Me and my big mouth…

I have nothing to hide. My life is an open book (obviously, I have a blog dedicated to my lifestyle journey). I think this blog is a great way to express how I’m feeling, it’s a great way to keep track of my progress, and it is a motivator for me (and, apparently others too). All good stuff. 

Unfortunately, my nutritionist reads it too… (not that I keep anything from her anyway). We met on Thursday evening to discuss my week and we talked about the struggles that evenings (especially weekends) are for me. I asked her if there was any way that my snacks could be something that would take more time to eat (like a bowl of dry Cheerios, for example), and you know what she said?! NO! Why? Because she wants me to break my old habits of munching for extended periods of time… even if Cheerios are a healthier choice than chips, they would ‘feed’ my bad eating habits that I’m trying to change. She’s smart, eh? Man I love her.

Then she asked if I bite my nails and I said that on occasion I do. SO…

Challenge #1: Learn how to give myself a manicure.
It’s an activity that will keep me from biting my nails and it will also occupy my mind and my hands. I’m not really a nail polish-wearing kind of girl, but I do understand the reasons why she wants me to try it. I’ll be working on my nails this evening. 

We then had a conversation about my exercise regime, mentioning that I am going to switch up my Monday/Wednesday walks a little because I don’t think my thighs are getting enough of a workout? Know what she said?

Challenge #2: Walk three laps around the oval, then run three sets of stairs (my walking partner can stay on the track and I can meet up with him when I'm done). 

“WHAT?! You’re kidding, right?” I say.
“No, I’m quite serious. You do know I’m a personal trainer as well, this will be good for you,” she says.
“But I HATE stairs!” I cry.
“I’m sure you do. Oh and up and down is only one set, right? You need to do that three times,” she says with a smile.
“NOOOOOOO! I HATE stairs,” I argue.
“Well, that’s my challenge for you this week… along with doing your nails, you also have to run three sets of stairs after walking three laps… continue doing three and three which will be tough, to do but try to keep it up for at least half an hour,” she says.
“A challenge?” I say, “F*uck. F*uck. I f*ucking hate stairs,” I argue. It was then that I realized I was throwing a temper-tantrum, “ Ohhhkay. I’ll do it.”
“Promise?” she asks.
“I promise,” I reply, crying a little on the inside. 

Stupid blog. Stupid ‘my life is an open-book’ attitude. Stupid stairs. I’m allowed to be sulky… I’ll get over it. The stairs will hurt, much like drinking sulfuric acid does, but ‘no pain, no gain’ right? I’ll be happy when I feel and see the results.

Challenge #3: Start compiling my own healthy recipes.
For this first month that I’ve been with my nutritionist, she and I have been discussing food choices and she has given me a meal plan (including snacks and recipes). But ultimately the goal is for me to learn about food and how to make healthy meal plans on my own. This is 'phase two' of that process. This week I’ll be collecting some of my favouite recipes and on Friday my nutritionist and I will discuss if/how they can fit into my weight-loss goals.

So much happening this week! It’s all good though (even those stupid stairs)… just keep pushing Grace. You can do it!