Ad Nauseum

I continue to suffer from nausea due to ridiculously low iron levels. I haven't felt gaggy in weeks which I why I was surprised that I felt like barfing today....

So, I decided to treat myself with my favourite iced tea:

Hopefully, this chilled sugary beverage will help alleviate the nausea.

In other news, today I picked up the candy for Bobby's Easter Egg Hunt :)

Las Margaritas

Hit up Las Margaritas for dinner today. Las Margaritas is one of my fave restaurants - their food is awesome!!! Bobby has never been so I finally took him today! :)

When in Las Margaritas... one must have a margarita!

I always get the chicken enchiladas (no beans so they give me extra rice). Since there are two enchiladas, I can only eat half of my meal which means lunch tomorrow will be AWESOME!!

After dinner, we walked around West 4th for a bit. Bobby is in the market for a new jacket (his is completely worn down with holes). We found him the perfect "Bobby" jacket at Arc'teryx. He got the Waylay jacket in graphite and it passed the three things Bobby looks for in a jacket:

1. It has a hood

2. It's waterproof

3. It's the perfect colour

Looking good, Bobby!

Personally, I like the jacket too! Maybe I'll get the female version for myself - we definitely need waterproof gear here in Vancouver!

The 60 Day PiYo Challenge – check in

Okay so yesterday was day 20 of the challenge. I started on the first of March… which means that my plan on doing 60 days straight uninterrupted has not worked out. Between watching Luca and not feeling well (my iron levels are really terrible right now), I managed to only skip three days!

Now, I’ve been meaning to do a check in blog, but I have been so busy doing PiYo every night (amongst other things in between), so I decided to just hold off and do a check in for when I am about 1/3 of the way into the challenge (I say 1/3 because  I am also still doing PiYo with Move and Groove Fitness once or twice a week so my 60 day challenge is actually a 60+ day challenge).

General Review:

All in all, I would say that the workouts provided in this DVD set are great. The first two that you do are really basic, so I found these quite boring and not very challenging, but I understand that there are people who may not have done yoga or pilates prior to starting this challenge that could greatly benefit from these basic workouts.  I will do a quick review of the different workouts I have done so far so I can share my likes and dislikes:

Alignment: The Fundamentals - 40 mins

This is a good overview of the different poses PiYo uses. It helps you improve your alignment as you hold each pose so that you are decreasing the risk of/avoiding injury. It also shows you how to modify poses (keep your eyes on Michelle for modifications!)

Define: Lower Body - 25 mins and Define Upper Body - 20 mins

After first doing Lower Body by itself, I decided to combine both workouts together to make it more challenging for myself. These are both pretty basic and I just didn’t feel like I would be pushing myself if just doing each workout separately. To be fair, because I combined these two workouts together, I got bored of them REALLY quickly. 

Something I didn’t like in Lower Body: It REALLY bothered me how during the “warrior series” we did the right leg twice but the left leg only once. I mean seriously! You would think that BeachBody would have caught this mistake and re-done this take? Who wants to be lopsided strength wise?!?!

Sweat - 35 mins

I love this workout!! It really does get you sweaty but you feel really awesome after. You get a great lower and upper body AND core workout! Of all of the workouts I have done in this challenge so far, this one is my favourite! After not being able to do tricep extensions/crouching tricep push ups for the longest time, I can finally do them!! Success!!!

Core - 30 mins

Great core workout – not my favorite but mainly because my core is not in the best shape it can be. I look forward to getting better at this!

Buns - 25 mins

I’ve only done this once and am honestly blanking at what we even did – I’m sure it was a great workout tho ;)  I mean, I think we can all use a derriere workout to keep our backsides perky!

Overall, I am enjoying the 60 day challenge. And now that I no longer have to do the Lower/Upper body workouts, I am excited for the new (and hopefully more challenging) workouts to come! 

My PiYo story:

When I first started PiYo last summer, it was the first time I worked out in YEARS. I did it once a week (Saturday mornings) and I would seriously hurt for two to three days post workout. Many people who are just starting this challenge probably feel this pain.. and I just want to say that I have been there and I understand!!! My instructor only offered PiYo once a week on Saturdays for about a month or so, and then she started to offer classes on Monday nights as well (due to studio availability, it had to be Monday nights). So I would go to PiYo on Saturday and be in so much pain and then attend on Monday while still sore... I pushed through this and after a month or so, I found that I could REALLY push myself in class and only be a little bit sore (lingering pain for less than a day). After a couple of months, I could push myself and not be sore at all. I know every body is different, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel - don't give up!! You can do this!! :)

Now that I am doing PiYo everyday, I am definitely a lot more fatigued than I normally would be (on Saturday I had to take a nap!), and my body definitely gets sore/tired. However, I have gotten to the point where I no longer hurt for long periods of time (eg: more than one day). I feel stronger, my clothes fit better... and people have commented that I look skinnier (huge ego boost which pushes me to keep going strong with this challenge!). So.. in short, keep on keeping on!! You too will see results :)

Babysitting... Round 2

Uncle Bob-Bob and Auntie Jenn-Jenn are on Luca duty again tonight... last time we watched Luca, we had a lovely pizza dinner... then Luca ran around like crazy playing catch with the numerous stuffed toys we had... then around 8:30pm, he looked at me and told me he was hungry. I gave him some snacks his mom packed and he was STILL hungry. Normally, Bobby and I don't keep snacks in the house because then we end up snacking all the time so I didn't really have anything to feed Luca. Luckily, his mom was on her way but still I felt so guilty... I didn't think an almost 2 year old would be so hungry after eating 3 slices of pizza and seaweed snacks (over a 3 hour period)!!! So this time around, I am PREPARED. I know Luca loves strawberries and popcorn so I will have BOTH on hand tonight ;)

I am also preparing myself with the right amount of caffeine. Last time, we babysat Luca on a Wednesday night... Bobby used to have school on Tuesday evenings and so he was REALLY tired on Wednesday (he would leave home at 6am for work, and then not get back until 10pm after school). Well tomorrow, Bobby has to drive to Victoria so he has to be up really early... which means he will be going to bed early-ish... which means it will just be me, Luca (and Kiwi!!). Wish me luck!

Bobby's back!!!

Bobby is back from his week long work trip.... he came home last night.. with presents!!

I got a Starbucks Chicago mug and popcorn... Kiwi didn't get anything so I put her in the mug box.

She wasn't into it

Wedding Haul!!!

I did a little wedding haulage this morning and I saved A LOT of money thanks to my Bay VIP discount. I think I was a little bit TOO excited about this event because I had trouble falling asleep last night. The night before, I had terrible insomnia – I didn’t fall asleep until 3am or so… but that was because I had caffeine at 7pm (I really needed caffeine to help get me through PiYo). Yesterday, I didn’t have any caffeine past 2pm and I still had trouble falling asleep… so I blame it on the sale :)

The Bay VIP sale happens twice a year (March and sometime in the fall… October I think?). They have their usual friends and family sales several times a year where you save 15 or 20% off when  you use your Bay Card, but these sales exclude A LOT of items. The Bay VIP includes EVERYTHING but licensed items (eg, Nespresso), The Room at The Bay, and certain higher end brands (eg. Ugg Australia). However, it includes J Brand, Maison Scotch, Free People, Le Creuset, etc. And you don't need a Bay credit card for this discount. And you get 25% off regardless if the item is on regular price, sale, or clearance (10% off for cosmetics and small appliances).

Okay, so basically, I was in the market for wedding shoes and a wedding purse (and a really nice scarf I saw, and some jeans, and makeup). At first, I really wanted these Alice and Olivia shoes. I first saw these shoes back in January.. but I was hesitant to buy them for 355$ because I knew I could buy them for 25% off in March (yes, I am cheap like that). I really loved how these shoes looked (the studs are amazing), but they are a bit too high (4 inch heels). I am a size 6… and 4 inch heels for small feet = walking around like Bambi on ice. Plus, these shoes are so difficult to put on. The strap for the shoe works very much like a watch strap - you need to poke the strap through a little knob thing and then tuck it under a band (I know I am not explaining this very well). But trust me, it is very hard to put on. I tried these shoes on many times.. twice with Bobby… and twice I’ve sat all contorted at the Bay while Bobby manipulated the damn shoe straps. In the end, the Bay sold out of size 6s and so these shoes weren’t meant to be.

Enter these lovely Joie sandals. To be honest, I love these shoes even more than the Alice and Olivia’s. Sure they are more plain, however, they are 100x more comfortable and 100x easier to put on. The soles of these shoes are very padded and the heels are only 3.25 inches. And the buckle is a lot easier to put on. I set my wedding shoe budget to 300$ because I wanted shoes that I would want to wear again.

I first spotted these on Monday and I very quickly put them on hold (good thing to because the sales person informed me that they only ever carry one size 6 for higher end shoes!!!) and I picked them up today with my discount. The shoes are regularly 388$. With my discount and with a giftcard I had, the shoes came to 268.86$ with tax! Score! I came in 30$ under budget.. woohooo!

So not only did the Bay only carry one size 6, it was also the floor model. Ugh. Now I get the sticky aftermath on the bottom of my shoes for a while

Now for purses. At first I considered this purse… but it’s just so small. Right now, I know it could hold my ID/credit card, lip gloss and iPhone… but eventually I will be switching back to Android… and then what? This purse would be useless. So I decided to get this purse instead. I got it in the colour geranium (not available on the Kate Spade website) which is a lovely coral colour. The biggest bonus is that this bag is on clearance! It’s regularly 198$, but it was on clearance for 148.50… so with my VIP discount and tax, I got it for 124.74$.

So that is my wedding haulage. Super happy with the deals I got. The best part is that these should’ve cost 600$ total and I paid just under 400$ for them :)

Chai tea

Ever since doing the Tea Me Tiny Detox in February (I have two 14 day packets left which I plan on using in June – pre wedding detox!) and starting the 60 Day PiYo Challenge in March, I have decided to cut back on dairy. I am not lactose intolerant per se, but dairy does cause me discomfort at times.

Anyway, I have been craving a chai latte for a while now. I decided that I would let myself get one this morning since today would be the day after daylight savings time… and everyone who lives in North America knows that daylight savings time leads to:

Side note: Am I the only one that thinks daylight savings time is completely useless? I don’t really understand how we are “saving daylight”. If anything, daylight savings time should be in the fall…? Every March, we set our clocks forward one hour… well, the days are progressively getting longer as we near Summer Solstice… so in order to make the days longer in the spring, shouldn’t we be setting our clocks BACK? Putting this argument another way: Okay, in November, it’s dark and depressing. The sun sets at 5pm. You go to work, it’s dark. You get off work, it’s dark. Then we go ahead and set our clocks BACK an hour. Like uh ok? Doing that makes the days shorter. Instead of the sun setting at 6pm, it sets at 5pm… So shouldn’t we be setting our clocks FORWARD in fall (that way the sun would set at 6pm). My other argument is we should just scrap daylight savings time period. Anyway…..

So I got a chai latte today. It was worth the wait. I’m still tired though, but that could just be because doing 35-60 minutes of PiYo everyday is wearing me down. I plan on doing a PiYo Challenge update sometime this week (my likes and dislikes). Stay tuned!

Another side note: What is the purpose of Stabucks' La Boulange? I see nothing different in what they are serving - everything is just PINK now... as opposed to brown or green. 

This little punk is three today!

Naturally, we need to celebrate with CAKE! Since Kiwi can’t eat chocolate… and since she shouldn’t be eating cake anyway, I picked up some carrot cake (a "healthier" option) from Whole Foods (PSA: Whole Foods has the best carrot cake ever!! /spamming). Needless to say, Kiwi will be getting one teeny tiny piece (more like a crumb for us normal sized humans) and Bobby and I will be enjoying the rest of the cake slice :)

Here's Kiwi last night - her last day/night as a two year old!

And here she is this morning as a brand new, glowing three year old

So because I am a crazy hedgehog lady, I made Kiwi a birthday hat… so that she can wear it and pose next to her birthday cake:

Kiwi and her hedgie friends Mr. Prickles and Old Chaos

Kiwi eating her carrot cake crumb

Bobby ate most of the cake...

Side note: This is my 600th post - perfect timing for Kiwi's third birthday!!

Now you can enjoy some of my favourite pics of Kiwi:

Bobbly head baby Kiwi

Kiwi's first bath

SO CUTE!

Kiwi and kiwi

Ninja Kiwi

Kiwi and mommy "sharing" the wheel

PiYo Challenge Day 1

Today was 45 minutes of learning the proper alignment for the different poses/moves.

Luckily, we have just enough space in our living room for two yoga mats! (Both mine by the way!!)

Here's Kiwi practicing her chaturanga - she's really good at it

All that working out made Kiwi tired! :)

 Bobby rocked PiYo by the way! Can't wait to do actual workouts!

The 60 Day PiYo Challenge

I picked up the Beach Body 60 day PiYo Challenge through a local Beach Body Coach recently and am finally starting the challenge today! I actually received the DVDs late last week, but the OCD with me wanted to start on the first of the Month... luckily for me, the first of March was just a few days away ;)

Side note, if you live in Vancouver, and don't have a Beach Body Coach, please buy your products through Stephen Lazar - he helped expedite my DVDs. I received my DVDs one week after placing my order when normally it should take at least 2 weeks! Also, Beach Body is an American Company... and since the Canadian dollar is pretty low, I bought everything in Canadian funds through Stephen.. so there wasn't a huge shock in the end (eg: spend 60$ USD today, get charged 39420472947$ CAD by your credit card company tomorrow).

The numbers break down:

I bought the DVDs for 65.95$ and with shipping (19.95$) and tax, it came to just over 95$. The set comes with 4 DVDs with all the different work outs, a measuring tape (so you can record your progress), a work out calendar showing you the order you should be doing your workouts in, a nutrition info booklet, etc.

What is PiYo?

PiYo is a combination of pilates and yoga. I would describe PiYo as holding yoga poses and repeating the motions as you would in pilates. It can get pretty intense because at first, you hold the poses for a longer period of time... then with each repetition, the movements become more fluid (eg: you are holding the poses for less time, making each pose flow more smoothly into the next pose.. etc), 

Why PiYo?

I have been doing PiYo for about 5 months now, but I just recently got really into it because I have noticed the changes. I am definitely stronger and more lean than I was last summer...but I am not as lean as I would like to be. I currently go to Move and Groove Fitness in Coquitlam and I cannot recommend Kim more for PiYo classes. She teaches PiYo on Mondays and Saturdays and she is so upbeat and her classes are always intense, but FUN. When I first started doing PiYo, I would seriously be in so much pain for like two or even THREE days after class - no joke. But because PiYo you do yoga poses and stretches in class, I find that even if I am a little bit sore, the stretching helps ease my muscle aches! What I like most about PiYo is that it is very low impact. In Kim's class, we do some cardio but it's never too intense that I feel like I need to throw up. You should never feel like you need to faint after working out - I know some people may like that feeling, but that is definitely not for me. 

I plan on still going to Kim's classes while doing the 60 day PiYo Challenge! To avoid confusion, I wrote out the work outs and intermixed the days I will be attending Kim's class in my official PiYo Journal (PS; I bought this journal a year ago for wedding planning and never really ended up using it). I decided to skip the "rest days", which is every Friday. I will just skip days if needed. 

Bobby will be joining my on this challenge on the days when he is not away for work/he wants to participate... so wish us luck! I will be sure to blog our results along the way and do one final blog at the end of my challenge.. which by the way works out to 63 days straight.. so give or take a few days off, I should have a full update by mid May.