Taxes and other things

So I finally did my taxes and for the first time EVER I owe money. 😮 I am not sure how I feel about this. The program I used doesn’t seem to be working like I think it should. So I will look at it tomorrow with fresh eyes.

The exercising is still not back to where it should be. This week is going to be different. There, I wrote it so it must be true! 😉

Since I owe taxes and my last credit card bill was a bit spendy as I had some yearly expenses come through, I am going on another no spend challenge. I have a day outing with my oldest on Saturday with her friend and her mother. So my goal is to get to Saturday without spending a cent. I will be shopping my freezers and cooking to make this happen. I will be strong on Friday when we usually have sushi lunch. And I will cross my fingers that there is nothing tempting on the menu at the cafe at work. The good chef is back and it’s been a slippery slope.

Today I baked some pork chops and made rice. Yesterday I baked fish and I have salad fixings. I should be good until Tuesday when I will cook again. I must say it is good to have meat back on the menu as an option. Especially since I have so much of it in the freezer.

My grandfather turns 90 at the end of next month so I am going to try to make this no spend challenge last until then. His party is in Florida, so outside of my plane ticket, I will keep my credit card in my wallet and my money in the bank.

Given my tax bill, I will be investigating additional ways to reduce my taxes. Short of having another child, I think that just looks like more retirement savings are in order. I will have to look at my budget and make adjustments.

I have lots of movies and a few books from the library and my PVR is still overflowing so there is lots to keep me entertained and out of trouble.

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A quick update

Sorry I missed last week. I ran out of time as I took my kids to see their paternal Grandmother who was visiting from out of town and did not account for how long that visit would last.

The past few weeks have been a struggle on the exercise front. I am not doing as well as I use to. But tomorrow is a new day/week!

A family friend is coming into town tomorrow. This means I really need to get myself into a morning workout routine so I am free Tuesday night. We are going to meet up with my cousin downtown. I have not seen my cousin in years. His mom died earlier this year so it will be great to have some face time.

I am officially over my no meat diet and can’t wait for this weekend. I don’t remember it being this hard. The first couple of weeks and these last weeks have seem more challenging than I expected. I have craved for chicken which never happens. I think this might have to do with my struggle to find plant based protein. I have put dairy back in my life in an attempt to address this.

Ok, I need to find my bed so that I can get up early and work out tomorrow morning. 😉

Getting back to healthy in 2019

This year I am determined to get back to healthy. The tipping point for me was feeling my back fat when walking around. Not a fan LOL

Until the end of March, I am reducing the amount of carbs, sugar and dairy that I eat. I have one cheat day when we have our monthly town hall meeting at work and there is cake. I bought more tea than is reasonable over the holidays and that is my after dinner “treat”. It is taking some getting used to but I’ll get there. Flavours like Red Velvet Cake and Creme Caramel help a lot. 🙂

In addition, to watching what I eat, I am also exercising 5 times a week.

These 4 DVDs are in heavy rotation now. I have committed to doing each of the Callanetics workouts once a week and the other two are done in some combination for the remaining 3 days.

Mondays and Fridays are my rest days as those are my longest work days. Now if I could only move my workouts to first thing in the morning, that would be ideal. Small steps, right?

Still not in a routine

It was only yesterday that I realized that I did not blog on Sunday. Will have to write this in my planner as my mind and routine have not yet adjusted (read remembered) this additional task.

This past weekend has been colder than cold. I worked as usual on Saturday. I was supposed to meet up for lunch with a new friend, but she cancelled. She is a tropical bird and was not on board with choosing to leave the warmth of her house for a meal. We have rescheduled for this Saturday.

I am still working out strong, getting a 5 workouts every week. I forgot to take before measurements and my scale needs a new battery so I am using the way my clothes fit as a way of keeping track. I took a pair of jeans out of the dryer and was able to put them on without any issue. I’ll take that as a win!

This month, my challenge is to reduce the amount of sugar, gluten and dairy I eat. I was out of control over the holidays and need to reign it in. My plan is to do this eating plan until at least the end of March. I am going to cheat on our monthly town hall meetings at work which come with cake 🙂 Three different types of cake!!

Next month I will be putting myself on a no spend challenge. Having a cafeteria at my workplace is a blessing and a curse. It is filled with healthy eats for $7/meal, but the portions received are more than I should be eating in one sitting. I used to split my meal into 2 and eat the second half for dinner but that restraint has left me. I also find that it is hit or miss in terms of taste. So it is better for my waistline and my wallet to bring my lunch. It gets a little tricky on the days I go to my night job as it means I really do have to have all my ducks in a row and pack both meals. So next month Sunday meal prep and cooking will take priority.

I bought an Instant Pot far too long ago and I have not used it. It will be dusted off and I will figure out how to use it. Hopefully this will help on Sundays. My cousin has highly recommended it so I will try to get on the bandwagon.

 

Resolutions …

It was not my intention to make any resolutions this year, as I figured I would only fall off the wagon and it would be demeaning and uninspiring.

Case in point, I am trying to get my late night eating under control and set an alarm on my phone to go off at 7:45 pm to remind me to stop eating. Well … last Tuesday I was sitting down to dinner at 9 pm. 😦 In fact every day so far this year, I did not hit 8 pm at all. Rather than beat myself up over this “failure”, I have chosen to instead focus my attention on the 4 days I made it to the gym after work; including one day when I left my desk at 6:40 pm. Since I usually spend about an hour at the gym, I didn’t get home until after 8.

I am not removing my reminder, just adjusting my expectations. If I am having supper after 8, I will try to make better choices; lean protein and veggies for the win.

On the food front, I am aiming to bring my lunch to work every day. This is going well. Cooking on Sunday is working for me. Having said that I did not cook today, so we shall see what effect, if any, this has on my lunches this week. I  have leftovers for tomorrow and meat marinating so I should be able to stay on point.

The other change to my life that I am implementing is working out every day after work. This I am nailing by the way!! 🙂 As long as I bring my gym clothes to work I have no excuse not to workout. The gym is in the building. I don’t even have to go outside.

My cousin bought some body weight workout program over the holidays and has been graciously sharing the pages with me. They have tided me over while our boot camp was on holiday hiatus. We have 3 classes left and once this session is over, I don’t think I will be signing up again any time soon. I am getting in the habit of getting myself to the gym, so I don’t need the outside help right now.

OK, time to take myself to bed, as tomorrow’s workout is going to be tough.

On to the next task

So I think I am getting the fitness part of my life under control. I now need to focus some attention on my eating. Everyone tells me that weight loss is 80% what you eat. And while I am not eating “bad” food per say, I am eating a lot more than I probably need to.

To combat this I will get back to taking my lunch to work. By the time I eat, I am usually rather hungry and want ALL the food. The café at work provides lots of healthy options, which is what I stick to. But I tend to get a lot.

My meal planning has been slacking lately. It doesn’t help that my girls don’t tend to eat at home much anymore. Or when they are hungry they are more likely to order pizza than eat out of the fridge. I think if I cook, they will eat. So on the menu this week is pasta and meatballs and BBQ ribs, not diet friendly but family favourites. Also a modified tomato and cucumber salad. If all works well these should keep us fed for the majority of the week.

I still have to put some thought and energy into making smoothies. I know once I get the hang of it, I’ll be making them all the time. It is just to get started. If I was more on the ball, smoothies would definitely fix my what to have for breakfast questions every morning. If you have any good combinations, I’d love to hear about them.

Getting back on track

Not sure what is going on with me, but I fell off the exercise wagon hard this week. Motivation was severely lacking. Morning workouts are rare, but usually I can get it together in the evening. Or convince a friend to go for a walk with me. I didn’t even make an attempt to get support.

Today I will start back slowly, by taking a walk to the library. I will go the long way.

Last Wednesday, I went to visit my Aunt and she gifted me her Vitamix blender. Very similar to this one.

I swear it might be one of the original models. LOL I haven’t tried it out yet. In my mind, I will be starting my days with smoothies … as soon as I get ingredients to blend.

Since exercise is not consistently calling my name I am going to try a more plant based diet to see if that will aid in my semi-forgotten dream of weight loss.

I will be diving into this lifestyle change with increased focus after my trip to Maryland. 😉