Changes of 2011

I really can't believe it when I think of all the changes that occured for me in 2011. There are so many and I can honestly say that I am SO, SO proud of myself.

I have completely changed my life around and am EXACTLY where I want to be :)

Some of the things that changed in 2011

• I lost 40 lbs!!- Yes I finally hit my 40 lb mark and am sooo happy!! It's been quite the journey but I think losing 40 lbs in one year is remarkable :) I posted some pics below to show me last Christmas and then pictures from this Christmas.
  
  
• I rediscovered myself- This time last year I was lost. I was broken. I had just gotten out of a 4.5 year abusive relationship(in every single way.. mostly emotional) and I honestly thought I would never be happy again. I didn't think I'd be able to move on or be able to REALLY smile again. I got so used to putting up a front around people that they never thought I was hurting inside. I guess it was a way of protecting myself. In 2011 I started out the year keeping myself busy and making sure I was surrounded by people who loved me. I started losing weight and eventually found my confidence again. I realized that I am a good person and that I am loveable. I found my sense of humour.. didn't worry about what other people thought of me and started being myself again. I am a giving, kind hearted person and that person will NEVER, EVER go away.
  
  
• I got a promotion!- I started working at Primal in September 2009 part time. I instantly loved my job and knew that I wanted to stay there for awhile. I was only getting about 25 hours a week and needed more money to pay the bills so I was working another part time job. This didn't really bother me as I LOVE working :) In January I started full time and was able to quit my part time job! I couldn't be happier.. its like a have a work family :)
  
  
• Fell in love- This one is the most important one to me :) I had been into Pete for a very long time. Pretty much since we started hanging out during our lunch breaks (we met at Primal). I was instantly attracted to his sense of humour, his smile and his kind eyes :). We talked every single day at work over MSN. He'd send me songs and we had pretty much the same music taste.. I loved that! He quickly became one of my closest friends and I was terrified to tell him I liked him because A) we worked together.. could become awkward, B)Fear of rejection and C) I didn't want to lose the friendship if he didn't feel the same way. He quit in June of this year and we still talked every single day over FB chat :) I finally decided to tell him and it was the best thing I've ever done!! It took a few days for him to come around and admit it too but we hung out one night and watched True Blood and Breaking bad and have been inseparable ever since. I've never felt something like this and really hope this lasts forever!!! Jan 5th will be 5 months for us :). I finally found someone who I can be myself with in every single way.. and he makes me feel beautiful everyday.. even when I look like a bum and am wearing no makeup :) SOOO HAPPY <3<3<3
  
  
• Dumped shitty friends- I decided that if being a good friend was a priority for me.. I deserved the same! I had many people treat me like shit in 2010 and wasn't going to let that happen in 2011. When the red flags started showing.. I kicked them to the curb. No need for that!
  
  
• Became closer to my closest friends- One in particular. My best friend Jenn. She is my one and only and gets me better than anybody ever has. We can talk about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING and I think we could gross out most guys by our conversations. haha. She is the best person I've ever met and we've been best friends for 9 years now! She truly gets me and would do anything to fix any problem I have. I love her so much.
  I've also become a lot closer to some of my other friends including Amber who has been amazing. I've known her since I was in grade 10 and we're closer than we've ever been. She's one of my closest friends and I'd do anything for her! Another friend is Stef :) She is amazing and so beautiful inside and out. We have gone through a lot of the same struggles so it's nice having a buddy to go through it with. I know you'll be the first one to read this.. love you soooo much girl!!! Another friend I've become close to is Sam. We met when she was a co-op at Primal last year and she quickly became my go to coworker for everything.. she has been an amazing friend and always offered me the best advice and was always there to listen to me when I was down and needed to be lifted up. :) She is one of the most amazing people I have EVER met.
  
  
• Bought a brand new car! - Got my new car! My lovely madza3 that I love soooooo much!
  
  
• Stopped drinking pop- I love pop.. maybe a little bit too much. It was really hard to give up at first but I knew it was one thing I needed to kick to have a healthier lifestyle. In 2010 I drank 3-4 cans of pop a DAY and no water.. no joke. I was a Canada Dry addict!! mmm gingerale. This year I kicked the habit and now only drink water (and coffee.. a bit of an addict on that one though)
  
  
• Discovered my love of snowmobiling- One thing I quickly became addicted to in early 2011 was going snowmobiling with my dad. I usually hate winter but this year that has changed! It became one of my favourite past times and cannot wait for there to be a heavier snowfall so we can go out and hit the trails!
  
  
• I started volunteering at a homeless youth drop in centre- This one makes me feel great. In May I started Volunteering at a place called ROOF. This place has seriously changed my life. Seeing the progress in some of the youth and the bonds I have developed with soo many of them is amazing. This has made me question my path in life and I'm seriously considering going back to school to go into this field.
  
  
• Joined a band- Many of my friends and family know that I LOVE to sing.. I feel like I am quite good at it. After filling in for the singer of the Primal band "Bog Ferret" it became a permanant thing in 2011 :). We meet every tuesday night and jam out at the office :) Love it so much and my band mates are awesome!!!
  
  
• Changed my view on working out- I used to HATE .. HATE working out. It was pretty much a chore for me and I never did it. This year I discovered that I actually love to be active and it has really helped me in this weight loss. I haven't been able to work out for the last month as I have mono but in 2012 it is going to be a HUGE thing for me. Gonna incorporate activity into my daily routine.

Here are the pictures I talked about earlier in this post.

Christmas 2010

Pictures from Christmas 2011

I feel like I even look happier! hehe

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more posts in 2012!

xo

Stephie

I have mono :(

Sorry I didn't get back to ya sooner but I've pretty much been a zombie. I found out I had mono. :(

Really, really, really sucked! Saturday-Friday I did nothing but stay in bed and sleep.. ALLL DAY!!! I only left my bed to make tea, soup or to use the washroom. Other than that I stayed in bed constantly.

I never knew mono would suck so badly.. I had an insanely sore throat and it burned to even just drink water! I had these little white spots all down my throat/on my tonsils which allowed me to eat NOTHING. Not sure if those sucked more than the night sweats but I ended up just sleeping in a towel bathrobe. It was the only way I wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night soaked (like 5 times a night). By the following Saturday I was able to start eating solid foods and was able to move around a little more.. wasn't feeling like I'd pass out just by walking down the hall.

Today I went back to work after a week. I must say I feel pretty loved and was definitely missed :) I only worked 10-2:30 as I knew I wouldn't last a full day.

Today is my amazing mothers birthday :) I love her sooo much! She is the greatest person in my life and I would not be the person I am today if she wasn't one of my best friends <3

I'm going to head off now.. later!

Steph

Missed 2 weeks.. but I'm back!

Sorry for being a crappy blogger :(. I've been very stressed out these last two weeks.

My parents went on vacation for a week to Jamaica and left me in charge which meant I spent every night at home, cleaned up the house (including cleaning up after my slob of a brother). I was basically a housewife for a week! haha I did get in a bit of exercise as I walked brady twice a day every day. so that was good!

We had the Primal Holiday party which was a blast!! Bog Ferret rocked the house! I love our band!! WE ROCK!! We performed 15 songs.. it was a lot of fun. The only thing that was not fun about it was the hangover the next day :|. I needed to have some "bravery juice" to be able to get onto the stage and then within the last hour a group of 7-8 of us did like 10-15 shots. Yes I repeat.. 10-15 shots within AN HOUR!!!! it was kind of ridiculous but awesome at the same time! The room was definitely spinny that night! I'm so lucky I have a supportive boyfriend who overlooks my drunken stupidity. At one point in the night I came and sat beside him with a drink and he put his hand on my leg and said "whats that?". I said "my leg" hes like.. "what... whats that?" I said "my leg" he goes "..............what are you drinking?" I go "ooooooooooooohhhhhhh ahahah .......a white freezie" Yep.. Im wack! That was at about 1/2 way through our set. :| I also spilled A LOT of popcorn in his car.. sorry Pete! :)

My parents came home on Wednesday and I could not have been happier!! I missed them soo much! ( I also missed sleeping in).

Wednesday was also my weigh in day and I was down a lb!! Whoot Whoot I was very happy.. I'm the lowest weight I've been in over 2 years!! :)

(I also kind of cheated and got on the scale today and was down 1 more lb.. kinda happy about that but I'm also sick.. which I will get into)

Thursday night I was able to spend time with my best friend Jenn. We ate dinner, went for a 30 min walk and then watched our show "Drop Dead Diva" for the rest of the night. Thats when I started to feel like arse. I was starting to feel the pain!

Friday came and went.. it was a hectic work day (as the last week had been.. ugh!!). I was happy when 5pm rolled around as I went and picked up Pete and then we went with my parents to our family friends house for dinner and gingerbread making. We had a great time and Pete and I made an amazing gingerbread house! It was crappy we left a bit early because I was sick.. but I really wanted to go to bed.

Next day I felt like I had been hit in the neck with a brick. It hurts so badly to swallow.. Had the chills for 2 days straight.. raging headache.. pain in my neck/back, swollen glands lymph nodes. ughh

Now I am getting the sweats andd I have white spots on my throat and the pain has completely moved over to my left side. It really, really sucks. It's also extremely painful and NOTHING helps. I've tried 4 kinds of lozenges, 2 sprays that numb the throat, advil and aleve.. its just insanely painful. The only thing that kinda helps is putting a cold pack on it and camomile tea :(

Bah.. I hate being sick!

Hopefully I can get in to see my doctor tomorrow. I went for a drop in appointment at my doctors office on Sunday and one of the doctors there took 5 mins with me. She swabbed my throat.. left.. came back with results (no strep) and told me to drink lots of fluids and left..

THANKS!!!! VERY helpful!

*SMH!!!*

Anyways I'm going to try and get some sleep.

Steph

Day 30- Challenge COMPLETE!!!

I have officially completed my first 30 day challenge! I have worked out every single day for 30 days!!! WHOOT!!!

What a fantastic feeling!!

Yesterday I got on the treadmill and pushed myself for 25 minutes .. my legs were burning. Frig it hurts on an incline!! Then I got off and did 120 situps.. (3 days in a row). I was literally in soo much pain I was yelling out "GAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" everytime I did a situp lol

How do I feel now that this challenge is over? I feel amazing.. 30 days in a row is a huge accomplishment! I am kind of looking forward to not having to work out EVERY SINGLE DAY buuuuut I am still planning on working out 4-5 times a week.

Have I noticed any changes? Yes! First off I lost 5 lbs! People are telling me they are seeing a difference. I go out in public places and guys check me out EVERY DAY!! It feels good (even though it only matters to me that one guy checks me out heheh :P). I've also noticed a difference in the way my shirts fit on my waist.. and my tightest skinny jeans are now loose.. WHOOT!!

Such a good feeling.

I have a new 30 day challenge I have planned out.. :) I will keep you posted.. it is not fitness related but I will be visiting the 30 day workout challenge again in January.

Until then I will keep you posted on my workout, weight loss success stories and everything else :)

Steph

Day 28 & 29

Hi all!!

Soo Wednesday was a crazy busy day.. My parents left for Jamaica and I am left at home with Brady.. soo I had to rush home.. take him for a walk.. load him up into the car and take him to my grandparents for our usual dinner date :). It was good and I loooove what they made. "Romanian Pizza" Its basically cornmeal covered in cheese and baked.. mmmmmmmmmmm soooooooooooo friggin good. Usually there is bacon in it.. not this time though. meh!

I also weighed in Wednesday morning and I'm down .5 lbs! That makes 5 lbs total since the beginning of this work out challenge!! It doesnt seem like a lot but Im nearing 40 lbs total so it seems to be coming off much slower lately :)

When I came home from my grandparents I jumped on the exercise ball and did 120 situps in 5 minutes. It is the bare minimum but I still got in two 10-15 minute walks with brady.. so I don't feel TOO bad :)

On Thursday I had a really shitty day.. I was majorly down in the dumps :(. I've been feeling really lonely.. and I guess when you only hang out with a dog it gets to you.

After work my boss, and coworker Georgina went shopping for our Adopt-a-family :). I got home and walked Brady for 15 minutes.. It's really hard to walk him in the dark with no street lights whatsoever.. I use the flashlight on my phone that does out every 45 seconds :|. I came back in and made dinner (french onion soup mmmm) .. and then jumped on the treadmill for 15 minutes.. Afterwards I got on the exercise ball and did 120 sit ups. Felt great.

I then got super lonely and depressed and cried myself to sleep.. being alone isn't my thing. I also had nightmares last night... One where I murdered someone! One where a gang was after me.. and then another where I was kidnapped! It was freaky :( Not a fan.

Today is my big day and I wanted to make a seperate post .. I will do that one later :)

The man is on his way over.. soooooo I should clean up a bit before he comes!

Toodles!

Stephie