrong to want to be better. There are more applications of this and it’s further reaching than it might seem. The more I think about it, the more I see how thinking the opposite–that we need to have something wrong or an issue to address in order to try to improve or to ask for help or guidance–has held me back or brought me down. Whether it’s creating a problem via self-sabotage (bingeing, gaining weight, spending too much money, etc.) that’s obvious or just living a small life, this is a belief worth busting.

Give it some thought: we all deserve to be as awesome as possible. That entails working on ourselves whether we think we need work or not. Why settle? Mediocrity? Pffffft! You’re better than that. We all deserve all the happiness and health in the world–not just to NOT be sad or sick. Remember my mention of the analogy of getting married to not get divorced? Or to go into business to not go bankrupt? And how stupid it sounds? (Those were Dr. Kreso’s words, BTW). It’s all similar. We don’t live just to survive…or we shouldn’t!

Even if you’re awesome, you can be more awesome.

And that brings me back to those podcasts and the conversations I’ve been having (and I’ll say it one more time: I am NOT drinking the kool aid):

“Nobody ever died from being too awesome.”

So I think this all calls for some Cheryl approved cheese:

And one final word: do what you can. But you can always do more!

Where are you settling for okay when you could be better?
Do you relate to any of the things I mentioned?
Have you listened to those podcasts yet?

Brownies don’t bring bliss

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

Recall my presentation this afternoon on stevia? It went pretty well. It helps when you bribe people with brownies…

Lucky for me there were leftovers. I gave the staff I see every day on my way to class the leftover “good” brownies (the ones from the box with sugar) and ended up with a couple of the stevia “brownies” left. In the mix: applesauce, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa, dark chocolate chunks, vanilla and flour. I took the recipe from a site I searched out on google even though it didn’t get the best reviews. Simple. Not really dessert, if you ask me.

More like snack…

I was hungry before my hair appointment today so I went for it and had one of the goodies. I liked it, even if most of my classmates were not quite as into them.

In the past, a brownie for a snack never would have happened. Today, it did. And if it had happened in the past, you know what would have happened? Not the “bliss” I’d expect (the emotional soothing) but probably self loathing or a binge. While the brownie didn’t bring me bliss this afternoon (I don’t think even the best brownies in the world could do that), a couple of things did:

getting rid of my mullet

a sweet ass run (again in my sports bra, because it was beautiful and because I am beautiful)

a really good smoothie for dins (pumpkin, yogurt, soy milk, flaxseeds, pumpkin pie spice, and spinach, topped with oats)

an evening at Starbucks with an impromptu study partner (a friend from the gym who has a knack for bringing my stress levels down and making me laugh)
a mocha (’nuff said)

finishing a project that’s due tomorrow
getting my last source for my article that’s due tomorrow (thank god for helpful people and admitting that you’re a student journalist in a bit of a pickle/rush!)
TMI warning!!!!! … a visit from Aunt Flo, NO PILLS/RING/ANYTHING required
not letting myself get stressed right now even though I “should” be

a little extreme, but you’re laughing. and it’s true.

tomorrow being Friday!

See what I’m getting at here?

Your take-aways from this post:

a) Focus on the positive.

b) Eat brownies.

c) Liberate yourself. Cut your hair, run in your sports bra, do something that makes you different.

d) Put spinach in your next smoothie.

e) Smile.

What brought you a little bliss today?
Have you ever baked with stevia?

Checking in

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

Pennsylvania has been good to me. Sunshine, quality time, shopping, a run…

I started the day off with a bowl of Kashi and Fibre 1 with a banana and soy milk (just like home).

Then my mom and I headed for a bit of shopping/errands! While we were out, we naturally ended up at Target, so we had snacks in the Starbucks there. I chose a greek yogurt with honey and then added a bit of my mom’s coffee cake crumble to make it delicious.

I also played the crane game … and won!

Sorry for the tummy shot!

When we got home I was ravenous so I whipped up a turkey sandwich. Best part of this bad boy = spicy mustard and american cheese. This is home sweet home!

Here’s my haul: a fedora, anklets, a bunch of headbands that were 10 for 10 at Claire’s, pyjamas (the wild zebra shorts — I don’t believe in boring PJs), and that flannel shirt that screams lumberjack for the low low price of $1.99!

After lunch, I headed for a run along the Buffalo Valley Rail Trail. My description is scenic but flat It was uber hot and I felt really slow. Partway through my trek back, I turned my iPod off (there were so many birds to listen to and farms to look at, I figured I’d better enjoy it if I wasn’t distracted by my latest obsession (thanks Angela)!)

and I noticed my knee was clicking. It wasn’t bugging me, but that was a bit weird. When I got back to my car, I wasn’t feeling too hot. I went to the washroom and stretched/did some abs/pushups under the trees, and headed home. My foot started to hurt when I got out of the car, which blows. I’ll just whine: I don’t want to be injured! I already dealt with a yucky one this year and am just starting to trust my body again–this is scary! That being said, I’m not stupid. Ice, stretch, rest, etc. etc.

And just because I like to share everything about myself, I’ll add in that while I was on my run today (mile 5 I think), my Aunt Flo came for a visit. Love her–it’s been five long years. But seriously. I must be relaxed! Might be thanks to the chocolate I devoured in the last 24 hours. I think all that remains in my treat bag is yogurt pretzels, nuts, papaya, and pretzels!

Anyways, besides chocolate, I’ve been seeing a lot of pretty countryside and a buttload of COWS!

I had a normal snack–peanut butter and an apple–when I got home. The afternoon went quick and some thunderstorms just rolled in along with an epic dinner (we collaborated on this one — me veggies and a salad, mom meatballs and pasta, uncle bob bread <— omg bread)!

Consider me carbed up and ready to go for a bike ride tomorrow. I am really nervous about the traffic around here–does anyone have tips for how to find SAFE routes? I know Map My Ride might help…I bookmarked a page with some suggestions. I also found some maps from a nearby town that I might check out tonight! I’m planning on going late morning/early afternoon tomorrow (provided the weather is cooperating) so the traffic shouldn’t be awful.

So far, so good!

How’s your week?

Unexpected epiphanies

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

Wowzer. I didn’t have any intention of this being a post about realizations or anything bigger than a bike ride this afternoon (45km ish with a friend !), cleaning, and what I ate today. Funny how blogging can spark insight…enjoy:

I think I blogged before that I’m feeling a bit stuck in my routine of eating the same things over and over again.

Kashi berry crisp, all bran buds, and grapes with yogurt!

My breakfast bowl was a little different, which is a start.

I spent the morning working on making my apartment presentable (it’s not disorganized mess — I have lots of things to go to my mom’s place for the winter like my boots/coats/etc.). I closed my closets for the first time in 2012! Yahoo. I also made it to the bank, which has been on my to do list for a while. Check! Then I stopped at Bulk Barn.

Things got out of hand…and there are treat bags that I can’t help but reveal.

gluten, dairy, soy, almond/peanut free for Angela (it's my version of chicken noodle soup since she's sick !): think dried fruit (bananas, papaya, pineapple, and mango), dates, and skittles

My road trip dream: yogurt covered pretzels, pretzels, chocolate covered almonds, mixed nuts, papaya, banana chips, and chocolate rosebuds

Everything I think my mom will like!

You’d be surprised to know I went on this bulk barn blitz AFTER lunch (another turkey sandwich with cheese, sprouts, mayo, and an apple — back to boring). I couldn’t finish my lunch, though, which brings me to a weird realization I had (that probably led me to feel “brave” enough to buy MYSELF a treat bag!). Get ready for this.

In the past, I have ALWAYS finished my plate. I cannot remember the last time I left anything on it. I sometimes think I’m just really good at knowing how much food I want, but I think it’s a remnant of dieting days where I would literally need everything on my plate (I also wouldn’t share food then, because every bite meant so much to me) or of my recovery days where I think I cleaned a heftier plate to prove I was recovering. — NEWS FLASH: You don’t have an ED if you decide not to finish something. You also should feel fine to finish things and to go back for more. The goal is to feel satisfied–not stuffed!
This epiphany made me realize that I really can leave behind old habits.

In the past, I also would go out and buy road trip snacks for the people I was travelling with, trying to buy things I “don’t like” anyways. Often, I’d end up eating them with my friends/family and I wouldn’t even be having what I wanted, PLUS I’d be serving up a hefty dose of guilt in the process (it’s hard to ENJOY something as a TREAT when you hear a voice telling you that you shouldn’t be eating it). — NEWS FLASH: We all deserve treats. If we allow ourselves to eat food and to enjoy it without telling ourselves we shouldn’t, they will be more satisfying and will serve their purpose as a treat–not as a reason to beat ourselves up, not as something emotional, etc.

All this thinking made me realize: I can go away this week and I can worry about what I’m eating. Or I can truly try to channel that healthy girl I know I am and find the voice that empowers me to eat in a way that is normal, balanced, and healthy and that doesn’t use food as a distraction, a means to beat myself up, etc. I can change. Evidenced by the empowerment I felt by just deciding that I was full and didn’t need the entire plate at lunch or by the simple act of making myself an uber appealing treat bag, I can change. I can be the healthy girl I want to be. I am her! My goal for the week is to eat things in moderation. Candy on a daily basis, most likely. American junk food that I wouldn’t let myself ENJOY in the past (though I’d end up eating lots of it in bingeing fashion). Things like white bread and white potatoes (which the blogging world has a tendency to label “bad” but really are not the devil) and butter, full fat cheese, and whatever else comes up along the way. I’m not going on a junk food eating bender here. When I allow myself that flexibility and see myself succeeding and eating as a balanced person would, I feel so powerful. I know in my heart that I will crave vegetables and fruit and nutritious foods and that I will eat them–so no worries that I’m going to die from a nutritionally related disease next week, kiddos! The thing that I think people often forget that I’m trying to remind myself: I eat to live. The food I put in my body is fuel. If food is holding you back, could you just let go? What would happen if it didn’t have power? Might you not weigh what you’re supposed to (more, less, the same) without stressing about it? Might you not have more time and energy to spend working on things that matter and to seek out experiences? Because really, what are we here for if it’s not to live?

And I apologize for getting all philosophical, deep, recovery-like on you there, but I hope that made sense. I also hope I can take it and apply it.

So for dinner tonight, when I was seriously craving peanut butter and cereal, I went with it. And along the same vein as I realized above, feeling guilty about not eating veggies won’t serve me. Feeling bad about eating a lot of cereal in a day also won’t. Recognizing that at the end of the day, I fuelled myself and didn’t binge, didn’t use food as an excuse, didn’t let it rule my life: that’s healthy! So probably is my fibre intake…

Anywho, it’s time for me to finish packing and then to go get my zen on. I’m really excited for this trip…

Bring on the Tasty Cakes.

Bring on the family bonding (I miss my Grandma and uncle, I can’t remember the last time my mom and I took a road trip).

Bring on the pretty drive.

Bring on the time to read.

Bring on the time to sleep.

Bring on the bike rides in the hills.

Bring on the happy!

Have you had any of these realizations before?
What would be in your treat bag?
Have you had tasty cakes (I think I need a supplier)?

Life is messy

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

Today ended up being a bit counter productive, but in the long run, these days are important.

I had an awesome rainy run this morning on the trails. I got lost a little and found myself walking a tree like a tight rope to get back to a path. It happens, and when it does you realize running on the road is oh so boring. I had Garmin issues and I was a soggy rat but I was smiling.

My lunch was uber early since I worked up an appetite on the trails. Warning: this picture is terrible. But it’s a turkey and cheese sandwich with sprouts and mayo (no surprises here) and an apple.

After lunch a hurricane hit my apartment, or maybe I tore everything out of my hallway and bedroom closets/drawers? I worked away on it all afternoon, but I took a break to meet with a prof (about doing my Masters, but that will have to wait until after my nutrition degree is done and who knows what I’ll be passionate about by then, but still cool and I really did enjoy sociology so…I’m keeping my options open! RD with a Masters in Food Sociology? Does that exist? Maybe…or maybe I’ll have to pioneer it) and to have a session with my counsellor, which was a lot about the voices in my head. If that’s not stereotypical of a shrink session, what is? I’m just kidding…but seriously. I wrote down the things that my dominant (the disempowering voice I hear so much) voice (right now) says — things like “you’re meant to be fat. you’re not pretty enough. you’ll always be single. you’re lazy” — and the things my empowering voice says — “your deserve all the good in the world. you’re perfect. you are beautiful. you’re smart.” — and then committed to at least trying to entertain this positive voice more in my life. There’s a good goal if I’ve ever set one!

Anyways, I made some good progress in my apartment as the before/after below will show:

I also took a break for a snack that I didn’t get a photo of (I was hungry): Kashi organic wheat biscuits and peanut butter. Random but delicious. The ingredients list for the cereal is literally wheat, sugar, and natural flavours. Simple, yummy, easy!

And I whipped up a good dinner with some of the ingredients I know I should eat up before I go away for the week: a spinach salad with acorn squash, turkey, and cranberries (there was maple dressing in the mix, of course, and a few pecans). I think this is the first time I didn’t eat my acorn squash cut in half with a spoon. It was awesome so expect to see me spice it up with squash from now on.

After spin tonight (the class was awesome — I used almost the same playlist as Friday since I was at a different gym but I changed the order around a bit since hindsight is 20/20), I was hungry!

My snack is more delicious than beautiful: a banana with peanut butter and coconut and chocolate chips. You know there were a few extra licks of peanut butter and I’m not really going to be ashamed to admit that.

Now it’s time for me to:

a) sleep

b) read blogs

c) work on my summer to do list

d) clean

e) work on my freelance assignment

f) foam roll

I think b) is going to win. Then a), of course (I made sure my bedroom is clean so I have a nice place to crash soon). I’m reminding myself I’ll be able to write from my Grandma’s with my downtime and that my article isn’t due for another week (and I already have sources!) and trying not to let the anxious “you’ll never get it done” voice rule when I have never not gotten it done before…so there!

It’s impossible to believe that tomorrow is May, and I’m going to go ahead and set goals:

find my empowering voice — and write down what it says at least once a day
act like the person I want to be — i.e. get dressed in clothes that fit now and make me feel good, not in comfy clothes so I can work out or in clothes that are uncomfortably tight just to prove I can; eat things that I picture a healthy, happy version of me eating (not the same thing day after day) in a way that I would do so in front of people (i.e. chew?); take the time to take care of myself and my things (i.e. do my laundry and put it away where it belongs, do my dishes every night so I don’t wake up feeling lazy, paint my nails, etc.)
do more workouts with friends and outside (if this is an option, take it!)
do one thing every week just for the sake of fun (I played my violin the other day and as rusty as I was, it was bliss)
for every magazine I bring in, take two out (I have a problem in the form of hundreds of magazines)
make a vision board (I have wanted to do this for so long–who’s in?! for real!)
eat dessert with friends at least once a week (or more, but at least!)
read more books (before bed, when I’m “bored”, and when I’m killing time–rather than just texting, reading random things online, or worrying that I should be doing something productive)

And now methinks I should call it a night! I’ve got a bunch of cleaning to finish up tomorrow, a bike ride with a friend to look forward to (hoping for sunshine!), and maybe a yoga class if I’m feeling good. Oh, and errands. And packing. And smiling. Busy!

Have your set any goals for yourself lately? Care to share?
Do you hear different voices in your head? Any tips for listening to the “nice” one?
What’s your favourite way to eat squash?

Off to a good start

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

Happy Saturday!

The rest of yesterday went fast and was filled with fun.

The spin class at campus rec was fun to teach–Chelsea made it out, which always makes things more fun, and the mic worked. Bonus.

After class, Ellen and Angela came over to eat dinner/get ready for our evening on the town. I made BBQ chicken, potatoes, and salad, which tasted great with good company and good wine!

Our night out was fun, but a little bittersweet since a bunch of people are leaving (for the summer mostly, but Nina is done and Western and that brings a tear to my eye because I love her to death!).

We tried to ease the pain with tequila…

JK. But that did happen!

So did lots of dancing, staying out way past our bedtimes, and plenty of fun.

I managed to sleep in til 10 today (a miracle for me!). I finally got up and had some breakfast, coffee with Angela, and then headed for my run.

Of course I forgot to start my Garmin, but that makes my time unofficial (but trust me, my pace was slow). I took it to the trails along the river here. Best. Decision. Ever. It was gorgeous and nice to get out of the “how fast are these miles” kind of trap and to the “omg I better leap over this tree trunk”…I love trails! I won’t lie though, I had to sit on a branch and crawl over it on two occasions…it happens!

When I got home I stretched and did a quick circuit 3x through: 25 sit ups, 20 kettle bell swings, 15 pushups, 10 squats, and 5 burpees. FYI burpees the day after you party a little too hard feel even more awesome than normal…

After a shower my stomach was growling so I had a late lunch (turkey and alfalfa sandwich with cheese and mayo plus some pickles).

Tonight my mom’s coming for a visit and I have plans to see “The Five Year Engagement” — I hope it’s as funny as it looks in the previews. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to the movies so I’m really looking forward to it.

How are you spending your weekend?
Do you like running on trails?

Happy is the new healthy

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