My life right now

I know I know, I have been slacking off on writing this blog for FAR too long. I miss writing in it actually. As I stated in one of my recent posts life has just been way too hectic to find the time to write.

Ive never considered myself a good writer. Im not a writer. Im a reader. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to read a good book. But in the last while I have had more than one person tell me that I need to continue writing in my blog because they love to read it…because they think I am a great writer…..so here I am. Writing again.

I keep stating how hectic my life is…so I will elaborate a little bit. Along with working 3 jobs right now, I am also a mom of 2 little ladies who are in school. On top of that, I am getting married to my love in May so we are planning the wedding….organizing the guest list, the seating charts, the favours, the parties etc….Im tired just reading everything going on in life right now!

Amongst all of this I decided that starting this past Monday it was really time to buckle down and get back to the gym…everyday. I go in the morning before work…which is totally fine cause I am definitely a morning person, but when I work 2 jobs in a day man does it make for a long day!! Im surviving so far though – and I am down 3 lbs since I started on Monday which is awesome. I have been really watching what I eat…counting calories. At the moment I am doing a couple of protein shakes a day along with some fruit and veggies and then one main meal. I am going to do this for a bit and then Ill switch it up if I need to. So like last year I am not going to state what my starting weight this go around is but I will say that my goal at the moment is to lose 19 more pounds before our wedding which is May 19. I think that this is totally doable- I just have to FOCUS! ….which brings me to my next topic….

THE WEDDING! Ahhhh I cant believe it is less than 3 months away. Time has absolutely flown by this past year. We booked the venue in the first week or two of March last year …so a year has already gone by. We are getting pretty close to having most stuff planned now, we are just down to the little details…so obviously I am excited to be married but I am REALLY excited for 4 days after the wedding…..MEXICO!

We had such an amazing time last year in Mexico that we decided to invite a bunch of our friends with us this year. We are going as a group rather than a honeymoon with just the 2 of us. It was just such a great time that we cant imagine not having friends with us…it just makes it that much more exciting to be able to hang out with everyone while there! 3 months today and we hit the beaches in Mexico….WOO HOO! Well that’s all I have to say at the moment. I promise to try and make a bit more of an effort for those of you who enjoy reading!  Xo-B

One Great Year

Hi! Life is RIDICULOUSLY busy at the moment (3 jobs + 2 kids = no time for life) so when life slows down I will take a minute to update but for now I wanted to quickly share something.... My uncle & his lovely lady wrote a book together. For all my book loving friends --- it promises to be a great read! Im so excited to read it as it's been getting rave reviews. Let me know if I can help you get a copy!
Check out their website: http://onegreatyear.com/

Tried something hot!

.....hot YOGA that is!

After being given a free one week trial pass to a yoga studio the other day I decided to finally try it out! I was sooo nervous to go. Ive done tons and tons of fitness classes but for some reason I have always been super intimidated by yoga...especially hot yoga. So I walk into the yoga room and omg the heat slaps me in the face! My immediate reaction is that it is SOOO hot in here and there is no way I can work out in this heat. So after looking around at everyone else I realize I have NO idea what Im doing....so I lay on my mat and begin to stretch like everyone else is doing. Just as I start feeling relaxed the instructor walks in and starts telling us to do these different moves....that Ive never heard of! Because of the initial heat and having no idea what hes talking about I was thinking that this was going to be a train wreck....but I obviously kept going and by the end of the class I couldnt even notice the heat and LOVED IT!  I left feeling super relaxed and  let me tell you...what a fantastic workout!!...so fantastic that I am heading for another class tonight! So if you are looking for something different or thinking of trying hot yoga - do it!!!

New Year, New Start

Cliche...I know.

I strongly dislike New Years resolutions. I am not back on here just because it is January 1st 2012. I am back on here because it just worked out that way. Back in June I quit my office job. It was Monday-Friday 8-4 and that just didnt work out with my kids and my schedule...or they way I wanted my schedule to be. I was thinking that quitting my job I would have tons of time to work out and post on my blog. Well I was wrong. Truth is, after spending almost 5 years sitting at the computer every day, I really didnt want to be blog posting while Im home. So I stayed away from the computer. Then, having the kids all day, every day, it pretty much became impossible to go to the gym. I didnt have anyone who would watch the girls while I went to the gym every day. Then factor in everything else that goes on in the Summer and I have a big pile of excuses and no working out.
Now we are in to September/October when I vowed to get back into it again. BUT. (here comes another bunch of excuses) my fiance is a hunter. Anyone who is a hunter's wife knows that September to November is hunting season. Well, my hunter is gone ALOT during hunting season. And Im perfectly ok with that....but with him being gone, again, I dont have anyone to watch my kids. So I didnt really get into a routine. I know certain people would say "Well you can work out at home"...but I cant. I cant focus on what I need to do unless Im at the gym. I mean, I could do a little something at home, but nothing that is me focusing for a solid hour and a bit on the task at hand.
So now we are into November and my old office job calls me and says they are looking for some part time seasonal help. With Christmas coming Im OK with this. . . so  now its November and I am working 3...yes THREE jobs and I have 2 kids. I do day care a couple days a week, I work in a restaurant a couple days a week, and I work at my old office job Sunday-Thursday and sometimes Sunday-Friday. This leaves me with one day off a week. . .and Mon-Friday I am working double shifts. Somebody please let me know how I could possibly pencil the gym in that schedule without running myself into the ground?
So now it is January 1st.
I am still working the 3 jobs but the madness seems to have subsided. I am not working crazy long hours anymore and no more weekend work. YES. I have a little under 5 months til I get married. I need to look my best for it. So I am starting back at the gym today. I am going to make it my goal to get there as much as it can possibly happen because for me, I need a routine or I just fall off the wagon. Who's with me? xo-Brit

Life Changes & Weight Loss

I have been at this for 7 months now. It seems like sooo long ago that I decided that it was finally time to do this...but at the same time, time has flown by. In the past 7 months I am down 45 lbs and 5 pant sizes and I intend to keep going. By the time I get married next year, I would like to be down another 10 lbs. 10 lbs in a year doesn't seem like much, but, as Ive gotten smaller these past few months, it has been MUCH harder to lose. The lbs are coming off VERY slowly. I am to blame for this obviously, as I have not been to the gym since Mexico....(oops) but in my defense, life has been crazy. In the next few weeks, I expect life to slow down at least a little bit, and when it does, you better believe I will be hitting the gym hard and staying active as much as I can. I am determined to do this once and for all.
In the past I have lost a little weight, and then gotten comfortable and stopped. Then the pounds slowly creeped back on again. Not this time.
This time I have surpassed the lowest weight I have been in the past few years and am fully determined to hit my goal. IT WILL HAPPEN.
I have learned sooo much about eating, and eating right, and I know that its a no-brainer. As long as I eat my targeted number of calories daily and get my activity in, the weight can and WILL come off.

I have something else to share. For the past 5 years I have worked for an awesome company with some great people. This past year there has been some major changes in my life including miss H doing her first year of full time school. Because I work 40 hours a week I cannot be a part of very much of her schooling....and I want to be. I have missed countless field trips & concerts and other things that I - and especially miss H - want me to be a part of. I have realized that this is a very important time that I cannot and will not miss any more of. Life flies by, and we'll never get this time back, its time to start doing what I want and need to do. So, on Monday, I put in my notice. I will no longer be an employee of this company after my last day on the 30th. It took a lot of thinking, but we have decided that its best for me to just be mom right now. I want to be there, and my kids want me there.

SO that's my news! Lots of changes going on, very exciting, but very nerve-racking at the same time. Life is good!

Disgusted

As I sit here and reflect on the events of last night, I am just horrified by the actions of some people. It is not only disgusting, disheartening and HORRIBLE but it is also sad. Sad that some people were out to do this no matter what the outcome of the game. Sad that somebody's family members were deliberately wreaking havoc over the city of Vancouver. Sad that people will wake up this morning and feel proud of the despicable acts of violence they committed last night.
I am completely sickened and hope that anyone who reads this who is not from BC understands that although this disgusting situation made world news...this is only a small portion of hooligans who decided to act like fools. We're not all like this. Most of us just sit back and say too bad, we'll see you next year Canucks. Most of us care about our city and the well-being of others. Most of us hope that these imbeciles are taken into custody and charged.

The bottom line: Most of us are not like that.

Latest pic..

For those of you following my weight loss progress.....here's my latest before and after. Embarassing!