Motivation Monday – When Motivation is Zero

February 27, 2017 Cathy Unfiltered

I know it’s supposed to be “Motivation Monday”, but truth be told, my motivation lately has been at an all time low. Less than zero, to be exact. In my last post, I mentioned life had thrown me a curve ball and I wasn’t going to let it get me down. Well, I guess I lied. But, I will at least own up to it.

I recently had found out that the home I was renting was being sold and I would have to find a new place for myself and my son to live. We had lived in that home since my divorce. It had taken me in at my darkest of times and was the only home that my son had ever known with me. It was the one constant in our lives.

It was definitely something that I was not prepared for. In the first moments, I was filled with fear, stress and overwhelming panic. I had become so comfortable in our neighborhood. We had a great friends, a great school, we didn’t want to leave any of it.

By a stroke of sheer luck, I was able to find another home in the same school district and somewhat bigger than the place we currently had. It all seemed great, except for the fact that it wasn’t in my son’s eyes. He didn’t want to leave, he didn’t want the change. As a Mother, my heart was breaking but I had to put on the brave face for him.

I knew at this point, my focus needed to be on showing him this was going to be a good thing for us; a bigger place, walking distance to his school, closer to many of his friends. At the beginning, he wasn’t convinced. He didn’t even want to look at the place at the beginning. I knew I had to change his mind and make this move as quick and painless as possible.

Luckily, from the time of finding out we were moving to the actual time of moving was less than a month. Sure it mean absolute chaos for me to get everything packed up and ready to go, but less disruption and chaos overall.

Fast forward several weeks, and now I have moved into my new place. It’s only been a few days and we are still surrounded by boxes and mess but it is ours. My son is happy and adjusted well. My heart is happy. My motivation levels however, zero…..big, fat zero.

During the past few weeks, my focus has been packing, organizing, moving. Nothing and nothing else. I have let everything else fall the wayside. Don’t get me wrong, it has been weighing strongly on my mind, but I have done nothing about it. And now, when I need to get back to focusing on those things I have been neglecting, I am truly struggling to find the motivation to do anything about it. I know that I have not been going to the gym and have been eating terribly and I feel it….really feel it. And that is probably a contributing factor to my lack of motivation. I feel yucky and just want to lay on the couch and continue to eat terribly.

So what do I do about it? When the motivation level is less than zero, what can I do to change this? I know I need to put one foot in front of the other and move forward. Stop taking steps backwards. I can write these words but they are just words. How can I put these words into to actual actions?

I guess it really is just one step at a time. One foot in front of the other. I need to stop wallowing and get up and make things happen. Getting my gym clothes out is the first step, then I need to actually put them on and go to the gym. I know I have said it before, and I will say it again….I can do this!

Motivation Monday – When Life Throws a Curve Ball

February 6, 2017 Cathy Unfiltered

Ever feel like you might just finally have all your ducks in a row and then life throws you a curve ball right out of left field? One that you never saw coming? How do you deal with it? Do you let it get the best of you or do you stand up, be strong and keep moving forward?

Sure, everyone is allowed to have a moment to wallow, pout or scream and shout but in the end most situations aren’t the end of the world and you need to rise up and face it head on. If I didn’t, what would that be teaching my child? Giving up at every curve in the road isn’t going to get you far in life.

But there is strength in numbers. When life takes an unexpected turn, turn to those that you can depend on; your family and friends. You don’t need to go through it alone. I know I am the worst at asking for help, but I have never been disappointed when I have. Whether it is kind words, a helping hand or just a shoulder to cry on, they will be there for you.

But I think you also need take a look in the mirror and dig deep into your inner strength. You will probably shock yourself. I know that in the past years when life has thrown me a curve ball or 2, now being a parent, I had no choice but to dig deep and be strong not only for myself but for myself. Never doubt yourself, you’d be surprised how strong you can be.

I have also started to use theory in my weight loss journey. Life isn’t always going to go the way you want it. You’re going to have situations out of your control and you need to dig deep and push through. I can’t give up and go back to where I was. I need to move forward. It won’t be easy, it will be hard. There will be bad days. but in order to become the best version of me, I have to take that curve ball and throw it back in its face.

Getting Fit · Uncategorized

Motivation Monday – Making life better

January 23, 2017 Cathy UnfilteredLeave a comment

The other day I saw a quote that really resonated with me, “It’s not about being the best, it’s about being better than you were yesterday.” I think it makes a very valid point. You should never reach your “best”, you should always be striving to be just a little bit better. And besides, what is really the best version of you?

By no means, do I mean that if you reach a weight loss goal, you should keep trying to lose more weight. I refer to the best version of yourself as a whole, definitely not just one aspect of yourself. And you don’t need to be focusing on ALL aspects at once, break it down and focus on a few at a time. Even with a single aspect, for example, my weight loss/fitness goals, have been broken up into smaller areas that I want to make better.

Right now, I have 3 areas that I am focusing on.

Being accountable to someone

Recently one of my besties indicated that she wanted to step up her fitness and weight loss game. We decided that we would try and make “gym dates” as often as we could with each other. I don’t know about you, but I find that having someone to talk to and workout with pushes me to workout a bit harder and longer. As well, if we are feeling weak and wanting to totally indulge and throw the good eating habits totally off the rails, we told each other we could text each other for some words of support. Knowing that there is someone else out there with the same struggles that I can rely on for support makes things a whole lot easier for me. It is also a lot more motivating for me.

Make my goal visible.

I have always been a visual person. I do much better when I can see things and the results. This past weekend as I was cleaning out my pantry, I came across a bowl containing some little colored rocks. At one point, I think they sat at the bottom of the fish tank we had. Not sure how they ended up in the pantry though. When I saw them, I remembered something I had seen on Pinterest when looking at some other fitness/weightloss ideas. I went to my local Dollarama and picked up 2 small glass jars. In one jar I would put a stone in for each pound I want to lose and in the other jar, I would transfer over a stone each week for each pound I have lost. This would make my goal a much more quantitative number. If I could see where I have to get, it seems more real to me, instead of just a number on a scale. Now I just need to make up some nice labels to make the jars a little prettier.

Meal plan, meal plan, meal plan

I have always said that I could not follow any sort of diet plan that told me what I had to eat and when I had to eat it. My life just doesn’t work that way. And although I still somewhat believe this about myself, I know that I need to meal plan in some shape or form in order to keep myself on track. What works more for me, is to make a list of meals for the week and then plot them into place as the week falls. Basically crossing them off the list as we eat them. This allows me to have some flexibility in our eating schedule but ensures I have the ingredients on hand to make the meals. I find if I don’t have the ingredients on hand, it’s a lot easier to turn to other less healthy meals. This is all great in theory, I just need to be much better at actually making the meal lists. One of my favorite Mom bloggers, Mrs.Bishop has just started a Meal Plan Monday segment on her blog that I am SO excited about. I really struggle with coming up with new and exciting meal plan ideas. It seems like I recycle the same old meals over and over again. Having a new meal plan to reference each week is going to give me a bunch of new ideas to add to my meal plan. I have looked at her first post and there are a bunch of great ideas that I will be trying out in the next few weeks.

So hopefully starting with these 3 items to focus on will push me ahead in my journey. Small steps add up to a better over all result. Good luck in your journey and we will catch up next time. If you don’t want to miss a post, be sure to subscribe to my blog!

Getting Fit · Uncategorized

Monday Motivation – It’s a whole new year

January 9, 2017 Cathy UnfilteredLeave a comment

I decided that with a new year starting, it was time to change things up a bit here on the blog. Instead of my Friday Fitness posts, I felt that Motivation Mondays were the new year to do things around here. As much as my fitness and healthy eating are a big priority still, I felt that my journey was more a reflection of my motivation to be a better “me” overall.

I also decided that this will not be a weekly post, but bi-weekly. I found that trying to post a weekly Fitness Friday a little bit stressful. I didn’t want to just post for the sake of posting and not have any real, worthy content. Every other week is probably a little more manageable to get decent, readable content out there.

2017 is a biggie for me, as I will be turning 45. Eeeks!!! It’s about time I really focus on what I want in life and how I can achieve it, as I am not getting any younger and it won’t get any easier. I want to make 45 my best year yet and this is giving me the motivation to eat better, continue my fitness routine (or even step it up a bit) and see what else there is out there for me to improve.

Like 90% of the population, I started 2017 with my “got to eat better and workout more” resolution. I have been doing okay so far. Not the best, but not completely horrible. But today, with the boy back to school and I am starting to get into the groove of working from home full time, I can really move forward and get things going.

I am a creature of habit and when my day to day routine goes off track, so do I. So hopefully this week with routine returning, my motivation and success will return as well. One of the biggest ways for me to keep on track is to put my workout clothes on as early as possible in the day so that when the time comes for me to workout, there is no excuses, I am ready to go! I also need to ensure I am wearing my Fitbit. I have been really, really bad about getting my steps in since way before the holidays, so I need step it up. Pun intended.

I talk about my Fitbit a lot, and if you don’t have an activity tracker, I totally suggest you look into getting one. They are so motivating and it really shows you how active or inactive you are each day. If you don’t know much about trackers, you can check out this article that compares and rates some of the more well know trackers out there. They can be a bit of an investment, but again, totally worth it you are looking to get moving and motivated.

There is that age old saying “you are what you eat”. As much as one exercises, if you are eating way more calories then you are exerting, there is no way you are going to ever lose any weight. I decided to try following the 21 Day fix program. I started following it loosely last week and this week I am really trying to really stick to it. It has been a total eye opener in that I truly do not have a well balance diet. I am way to carb heavy and never get enough protein. I am really trying to change this and hoping it will be a huge help in my weight loss journey.

I know that eating well and exercising rank highly on a lot of peoples New Years Resolution list, and I hope that if you are one of those people, that you are staying on track and keeping motivated.

Getting Fit · Uncategorized

Enjoying the holidays with Bulletproof

December 11, 2016 Cathy Unfiltered1 Comment

It’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year. But it is also one of the busiest and stressful for most people, including myself. And with the start of cold and flu season, it is a virtual trifecta for my body to stage a revolt. For years I have let the holidays get the best of me and by Christmas day, I am almost always sick and miserable.

This year, I have decided to not leave everything to the last minute, trying to reduce the stress and actually enjoy the holidays. I have also decided that although I am not even going to try and “diet” through the holiday season, I am going to try and be more mindful about what I am eating. It’s not a holiday season without treats and rich goodies, but all in moderation.

Anyone who knows me knows my day doesn’t start without a coffee in my hand. It’s always been double cream, double sugar. Yeah, not the healthiest way to start my day but I need my fuel. Could there actually be a healthier way to start my day and still have my coffee? It’s not the actual coffee that is all that bad for you, it’s all the fatty cream and sugar that make it unhealthy.

I had heard of the concept of buttered coffee before, but Bulletproof coffee takes to the next level. By using an upgraded coffee and blending it with grass-fed unsalted butter, and their Brain Octane Oil, Bulletproof is a low toxin, high performance coffee full of healthy fats to fuel you.

Don’t get me wrong; when I first heard about it, I was skeptical on several levels. Could I actually enjoy a coffee that didn’t have sugar in it? How could Bulletproof do more than just give me that of energy to get my day start that my daily coffee doesn’t already do?

From the start, they use a proprietary method in their coffee production to minimize the opportunity for mold toxins to occur. As we all know mold can contribute to a number of chronic health issues and that is the last thing I want to worry about. Their Brain Octane Oil which really differentiates Bulletproof from other coffees, helps burn fat, is a reliable energy source without the crash and is made from 100% coconut oil. A coffee that helps burn fat, sign me up!

It’s a little more work to make than hopping in the car and hitting the drive thru but for something healthier in my cup each morning I am willing to take the time.

After adding the Brain Octane and grass-fed ghee to the BulletProof brewed coffee you mix it all in a blender until frothy like a latte.

It was a bit of a different consistency then I had imagined, it was the oiliness from the ghee that made it different. Not in a bad way, just different and I was surprised that I didn’t feel the need to have sugar in it.

Almost immediately I noticed that it affected me differently than regular coffee. I didn’t feel that immediate burst of jittery energy; it was energy but not the jitteriness. I felt more alert and ready to conquer my day. Normally by noon, I am starving and but my hunger levels were definitely much more controlled. And come 2pm when I normally seem to hit the wall, I was still going strong.

This past week, when I have had a busier than usual schedule due to holiday commitments and activities, this new found energy level has been more than helpful. At the end of the day, I am not crawling into bed, I am able to enjoy my evenings and get things done.

So with only a few weeks left, I am hoping Bulletproof will continue the good it seems to be doing for me and I will be healthy and happy for the holidays. I am looking forward to continuing to use Bulletproof into the New Year and incorporating it into my New Year’s resolution of more exercise and eating better. With this energy, it should be a breeze. And you should check out the Bulletproof blog to help incorporate more healthy living ideas into your routine.

This post is sponsored and although I was compensated, all opinions, comments and photos are strictly my own.

Getting Fit · Uncategorized

Fitness Friday – How Exercise Helps My Mood

December 2, 2016 Cathy UnfilteredLeave a comment

Yesterday I woke up pissed off. And as the day progressed my mood worsened. Blame it on the insensitivity of people in this world, blame it on my lack of sleep, blame it on the fact the holidays sometimes get me down, blame it on the fact I haven’t been getting to exercise as much as I have wanted to lately. Regardless, the tone of my day was set as soon as I woke up.

I felt like no matter what the day brought me, nothing was going to make my mood any better. Sadly, on days like this, I often wish my day away so that I can wake up hopefully in a better mood the next day. Life is too damn short to be wishing it away. I need to do something about it but being stuck at the office all day, I knew there wasn’t much I could really do to improve my situation while there.

My son was going to be with me that evening and the last thing I wanted to do was subject him to my grumpiness. I needed to come up with a solution before I got home. I had to look at some of the reasons I was initially blaming for this bad mood. I can’t really change the fact that I have had to deal with insensitive people in this world. Although, I could just choose to ignore them. I can’t take a nap at work, so sleep would have to fix itself that night. The holidays aren’t going anywhere fast, so again, just ignore that as much as I can. So the only fix that seemed to be viable was the exercise.

After a few minutes of pondering, I knew that if I really put my mind into it, I could fit in some time to exercise that evening while my son was playing a game on his tablet. I could throw in an exercise dvd that I had and sweat away the grump. I know in the past, exercise has always lifted my spirits when down in the dumps, so I knew it would probably help in this case. Even just planning the exercise time made me feel slightly better.

Being overly tired when I got home, I was almost happy to wallow in my grumpiness instead of working out but that wasn’t the example I wanted to set for my son. So I got him set up to play and I got the dvd player going. My mood started to lift almost instantly. That, and the fact my son was laughing at me made me laugh too.

By the end I was in a completely different frame of mind for the rest of our evening together. I need to remind myself that as much as some days I really hate the thought of working out, I need it. My body needs it and my mental health needs it. When something as simple as a short workout can greatly improve my mood, there is no need to go thru life grumpy.

Getting Fit · Uncategorized

Fitness Friday – The body is talking to me

November 18, 2016 Cathy UnfilteredLeave a comment

I will be honest, I don’t have much to talk about today as my body has been telling me to take it easy this past week. Between being a Mom, working, blogging and trying to have a social life, I have over programmed myself these past few weeks. Things were starting to catch up with me and the body was complaining.

This past week, I still made it to the gym twice and was eating mostly healthy so it wasn’t a complete loss. However, it was pretty evident that I needed to slow things down by Wednesday. I woke up with an ear infection and upset stomach. When my body needs a break, there is no subtle hints, it tells me loud and clear.

Making sure I stay on track and getting my exercise in, drinking lots of water to stay hydrated, making wise food choices and getting quality sleep are key. Sure this all sounds good in theory but I need to make sure I actually do it.

I know with the holidays quickly approaching, I need to listen to my body and get the rest that I need now so that I am not sick then. It doesn’t mean that I am going to live like a hermit and not do anything, I am just going to make sure that I am being much more cognizant of what my body needs and wants. It’s always so hard to stay on track during this time of year and I know that I won’t even be remotely perfect, but I am going to really make an effort this year.

The New Year is always a fresh start for a lot of people. And this year it will be for me as well. There are a few changes I already know that are coming my way and I am looking forward to them!

Getting Fit · Uncategorized

FItness Friday – two steps forward

November 11, 2016 Cathy Unfiltered1 Comment

Well I can definitely say that I am feeling much better about my fitness journey this week than I did last week. I wasn’t even remotely perfect this week but it was at least a step forward in the right direction. Did I get my 10k steps in every day – NO, did I eat well everyday – NO, but did I do better – YES!!!

It’s all about moving forward and not dwelling on past mistakes. It’s ensuring that each day I try to do a little bit better or at least get up and dust myself off if I’ve had a bad day. No need to dwell on what I did wrong, it’s focusing on what I can do better moving forward.

What did I do better this week? I made it to the gym twice and was able to get out and enjoy and nice long walk and enjoy the fresh fall air. I did my best to follow the meal plan that I had planned out earlier in the week. And when I got groceries, I only got what I needed and I definitely didn’t need any candy, chips or chocolate.

I decided that if I didn’t get my steps in that day that I wasn’t going to get all upset about it, I just tried to do better the next day. Some days it is just impossible to get the steps in due to what life throws at us. And when I took my son out for a pancake breakfast date this morning before school, I let myself enjoy my meal with him and knew I would have to adjust my eating for the rest of the day. What I am realizing is that I can’t always be perfect and beating myself up about it isn’t going to help me move forward. I know I am not perfect and never will be. Ensuring that I am moving forward is the key. Always forward and not regressing completely back and ignoring it.

So again, another busy week ahead of me but I will keep pushing forward.

Getting Fit · Uncategorized

Fitness Friday – I am feeling like a fraud

November 4, 2016 Cathy Unfiltered1 Comment

Not going to lie, I am feeling like a bit of a fraud these days. Not only to myself, but whomever actually reads these posts. The past 2 weeks have been so far removed from being “Fit”, it isn’t even funny.

The gym and I have been complete and utter strangers. It’s like we have never met or we’ve had a bad break up. We don’t see each other at all anymore it seems. And I almost feel like I was the one who got dumped, because I have no idea why we aren’t seeing each other.

Maybe it’s the change in the weather or life has been just a bit more busy than usual, but my motivation to get to the gym is gone. My motivation to do anything is gone. I think the fact it get dark so much earlier now makes me just want to hibernate. With it Daylight Savings time this weekend and the clocks going back isn’t going to help either.

All the things I have been telling myself and you that I would keep doing no matter what, have gone out the window. I used to be almost obsessed with getting my 10k steps in each day. Realistically, I don’t think I have gotten the full 10k steps done in the past 2 weeks. One day I didn’t even bother to even wear my Fitbit.

I stepped on the scale this morning and it hasn’t moved. No loss, no gain. So in retrospect, this is a good thing. I was not expecting good things to come from me stepping on that scale. Any sort of gain would have probably made things even worse. My only saving grace these past few weeks is I have been sticking to my #FitMamaPlanner. The past 2 Sunday nights, I have sat down and planned out my whole week’s worth of meals. It helped a lot with my grocery shopping. I didn’t buy things I didn’t need. Although most importantly, I think most nights when my motivation was at it’s lowest point, it gave me the guidance to cook what I had planned and not hit the drive thru.

So what does this actually mean? Why I am I even bothering to write this down? I told myself that if I was going to write a “Fitness Friday” segment, I was going to keep myself accountable to myself and to whomever is reading this. I am feeling like a fraud and I don’t want to. I don’t want to write some sort of garbage to make it look like I am this wonderful Mom who is keeping fit ALL the time, keeping on track and not having a bad time. Let’s get real, I am having a bad time.

BUT, this morning when I stepped on that scale, it gave me a bit of a wake up call. I hadn’t fallen too far off that wagon. It was still in sight. And although I have been feeling sluggish and my body has been reminding me that I am not treating it well, I can recover from this set back. I can do this. Never give up!

So to everyone reading this rambling, first off thanks for listening. I guess it’s ok to fail once in a while. Recognizing the issues and doing something about it is the key. So time to rekindle the romance with the gym and feeling better about this journey.

Getting Fit · Uncategorized

Fitness Friday – it’s all in the planning

October 21, 2016 Cathy UnfilteredLeave a comment

So I think I finally have gotten the exercise portion of my fitness journey on track, now I REALLY need to tackle the eating portion. This isn’t my first rodeo, I know that it doesn’t matter how much you exercise if you are eating way more calories than you are burning. And not planning what I am eating is my biggest downfall.

I am forever seeing posts about people meal planning. And when I see them, I know I should be doing more. Previously, I would semi meal plan for the days my son is with me. I use this plan to help me buy groceries and that is about it. When my son is with his Dad, it’s game over and that is where the problems begin. Without a game plan in place, the drive thru window becomes an easy substitute for a good, healthy meal.

So last week, I received this amazing #FitMamaPlanner from Acorn & Coco and I decided that I would give meal planning a go this week. OK, so it has been less than a week but so far it seems to be helping out a lot. On Sunday afternoon, I sat down and filled out each day with a menu for the entire week. The planner has a section for a grocery list which is very handy. I made sure I accounted for all meals, even my son’s school lunches.

Having everything planned ahead of time and ensuring I used the accompanying grocery list to ensure I had everything available has been a real help. I am trying to make sure I stick to my guns and follow along. Every Friday, my office mate and I buy our lunch for making it thru the week alive (LOL) and I even planned for that. We don’t decide until the day of on where we will eat but I planned the rest of the meals that day around to keep on track.

My goal this week is to not eat out or hit the drive thru unless I have specifically planned it and stick to my meal plan for the week. For example, we have an event next week and dinner will be eaten out. Put it the planner and work around it. I can really understand how this works for people in the long run both in a weight loss/maintenance kind of way but also in a financial way. Hopefully I will see a not only a difference on the scale but in my bank account as well.

This week has been somewhat slack exercise wise just due to other commitments but hoping to step it up this next week as well. Still using my #everydamn day motto and at least getting my steps in. Wish me luck!

Disclosure: Although items in this post were provided to me, all opinions, comments and photos are strictly mine.