Good and bad and everything in between

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

Hi! I’m back to London (and a computer) and I’ve been dying to make a real post, but there’s a lot on my mind so it could get messy.

I think a quote is in order to start this off and to let you know what page I’m on:

“I believe that everything happens for a reason.
People change so that you can learn to let go,
things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they’re right,
you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself,
and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.”

- Marilyn Monroe

Tough Mudder was in a word: tough. I don’t even think I can do a full race recap right now because I’ve blocked it out of my memory…but I’ll try !

We got up bright and early and hit the road after some breakfast–our drive was supposed to be about an hour and a half and it was a nice morning with a pretty sunrise.

Nina, Andrew and I carpooled and met up with Sonya and Sarah and their spectator friends to go to the race site (on a school bus — fun right?).

Once we got there it was all about getting pumped up (aka waiting around for our 9:50 start time).

To start, you actually had to hop over a mini wall. Funny. I used a boost.

After they totally pumped us up (lots of cheering, some anthem-singing, high fives, etc.), we were on our merry 16km way. Up and down and up and down and up and down and then up and down hills. Our 6th member, Steve, found us right away — and we were off! Ski hills, not bunny hills. So when I say that we “ran” the course, you can infer that it was a mix of running, walking, trudging, and crawling. Plus swimming, technically…

There were 20 obstacles (I think) and the ones that stick out as the most fun were the arctic enema, funky monkey (monkey bars over water which I totally made it across with a smile!) and the mud mile. There was also essentially a giant slip and slide down mud on a hill which was just plain old fun, but I’m not sure what that one was called!

For those 3 fun obstacles, there was also plenty of hills to climb and some really shitty obstacles. Like being zapped. Over and over again in two different obstacles — electric eel and electroshock therapy. Yeah, I survived, but I won’t lie to you — I cried. And I got cranky. And I had to apologize to my team for it and move on and thank god the hardest of the shocks came at the end. I literally crawled to the finish but whatever. Done and done.

We were lucky enough to have spectators who snapped some photos of us in action, but we look pretty dirty (and you can see my cranky face !).

after you…into the ice!

In the ice bath, Sarah popped her shoulder out. Then she put it back in and went on with the race. Definition of epic.

The venue was gorgeous!

Those wires look little…but don’t be fooled. OW

Beer helped bring back the smiles.

I probably wouldn’t do another tough mudder real soon. I’m not just shook up by the electroshock, it was also expensive (over 150$) and one of those things I think you can check off your bucket list and be done with! I am glad I did it — but I heard a story about a guy who did it 3x this weekend in Toronto and I think he is psycho. That is all. We did have fun hanging out after the race with our matching shirts and sunburns!

After we kind of relived (whined about) the race for a while, we packed up and hit the road. The traffic back to Mississauga sucked, to put it nicely.

We pulled over for snacks (it was almost 3 and breakfast and the bananas, LARA bar, and apples I’d eaten weren’t cutting it). I had chili at Tim Horton’s and was much less hangry driving the rest of the route to drop Nina off.

Even though we were late getting back to London, we met up for sushi. It was my first time! And it was delicious, but I’m not a big rice girl so I mostly ate meat and tempura. It is what it is.

Afterwards, some of us went out for drinks. I don’t know how I was still awake–but I guess the coffee (which may or may not have had Bailey’s in it) did the trick. Today I had nothing important to get up for so I was in bed til lunchtime. So lunch was breakfast! I hung out with Angela and got my car checked out (it was making a hella funny sound but it’s okay and all fixed up), rebuilt my bike, and half-unpacked/repacked for Pennsylvania).

lunch: sausage over kale, apples, and some maple dressing with dried cranberries

snack at Starbucks

Now I just finished a quick dinner and am going to head to yoga. My body is NOT in the state to feel good teaching spin–my hip was a mess after the hills and the car ride yesterday and I feel like a train hit me (or like I got tough muddered…). I did get to the chiropractor today which left me feeling energized (though it might have been the positivity and the fact that I got to whine for a few minutes about how tough the race was !) and like I can move my neck again!

pork over swiss chard with raspberry vinaigrette

Dessert: digging into my awesome chocolate find from the conference and trying out some cranberry tea!

Things I’m sick of include living out of a suitcase and eating tons of dried fruit and nuts. I am craving a little bit of routine but I know going to my grandma’s for a few days is going to be fun and relaxing. I’m looking forward to getting away–if that makes any sense since I’ve hardly been home–since where she lives is so rural and simple. I plan on reading, journalling, blogging, etc….all the good stuff I feel like I’ve been missing out on lately! I am bringing my TRX and my kettlebell and leaving my bike here–if I do much I think I’ll take it to the park or find a trail to run on while I’m there. I’m still tired from everything that’s been going on I think and one thing I am learning to take to heart is that if you’re tired or sick or injured, what’s the point in stressing yourself out with a workout that you feel like you SHOULD do? (Hint: there’s not much point for me!).

Anyways, it’s zen time! I hope you enjoyed my whining and ranting about the race and that you’re all happy since I’m back.

Have you ever done a Tough Mudder Race? What’d you think?
Do you do well with travelling?

Here we go again

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

I think the name of the game this summer is living out of a suitcase.

While it makes me feel a bit off — what day of the week is it again? — I’m loving it, especially since when I was in deep with ED I never ever went away for fear of not being able to work out or not being able to control my food.

Now I know: I can always go for a walk and I always get to choose what I’m eating and how I’m eating it. In short, I really am applying that whole “vacation isn’t an excuse to go wild” but more importantly “if you figure out how to live healthy all the time so that you don’t feel like you need to overindulge on vacation, there’s nothing to worry about” idea I’ve come to.

I still don’t LOVE packing, but unpacking is worse. Which is why my bike is still in the box. I don’t need to ride it this weekend but I think I should probably get it built up so I feel accomplished! I did just about everything but yesterday — laundry, vacuuming, organizing, cleaning, all that good stuff — so I guess that’s a win. I also went for a nice 45 minute run on the trails (both my iPods were dead so I had some time to think — much needed!) and then hit up a power yoga class. Again, much needed. I missed yoga! My shoulders were tired — it’s amazing what a week away will do (plus the crossfit workout from Tuesday). I’m still feeling good and after my morning adjustment yesterday I noticed a difference–when I flipped my dog and was in wild thing BOTH sides worked. Amazing!

I’m sure this is what I look like…

In between my run and yoga, I had some trail mix. I also snarfed a banana and made myself a quick fish dinner with coleslaw.

Myu final sk=nack was a granola bar. I know, it’s been a while since you’ve seen one on here! I’ve been trying to eat more foods that come without packaging. I don’t know if it’s mental but I felt like crap pretty much right after I ate this. Maybe it was also because I was tired and ready for bed or because I’d had a beer a few hours earlier, but I don’t think so. I guess I feel better when I eat real food — imagine that! This is where it’s different that I am not choosing to eat certain things any more — it’s not because some Paleo book told me not to or because a nutritionist says that I should cut ____ to lose weight. It’s because I want to eat things that leave me feeling my best, performing my best, and yes–looking my best. They all go hand in hand and since I’m willing to make mistakes, I know I’m on the right track!

This weekend I’m going to bring along a cooler. I remember the fitness conference as being a really crappy place to find food, as weird as that sounds…I’m really sick of spending more money than I should on food that I could have packed myself — so I’m not going to!

Last night we decorated Tough Mudder shirts. Sarah might laugh at this photo and Alex would kill me if I put it on facebook, but the world wide web and all my readers is not the same as his facebook friends, right? Baha, so I’m sharing. We used puffy paint and iron on transfers for these bad boys–but you’ll have to wait ’til Sunday to see the finished project!

At any rate, it was awesome to see friends last night. Bonnie popped by (goal for the next week is to spend as much time with her as possible) and we laughed a lot and Sarah is trying to fatten us up with goodies but it’s all welcome!

In honour of Tough Mudder, three of my fav pump up songs:

Anyways — it’s time for me to get a move on. I slept til 930 today (I think all my travels are catching up to me!) and had a nice breakfast but I’m sure that today’s going to go quicker than I’d like! I’m aiming for a swim and packing this morning and then quality time/riding to Toronto with Bonnie this aft.

I think I am taking a trip to Pennsylvania next week to see my grandma (she’s having a tough month) so this whirlwind is just going to continue. Apparently flying by the seat of my pants is the way to be…and that’s okay!

“Your real security is yourself. You know you can do it, and they can’t ever take that away from you.”- Mae West

Do you ever feel like your life is a whirlwind? How do you centre yourself?
Have you ever been to CanfitPro? What’d you think? (I get frustrated with the selling that goes on but I also know that fitness professionals need a venue to promote what they’re doing. That being said, there are some people to skip and some things that are really awesome there and knowing what to pay attention to is the trick to learning instead of being sold, I think!)

What’s your favourite pump up song?

Happy Thursday!

Start it right

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

Morning! I’m feeling particularly accomplished this morning.

I had three boot campers with smiles (or something like that) on their faces this morning, including Bee whose blog, Bee Goes Bananas, I’m sure you’d love if you aren’t already a reader!

After bootcamp, I decided to go for a morning run. It’s not uber hot out and I was feeling energized and pumped up (I guess my girls’ awesomeness rubbed off on me), but I was also feeling hungry so I had a quick energy gel and then hit the trails.

…and then the trails hit me.

It’s not as bad as that looks but I was dirty. I hustled home and to prove that there might have been blood and sweat but not tears, I snapped a photo. Girls don’t sweat, they glisten…remember?

If this isn’t a good look for me, I’m so shit out of luck because I glisten like a pig every time I work out! I think this morning I probably did about 5 or 6 miles (we ran in our bootcamp workout–the one I posted yesterday) but I’m not sure since my garmin was dead and I frankly don’t care.

I refuelled with last night’s yogurt plus some kamut puffs and a banana. It was yummy, but it got yummier when I threw in some almonds and some chocolate soy milk. Oh hey, creating it as you go, you’re delicious! The hungries I felt after my run are just proof that cardio = working up an appetite. All of a sudden it’s seeming kind of weird that people start working out and training for marathons and triathlons and all that to LOSE weight. I eat MORE when I train — not only physically do I need the extra calories but I definitely justify some things (i.e. the chocolate in this break) based on the workouts I do. Hmmmm…thoughts?! I think it was in Gary Taubes’ book that I read something about this whole phenomena…about how silly it is that we take up endless endurance exercise to lose weight when people also work out in this way in order to “work up an appetite” for instance if they have a big dinner to look forward to. Very interesting. Still, I loved my run this morning, I like riding my bike, and I enjoy swimming…so since that’s not my motivation I’m not crazy, right?

Now it’s time for me to get organized and get down to business on my writing! I promise myself not to blog ALL DAY LONG but that doesn’t mean I won’t probably get distracted reading blogs and all that fun stuff…oh well! I have this spare time, I might as well enjoy it. Starbucks here I come. After my life coaching session, I’m going to hit up a yoga class since my workouts are done for the day. My main goal: stay upright, since I have a knack for falling over these days!

Have you ever bailed on a trail run? Did anyone see? No one was around when I fell so I had to laugh at myself instead of having the pleasure of providing entertainment for someone else!
What do you do with free time?

Making progress

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

Howdy there…this time from London and my futon. Boy oh boy did I miss my space!

Right now it’s a bit of a disaster since my suitcases exploded with laundry…

…and we all know how I feel about laundry.

Needless to say, I don’t feel too bad putting off the finishing touches of my unpacking and cleaning til tomorrow when I’m fresh…

Now for the good stuff.

Today was amazing. Warning–I’m terrible at race recaps, so bear with me!

Bluewater is like Christmas. Going home for this race means seeing so many familiar faces and being literally outside where I grew up. I did the duathlon for two years before making my switch to triathlon last year, which makes this my fourth time doing the event. It’s one of the ones people do year after year after year, and not just because the church ladies cook up a storm (too bad my camera was dead and I didn’t get any photos from the post-race spread). This year, I finished in 1:05 on the dot, which was almost 2 minutes faster than last year! It’s not a massive improvement, but I’ll take it. The results went up quick but I was mostly pleased that my stomach cooperated, I felt strong, and that I got to do the race!

I did snag some photos from the race (my mom took some, I took some, friends had cameras!) and it was all smiles and sunshine.

That pretty much sums it up, although I did have a near heart attack about 5 minutes before the start when I lost my goggles. And of course I didn’t have my spares. I asked all around the people on the beach and then finally with 3 minutes to go ran my butt up to transition area and offered to kiss the first person to lend me a spare. Luckily a kind kind soul gave them to me (and only teased me about following through on my offer) and I was able to adjust them and swim! AMEN for nice triathletes. The 400m took me 9:12, but there’s a nice chunk of time for the run back to transition in there. I was faster than last year and felt loads better, so that’s a good thing, especially since I’ve done ZERO open water swims.

The bike felt awesome. I passed a lot of girls and guys alike (that’s normal — I am a cyclist and not much of a swimmer so it’s bound to happen). I even spent some time in my drops…which was new for me. What better time to experiment than during a race, right? (joke) The 18km took me 34:22, which is one of those times I’m proud of but nothing out of this world–though considering the biking I’ve been doing, I’m happy my legs were feeling good and not too tired from the mountains. Yay!

Another thing I’ve done NONE of this year = bricks. I guess all the bootcamp workouts have confused my muscles enough that a casual 4km run after the swim/bike wasn’t too much of a shocker. Maybe I should have run harder, but I finished up in 19:05, which really surprised me. Faster than 5:00 kilometres without training on purpose? I’ll take it with a smile!

Like I said, I ended up coming in faster than last year. I placed second in my age group again and this year I was third overall for the girls. That felt awesome–it was like the icing on the cake, especially since I went in with no real “training” per se! I also won a raffle prize–a $25 gift card for running room. Lucky bum, huh?

Props go out to all of the people who raced today! There was a lot of first timers, some comebacks, and a whole lot of great work out there. I was so glad to see SO MANY people I know. Did I mention I love this race?

Justin’s a friend from Western tri club – matching age group plaques!

Look who showed up — Dave and his wife Dina made their way out to say hello!

Amy’s a yoga instructor who makes me smile every time I see her! She killed it this year and was such a ray of sunshine/cheerleader even while neither of us could really breathe…

Haley also did great and cheered like a champ even during the race!

…since my stomach was off, I stuck to a bland tuna sandwich (blechhhhh sums up how I feel about this) and a cookie. My dinner tonight was delicious and brought me back to how I normally eat. Snacks today were all over the place: dried fruit, an apple, two bananas, a LARA bar, a granola bar. I’m so ready to not be flying by the seat of my pants, it’s not even funny!

first things first, back to my kale!

Back to the good stuff..

The post-race fun just made things even better. We started off on a patio…

And then made our way for a refreshing dip in the river. This is kind of a Sarnia rite of passage and it felt so good today.

someone’s on their own countdown!

Made it!

The river run was on my summer bucket list, along with a whole whack of other things I’ve been crossing off. Like drinking long island iced tea (it’s a rough life, ya know!)…

Now that I’m back in London, I’m feeling better and better–and I don’t just mean my stomach. This morning and the past few days, I’ve been feeling so gross. Dreading coming home and feeling fat and miserable. But ya know what I realized today? When my friends asked me to stick around after the race, I wanted to say no. I wanted to come back right away and do…what? I don’t know. Be miserable? Binge? That’s definitely where I was at a year ago…but it’s not where I am today. There’s something empowering about realizing that you can choose something different and even if you start to stray from your healthy/happy/new ways, you can get back to where you need to be. Since it feels so good to choose the happy thing (going for a drink even though I felt “fat”, racing even though I hadn’t trained and thought I’d end up “slow”, spending time with friends instead of being miserable), it’s starting to become my automatic choice, I think. And that’s the way it should be…apparently happy is not only healthy, it’s also faster than last year, friendly. and all around awesome.

And now for the perfect ending to a pretty much perfect day — first my decaf coffee/nightcap (cuz I bought a bottle of deliciousness and had to give it a go) and then the face plant into MY OWN BED!

Have you ever done a triathlon? What’d you think? I love it — the physical part is challenging, the camaraderie is unbelievable! Nothing like any other kind of race — there’s competition but it’s such a different kind. LOVE. I think I re-caught the bug here…

What are you doing this weekend?

PS: Speaking of Christmas…

Stuffed

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

Today was stuffed with fun, filled with sun, and oh so awesome. I am stuffed with froyo and a pretty delicious dinner and I’m just counting down til I face plant into my own bed! Home sweet home to my semi-airconditioned apartment = hallelujah!

I started my morning off with a run along the water in Bright’s Grove. It was beautiful. I really miss running along the water there–it’s where I grew up and so this morning’s run was my normal route until last year! Missing it…

Who wouldn’t want to run here?

I didn’t feel awesome during my run. It was pretty hot and I decided to just do a simple loop and I think it was probably about 4 slow miles. After the run I did a quick playground workout using the monkey bars with the best view around, in my opinion.

My workout was a countdown with 10 reps each of squats, pushups, burpees, sit-ups, and (jumping) pull-ups, then 9 of each, 8, … 1 of each! It was really hard for me — the burpees got my heart rate up as expected but I looked at my heart rate and saw numbers higher than I have in a long time following the jumping pull-ups. Holy smokes I miss these workouts and am so happy to be back doing them!

I went to the water immediately following this one, which was particularly sweaty, and made good on my promise to jump in the lake post-run this summer. Done and done!

After I went back to my mom’s to change and pack up my stuff and grab lunch (leftovers), my afternoon was about seeing a bunch of friends (literally three different groups worth) on the beach.

Fun! And yes, I put on sunscreen but I still got a bit too much sun!

We also played volleyball, football, and all that good stuff. I haven’t spent this much time just doing things for the sake of doing them in a long time and let me tell you — it felt awesome!

After we’d had our fill of sun, a few of my friends and I had dinner at Skeeter’s. My fav restaurant! I love the view and even though our service was slow, I was smiling. It might have had something to do with the beer I had and the favour that Angela gave me driving my car back — laying in the sun + lightweight = recipe for tipsy.

I could not polish off this chicken club / caesar salad combo, but I did my best!

We ended the day with a stop at Kiwi Kraze for froyo when we got back to town. Perfection. My froyo was even festive and I didn’t mean to! Funny how that happens!

I was a bit ambitious and couldn’t finish this either…that’s a first! …but luckily I’ve got friends who could!

If this weekend was about fun and relaxation, I think I win! I saw so many friends — — and I even put a dent in my summer bucket list–>sailing, fireworks, friendship bracelets, jumping in the lake post-run, etc. I’m plugging away and it’s hard to believe it’s July. I fully intend to make a fall list or maybe just to break out the bucket list for life when this summer one’s done!

This week is pretty low key — bootcamp, some spin classes, a meeting with a prof about an independent study, and gearing up for my bike trip to Virginia (I leave next week). There should be ample time for blogging and I’m looking forward to my first week without school on my mind. I got my mark back — a 79 <– not my best but certainly not anything to be worried about — so even that back of my mind concern has been put to rest!

Did I mention I spent this weekend smiling?

candid, instagram-ed summary of the weekend!

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?

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?

I love road trips and reunions

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

I think I could easily have written a post on how to have a perfect day.

Start with lots of lazy blogging and coffee.

Move on to a run with good company (in my case Ellen, who is always so positive and leaves me feeling happy as a clam!). Bonus points if it’s sunny out and you can run in a tank top.

Make your lunch delicious–fresh bread, anyone?

Toss in some tasty snacks — an apple, a granola bar, a yogurt mess — and then hit the road.

Connect with old friends and make a few new.

Eat something delicious at a restaurant everyone should try.

And do something cool — make crafts! Realize you might not be artsy, but that doesn’t mean you’re not crafty.

If you can, also get to spend time with one of the most wonderful people you’ve met–here comes a little love letter to Lisa, who literally has been there for me through thick and thin.

Whether I need someone to call, eat puppy chow with, go for a run with, sit around and “reflect” with, or laugh my butt off with, she’s a go to kind of girl.

This seems appropriate, given the Anais Nin theme I started with my mug…

It also seems appropriate to be asleep right now!

When’s the last time you connected with an old friend?
Do you like making crafts? What’s your favourite?

Walk the walk

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

Ya know all that good stuff about talking the talk and backing it up by walking the walk?

Let me tell you, it’s delicious.

After last night’s big realization, I made good on my plans to live and love life last night. Rachel and I chit chatted and then met up with some girls I miss far too much for fro yo! It had been a few hours since dinner so I had a hefty, awesome cup of chocolate/amaretto mix with chia seeds, granola, coconut, and a cherry on top. I think I have this fro yo thing down to an art…

And it was so good to catch up with everyone. Fro yo or not, say yes to people when they ask you to hang out. Just go for the experience…when’s the last time you regretted hanging out with a friend?

When I got home I dove into bed and into the book I mentioned in my post — Do I Look Fat in This? Life Doesn’t Begin Five Pounds From Now and as I thought, it was just what I was searching for in my epiphany. There’s a whole chapter called “But I’m Just Trying to Be Healthy” and some stuff sticks out to me worth sharing…

“…to talk about health is to talk about more than just weight charts and fat counts. It is to talk about wholeness, wellness, and a sense of complete balance mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.”
“Have you been dieting for well over half your life? Has the fact that you haven’t been able to reach the size you desire masked any of the other accomplishments you have achieved in your life?…I wonder how many other areas of your life are not being honoured because you are so restrictive.”
“It’s time for the woman you are now to confront your inner dieting child and find out if this is a pattern you wish to continue. Being healthy is about having a well-rounded life. Moving your body, eating balanced meals, and working on your emotional and spiritual health. If you spend all your time focused on food and your size, you may be missing the fullness of your life that is available to you now, not five pounds from now.”

Amen to that!

There’s a lot of talk in the book about walking the walk and that is what I need — reassurance that I can do it and the reminder that actually living it is the important thing! I also came across a post on Body Love Alchemy about the need to use your A-ha moments to change how you live. So that’s what I’m doing…

This morning I woke up pretty early, fixed myself a bowl of cereal, and decided to get on with my day.

good

better!

I spent the morning doing what I want to — blog, send emails, getting things ordered and some plans set to get excited about for the next couple weeks (things suddenly look more colourful), and drinking coffee of course.

And this afternoon I am going to run with Ellen and then head on my road trip to see Lisa! I am beyond excited and proud of myself for going there just on a whim, eating dinner out, and not worrying about getting home late/when I’ll work out this weekend, etc. It’s time to fake it til I make it, and I’m doing it.

At the end of the day, if all I did was check my workouts off my to do list, eat my fruits and veggies, and that’s it, that’s fine. What’s not fine is if trying to do those things interferes with me living and interacting and doing fun stuff. Because isn’t being healthy supposed to make life more enjoyable? So when did it turn into something that we prioritize at the expense of other fun things? Yes workouts are important. Eating healthy is good for you. Schoolwork and work are important. But so is having fun and making time for friends, eating junk food, and being able to sleep in every once in a while.

I feel a whole bunch of these rambling posts coming on…and a whole lot of fun straight ahead for me!

Theme song…

Had any good realizations lately?
What are you doing this weekend?

Short and sweet

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

My trip home has come to an end.

This morning the doctor went well. I ended up with a referral to a different specialist, a couple of suggestions, and time to shop, so I was happy.

I bought myself a dress for grad (it’s only 2 months away, ya know) and some Clif bars, Adora disks–a new buy for me to replace the Viactiv chews I used to buy (which are filled with corn syrup and other ingredients I’d rather not consume on a regular basis, twice a day)–and a necklace that is a bike cuz it was too cute to pass up.

Before I bought my clif bars, I did something I kind of regret. Not really, but do you remember the show Teen Angel?

Yes? No? It was bad. About two friends, one of whom ate an old cheeseburger, died, and came back as an angel only the other friend could see. Anyways, lunch today was a Clif bar. Not the most well-rounded. And it expired in March.

Of 2011.

Oops. After I ate it and noted how stale it was, I checked for a date. And lo and behold, I found it. Oh well. I’m still alive. So you can’t have my wardrobe yet…

Once I got back from the States, I grabbed my stuff from my mom’s place and headed to the river for a run! It was perfect, even though it was uber windy. It’s hard not to be happy running somewhere scenic with the sun shining, even if there are wind gusts of 50km/h. Running by the water and in Canatara is one of my favourite spots, so you know I’m flying high from this right now!

pre-run, pretty sure i'm going to blow away and be gone forever

When I got back to London, I snarfed what was either a super late lunch or a ridiculously early dinner. Since I teach spin tonight, this is probably something in between and I’ll probably have a bigger snack after I teach (I dislike the 7:30pm time because it makes dinner tricky and leaves me wired at bed time, but I LOVE teaching so I’ll stop whining about it now!).

Now it’s time to make a new playlist for my spinners–and readers, of course! Get excited.

Where’s your favourite place to run?
Have you ever tried the Adora calcium disks?

Happy is the new healthy

Tag Archives: run