An extra toe?

A survey by Women in Fitness magazine reveals that 21 to 23 percent of women would spend a week in jail, shave their heads or trade in a decade of their life to reach their ideal weight. 85 percent of those surveyed said they would rather sprout an 11th toe than carry around 50 extra pounds.

I could TOTALLY handle an 11th toe! I might even go for a head shave... but give up 10 years of my life? Mind you I guess if you are 50 pounds too heavy you could be knocking 10 years off your life anyway..

I don't expect an 11th toe anytime soon so I guess I have to stay focused!

Thanks for the comments thus far.. Answers to a couple questions:

1. I will weight myself at the end of the month.. and as much as I am saying 60 pounds I am aiming for a comfortable size 8.. or size 6 at some stores :D

2. I still believe weight loss is about food and maintence is about exercise.

3. More info on twist: http://www.twistkelowna.com/

4. Frozen shoulder: Frozen shoulder, or adhesive capsulitis, is a condition that causes restriction of motion in the shoulder joint. The cause of a frozen shoulder is not well understood, but it often occurs for no known reason. Frozen shoulder causes the capsule surrounding the shoulder joint to contract and form scar tissue. (and mine is getting better now.. and fast!)

One toe in...

One toe in... One toe out.. One toe in.. One toe out... That's not my style...




Here we go...

2009 was a year of drama for many. I am choosing to call it a year of "drama" to keep away from calling it a horrible, terrible, disastrous waste of 365 days! Truly there were moments of great good, fun, accomplishment and success! Plus lots of lessons learned *sigh* what would life be with out those lessons. Too make a long story short 2009 started with a house fire and progressed to include the passing of not 1, but both of our dogs, a frozen shoulder, no racing, weight gain, a real estate crash that lead us to selling our boat and other finical obstacles, and being homeless twice. On the other side of the coin, we made some new wonderful friends and spent more time with some we already had, had 2 new dogs come into our home that we are fostering, bought a wonderful new condo about 45 seconds from the beach and as Steve will tell you 254 yards to the beer store, i had a stellar year at work, started growing my "voice" work and mentoring business and learned that I have a wonderfully high pain tolerance!

So here we are at 2010.

Normally I'm not a big "New Year - New Out look" kinda gal. If it came down to a time of year my changes generally get put into motion in the fall. But this has been a different kind of 12 months, even with growth and a positive outlook I am very happy to see the door slam on 2009.

I have made some choices that will effect the rest of the year, choices that I will chronicle here. If you would like to join me on this journey I would be thrilled!

Basic concept. 8 months. Lose 60 pounds. Go to Costa Rica and learn to surf.

Good News. when I first really started a journey towards health almost 10 years ago I weighted in close to 250 pds. My lowest weigh since then was 145. I have always been able to the first 60 pounds of my weight loss off.. I fluctuate with the 55 or so in between. So I am taking a hard look at how I lost that first 60, what worked what didn't and why. I am going to apply the lessons learned. The most basic are. Drink lots of water. Get enough sleep. Small portion sizes. Take a multivitamin. Be active, always walk rather than drive if you can and never say no to doing something active over hanging out on the couch. I Listen to what all the "experts" say but decide for myself if it will work for me.

To start I went down to Nature's Fair in the mission and talked to Suzi. I am now taking a multivitamin amongst a host of other oils and minerals. I have started a pretty straight forward and simple 7 day cleanse, which will be followed by a 30 day cleanse to try to get the toxins out of my body. Plus some protein powder that goes into my morning smoothie.

I have continued with my training at "Twist" and will put into action the running and swimming so I can participate in a triathlon again this summer. I will have more details on this as it gets more organized and we see how far I can push my shoulder.

It feels good to be back, exasperating to be in this position, and motivating to know that I might help someone else find the answer to what seems to be a never ending hunt to health and happiness questions!

Bring on 2010!

What's in that glass..

I recently read a quote:

" It doesn't matter if the glass is half empty or half full,
it matters what you do with what's in the glass.."

I am currently working with "what's in the glass." So I haven't been able to blog in a bit, but blog again soon I will! A reality TV Show, a house sale, a BIG forest fire and some vacation time is keeping me very busy.. but the stories will resume soon!

Love ya SK xx

Body Geometric Fit - sounds fancy!

My work continues to get ready to start training for the half iron next summer.

Seriously it has been a crap load of work to just get ready to get ready!

Frozen Shoulder: The Creative Healing team is working on this one a combination of massage and chiropractic care along with exercises at home and some electrical stuff is all being applied. It does still hurt, sometimes I feel like it’s getting worse! But I think I have more mobility and just also seem to have more pain as the scar tissue etc breaks up.

Heart: Good news further to wearing the heart halter for a day I had a TON of blood work done and it all came back FABULOUS! yes my doctor used the works FABULOUS! Always nice.. but if cholesterol etc is all good.. what the blazes is going on?!? I have a date with a cardiologist and that will be explored. The doctor gave the go ahead on my training because monitoring of my heart plays such an important role in the philosophy behind the training with Chris Willett and ATP Endurance Coaching. Really when my zone is between 110 and 120 bpm on the bike and 120 and 130 bpm running.. my heart shouldn't be throwing a hissy fit of any nature.

Swim: I am watching from the beach until I get this shoulder moving, I am thinking about doing some flutter board work at the pool just because I like being in the water!


Bike: This is kinda neat! I had my bike properly fitted. I am not talking about the usual bike fitting at your local bike shop, I am talking something much more in-depth! Your flexibility is checked out, length of legs, what part of leg is longer, how your ankles bend, what your feet do when you push, your strength and weaknesses and then your bike is set for you.. and just for you! My seat was moved forward and tilted up, my handle bars were lowered and my tri bars tiled up. I also now have some lifts in my shoes, 2 on one side and 1 on the other. It took a good hour to get it all done, and it was pretty intimidating to have all these “expert” cycle dudes analyzing what I was doing on my bike.. I felt VERY uncoordinated and self conscience! But I noticed a difference on the ride home! I do have more power and felt like I had more room on my bike! One of my complaints had been I always feel to scrunched up on my bike.

I had an interesting conversation with the crew at Fresh Air Concepts about the fact that too many people let the intimidation factor get ion the way. It feels like a fitting like this is for the hard core elite athlete.

Sure it is.

But it is also for you and I, as a matter of fact it makes more sense to get it done early in your cycling life! Start right!! It will be adjusted as your skill level and body changes but why not start in the best possible way? You will have a better experience and in turn be more motivate to ride ride ride! I have found that cycling at a beginner level tough, every one seems so much faster and the clinics always seem to be for a higher fitness level than what I have.. but this bike fitting gives you the opportunity to get a better grasp of form, fitness, and the mechanics of your bike!

Book yourself an appointment TODAY at Fresh Air Concepts - which I think is the only place in town that does it! Ask for a “Body Geometric Fit.” Now.. you might find it a touch intimidating.. just take a deep breath, let Chris, Jim, Olaf or whoever is doing your fit know that you are feeling self conscious and go for it! Please leave me a note if you get it done and let me know how it goes - maybe we can go for a ride together one day!

Run: Still not moving too fast.. but now that I have more heart info back I can put together a plan and get moving!

Also on the go.. Dan is on holidays so I am running The Breakfast Club on my own - Lots of Fun and Steve and I are shooting a pilot of a reality TV show !! Plus Thursday night I MC the opening night of The Producers at Kelowna Actors Studio.. get your tickets now it will be a GREAT fun show! It opens Thursday and runs till early August.

Oh Canada!

The shoulder is still frozen and the tears are not dry yet from saying good bye to Shillaleigh but I am Canadian and celebrate I must!

Canada Day is a holiday that makes me grin. We have such a silly nature, full of laughter and heart. Try as we might to wave our flag and send fireworks into the air it always pales in comparison to the loudly patriot nation next door.

But I love every minute of it.

As a country we are still striving to sing our own praises from the top of the parliament buildings and around the world, we would rather have other country’s speak of how great we are, so we can politely say thank you and determine how we could do it better next time.

I have been blessed with the opportunity to travel, and it is my travels that reinforced how truly wonderful it is to be Canadian. Other nations would open doors just a bit wider and go that one step further to make sure I felt welcome and comfortable simple because I am Canadian! What a thrill to realize that I came from such a respected land! A place know for peacekeeping, a land that nurtures laughter and who’s beauty is captured by artists around the world and hung at acclaimed galleries!

At one time in my life I had the feeling that we were looked down on as a nation of wimps constantly in a sate of identity crisis.

Not any more.

We are a strong people. We stand up for the underdog and will fight for our friends. We have the strength to question who we are, why we behave as we do and question if our choices are correct. Our Patriotic spirit might be quieter than other nations, but it is strong and like iron when called upon.

Our country is varied from coast to coast. Sometimes we are not very nice to each other, sometimes our provinces feel like foreign countries because of our celebrated differences. But we live in a country strong enough to hold together when cultures collide and struggle to find away to bring ourselves together as one nation, one nation that is made up of so many cultures, attitudes, and customs.

Yesterday I made a comment that one day I would like to be bored with arrogance rather than annoyed by it. I think that comment can be reflected in our country. A country that pushes boundaries of tolerance and understanding, a country that readjusts it’s personal boundaries so we can all thrive together within our geographical one.

It is so very exciting!

A maturing changing people in a land with vast resources and beauty fitting into an ever shrinking global community. What an adventures it is to be Canadian!

Canada is like the young child with an old soul. We might struggle but look a bit deeper and an ancient wisdom resides. A wisdom that knows better, a wisdom of truth and calm, a wisdom with a toothy grin and belly laugh, a wisdom of the ages weather we always recognize it or not.

A wisdom that you are part of if you can proudly call yourself Canadian.

Happy Canada Day, EH!

OK.. I also love our British influenced lives, sex in a canoe, moose, beer, hockey, lacrose, cottage country, The fact that we have the right to bare breasts not arms, and that we DO NOT have the right to free speech because some things should not be said!

I like frozen popisicles much more than a frozen shoulder!

Thank you. So many kind words have made there way to us as news spread of our loss of little "bug." Truth told the tears haven't stopped and I still haven't been able to clean up her kennel, bowl or toys.. I am sure that will happen in time.

Tears over our little monster are not the only ones shed today. Ever heard of "frozen shoulder?" Here is the "official" definition:

Frozen shoulder, or adhesive capsulitis, is a condition that causes restriction of motion in the shoulder joint. The cause of a frozen shoulder is not well understood, but it often occurs for no known reason. Frozen shoulder causes the capsule surrounding the shoulder joint to contract and form scar tissue.

My definition: OUCH!!!!!

I didn't realize that the start of my training was going to be getting myself ready to start training! I thought I had that all under control! I had no idea the havoc my body has gone thru over the last 8 months. Enough that it is like starting all over again from 3 years ago.. but throw in a possible heart issue and this frozen shoulder business.

Let me clarify I don't have frozen shoulder... yet. But the process has begun, so I have a RMT (Kyla - who I have chatted about before) and a chiropractor (Dr. Liz - she is also at Creative Healing) both of which are working on my shoulder.. I have NEVER felt pain like that. The kind of pain that makes your whole body break into a sweat followed by the urge to "toss my cookies!" I didn't, but it was touch and go for a moment.

I have been told that I should have movement back within the next 2 weeks and we can work on the pain and strengthening after that. Which means I hope to be swimming laps again by the end of July!

Saying Good Bye is so very hard

My tears just won’t stop.

Our little Shillaleigh who we called “Bug” bounded into our lives and she has now left. My heart is broken. Bug was a wonderful friend, she worked hard, she played with great spirit and made it clear she loved you. She was our little princess, she was our little clown and she was in our lives for too short a time.

We had to send Shillaleigh on her way. Our little Bug who brought us so much joy also had a darker side, no matter how hard she tried to deny the urge she just couldn’t do it and for what ever reason she was wired to fight. It always came on fast, it even took trainers by surprise.. no sign, no warning.. just all fight. Very early in her life she picked and won a fight that she should not have.. and never backed down again. As time went on very few 4 legged friends were left unscarred. Our poor Barkley took the worst of it.

This weekend it became clear that even with all our work, hers and ours, this was just getting worse. She couldn’t live 24/7 in a muzzle or in her kennel and we couldn’t safely re-home her any where. Her last fight with Barkley had Steve caught in the middle and he ended up with both hands chewed up enough that a trip to the doctor was in order.

We gave her the best life we could, all be it short.

Bug and I choose each other 3 years ago, and yesterday I had to say Good Bye, from here on every tear I cry no matter what that tear is for a touch of sadness will be there for her. I stayed with her to the end, her last gaze was on me letting her hear and feel the love that I felt for her. I would not and did not leave until it was confirmed that she had gone.

I want her back... but I will wait, and the next time we play it will be with true abandon and joy. She loved me, she trusted me and I had to protect others from her and her from herself. I don’t think I will ever completely forgive myself for not finding another answer.

Shelia at The Spotted Spa has this “poem” on her website and it brings me some comfort.

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...