Saturday, February 27, 2016

Marathon Training & 21 Day Fix Progress Update | Week 5

I would love to tell you that I killed in week 5 and just got completely back on track with my training - BUT - the reality is it's been a slow recovery week. I can't believe I've been almost sick for the entire month of February! If you check out my week 3&4 update you'll know that I had a really bad chest inflection and I am still feeling so tiered and run down it's just ridiculous.

Since my last update I've only been able to get in a few workouts. Saturday was supposed to be a long run of 13km...which didn't happen. I spent the entire day cleaning and disinfecting my house. I want this infection GONE. I scrubbed everything that I've touched and washed all the bedding. My energy level was so low, I had to take numerous breaks while cleaning because I got so tiered. I thought to myself - there is no way for me to go out now and run 13km. I would just be setting myself up for failure. Also as per my doctors instructions I am not to be out running while I still have my cough. Unfortunately over the weekend my cough continued. I stayed home and rested the entry weekend and continued to disinfect the house.

Finally when Monday rolled around I was able to do a workout from 21 Day Fix. My energy level was still pretty low. The workout was Piyo Fix which was perfect because I feel Piyo is pretty low intensity (compared to some of the other 21 Day Fix workouts). I got through most of the 30min workout...but I'm not gunna lie it was tough.

Tuesday should have been interval training but honestly I had to sit that one out. I just felt exhausted!

Then on Wednesday I got back on track with other 21 Day Fix workout, Upper Fix.  By the time Wednesday rolled around I noticed that there was FINALLY an improvement with my cough. I definitely wasn't cough as much or as bad as I was before. I managed to get through my workout and most of day with a very minimal cough. I could tell that there was finally some recovery progress being made - which of course made me thrilled.

When Thursday hit I felt confident enough that I could go for a run!! I didn't want to kill myself - keep in mind the last day I was out for a run was February 4th which was 21 days ago. The plan was to run 8km tempo....I honestly looked at that and I thought if I can just run around the block I would be happy. I ended up running 4km...and it was nothing crazy or fast, just a steady tempo run.

Friday I was exhausted and had to take a day off so I could ramp up for Saturday which was my long run! Next week I'll update you on how that went  in my week 6 update. Make sure you check back next week on Fitness Friday.

Thanks so much for stopping by! If you have any questions please feel free to leave them in the comments below.





Wednesday, February 24, 2016

30 Ways To Show Love

 

I am so thankful to live in a house that is full of LOVE. I have the best husband and I get so many comments/complements on how lucky I am or how my life is so perfect....well guess what!? Relationships take a lot of work, attention, and compromise.

But we must be doing something right - we've been together for 10 years 7 months and we've been living together for 6 years. We've had our ups and downs during our relationship but he's my best friend and I feel LOVED by him everyday.

I am luck that I have a husband who is will to put work, attention and compromise into our relationship. It really takes 2 to make a relationship work! We are a team - together we work on building our relationship.

Everyone says that after you get married romance dies. I don't know where that saying comes from because our relationship after marriage has never been better! I LOVE the fact that I'm with my best friend everyday and we have such an amazing life together.

We work everyday on our relationship and we like to find little ways on showing our appreciation and LOVE for each other. I don't typically share or give a lot of relationship advice but I thought I would share these little tips. It's nothing difficult to do and we LOVE doing these little things in our household just to keep the romance/LOVE alive. Here are 30 ways to show LOVE!


1. Pick them up a treat on your way home. We love doing random things for each other and it doesn't even have to be a big treat. Sometimes just a surprise coffee is a nice.

2. Put your phone down! Put it down and far away, get in some face to face time with your significant other and talk.

3. Learn to care about what they like. Take an interest in your significant other and what THEY like. It's not always about you.

4. Sit next to them as often as possible. We are those people that sit on the couch and just be together. We might not be talking or doing the same thing but it's just nice to be together as often as possible.

5. Keep the conversation about finances open. I think this is SO important. I've heard that one of the most common relationship fights is about money. Keep the conversation ongoing and open about money. Don't get mad about spending, just keep your spending within your means.

6. Say THANK YOU. Even when they do something small like vacuuming the house or unloading the dishwasher. Say Thank You and really mean it...trust me if you thank them for the small things they are more likely to do it again

7. When your signification other is working hard tell them you're proud of them. It's really nice to have your efforts recognized .

8. Get up to fed your pets so your significant other can sleep in (I don't have kids but this goes for kids as well).

9. Get ready even if you're just hanging around the house with them. I'm not saying you have to do this all the time but it's nice to get out of your sweatpants and do your hair/makeup and look nice just for them.

10. Do something around that house that isn't your normal "job".

11. Hold their hand when you're out in public. I'm not saying you have to go overboard on the PDA but show them some affection.

12. Send them an unexpected message saying "I love you", "Just wanted to say Hi", "thinking of you", ect

13. Don't be afraid to apologize and admit you are wrong. This is a tough one for me because I'm always right...but sometimes I have to swallow my pride and admit to being wrong.

14. Even when you live together date night is important. You don't always have to go out and spend a bunch of money. Cook for each other and have a movie night is a great way to spend time together.

15. Stick up for your significant other's actions and opinions. Be on their side...you're a team!

16. Give them a bit of your meal.

17. Ask them about a dream or goal they want to achieve.

18. Back rubs/foot rubs are always a good idea.

19. When you have a day off and your significant other has to work, go meet them for lunch or bring them a coffee.

20. Visit and talk while you are doing chores. We are constantly chatting when we're cleaning up the house or if he's in the garage working I'll put on my coat and sit in the garage for a chat.

21. Smile when they look at you.

22. Wash their car for them.

23. Slow dance in the kitchen...even if there's no music.

24. Make them something meaningful. A photo book, special mix CD, ect

25. I know we live in a world of technology but hand written letters are still nice. When I went to Europe for 30 days I left 30 notes for my significant other to read. He also got a special hand written note on our wedding day. He loves and keeps every single letter I've written him.

26. Look back at old photos together and reminisce.

27. Share a significant or memorable moment in your relationship "Remember when...". It's funny because sometime you will both remember different events in you're relationship that the other one may have forgotten.

28. Put their needs ahead of your own as often as you can manage it.

29. Kiss them good-bye before you leave the house AND hello when you get home.

30. Remember to say I LOVE YOU everyday. It doesn't matter how long you've been together....it's still nice to hear.



Remember, a relationship takes 2. I do these things for my husband and he does the for me. Share this with your significant other and give some of these tips a try! At first it might seem like a lot of work but trust me - put some work into your relationship and you'll see it pay off. We've made a habit out of all these small things, now it's just second nature and we enjoy showing each other our LOVE.

What are some of your favorite ways to show LOVE? Please share in the comments below.




Friday, February 19, 2016

Marathon Training & 21 Day Fix Progress Update | Week 3&4

Hello!!

It's been a while since my last update.

I have to admit not a lot of happened since I've posted my week 2 update on February 5th.

It's been incredible frustrating and disappointing these past 2 weeks...based on my health I'm really questioning if it's a good idea to continue on my training plan as I currently have it laid out. I might have to make some significant changes in order to continue on.

Basically what happened is I came home from work on Friday and my husband said he wasn't feel well. He rarely ever gets sick so when he admits to not feeling well you know he's REALLY sick.

Because he broke his wrist over Christmas break he's been going for a ton of follow up appointments at the hospital. They've been monitoring his recovery and sending him for follow up tests. Earlier that week he was at the hospital getting some paperwork filled out and we are assuming that's where he caught this awful viruses.

All Friday night be was coughing and coughing. It was really bad and I barley got any sleep. He didn't want to get me sick so he moved to the spare room but I was up about every 2 hours checking in on him. It was a really bad night for both of us.

Saturday morning I was supposed to go out for a 10km run but we were having a maintenance guy come look at our dishwasher....my husband was just too sick and I told him to rest and I would wait. Well it took this guy until about 2pm to show up! Technically I could have gone for my run while waiting for him but I didn't know when he was coming and I didn't want to miss him.

By 2pm my husband was VERY sick and I took him to the doctor that afternoon. Sure enough we had a chest and sinuses infection. Needless to say by the time I was done running around getting his prescription and grocery shopping I was exhausted! My run didn't happen....but I wasn't worried. I convinced myself that I would do my 10km run Sunday instead of taking a rest day.

Well that didn't happen either. By the time Sunday rolled around I had caught my husbands chest and sinuses infection. I have honestly never been so sick!

I went to the doctors so I could also get a prescription, in the waiting room I caught someones stomach bug. My husband & I spent the rest of Sunday in the bathroom sick to our stomachs.

Basically my entire week was a write off! I went from being able to run 10km to not being able to walk down the block. I spent a week home from work and didn't even check into any of my social media accounts.

Finally within the past few days I've been venturing out of bed and going back to work but I have literally no energy.

My doctor has advised me NOT to run until my cough has gets better. So basically this past week all I've been able to do is walk.

With that being said there is a bit of uncertainty on how effectively I will be able to continue my training plan. I may have to sit down and make some alterations in order for my goal to be achievable by the end of 18 weeks.

Things don't always go as planned....but our success lies in how we deal and overcome obstacles that get in our way. At this point I could give up....or I could adjust my plan and continue on!

That's pretty much it for this week. Sorry this update wasn't too exciting as there wasn't much to update you on.

Please check back next week for my week 5 update and I'll let you know how I'm doing at getting back on track!

Thank you so much for stopping by.







Saturday, February 13, 2016

Farleyco Valentine’s Pampered Giveaway | #CBBMyValentine

It's the day before Valentines Day and Farleyco has gratuitously put together a pamper set for me to giveaway to one lucky reader! These products are all available at your local Shoppers Drug Mart so be sure to keep an eye out for them. 

I just love the I Love...Vanilla & Ice Cream bubble bath and shower creme. It smells amazing and makes for a very luxurious bath. This product is sold exclusively at Shoppers Drug Mart.

There is nothing better than a face mask when you're pampering yourself. Montagne Jeunesse recently rebranded to 7th Heaven. This is a brand new product me for me, but I love my face masks. They are great for when you're soaking in the tub relaxing after a long day.  

As for the COLAB Dry Shamoo, this is a brand new product for me and I'm extremely interested in trying this product out. All the reviews I've looked up were extremely positive. This product is available exclusively at Shoppers Drug Mart starting March 1st. 


Giveaway Details:

This is a Canada only giveaway, valued at $40CAD

Included in this giveaway are:

- 1 I love…. Vanilla and Ice Cream Bath and Shower Crème (500mL)

- 1 COLAB Dry Shampoo 50mL in Tokyo and New York scents (1 Sheer Invisible, 1 Extreme Volume)

- 3 ReBrand/Name 7th Heaven (from Montagne Jeunesse) masks
- Makeup bag (design may vary)

The giveaway will run from Saturday February 13th to Sunday February 21th. The winner will be announced and contacted visa email on February 21th. The giveaway prize will be mailed directly to the winner from Farleyco in March.
GOOD LUCK!











a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday, February 5, 2016

Marathon Training & 21 Day Fix Progress Update | Week 2


I am very happy to report that I had a very successful week 2 of training!!! I am dead tiered but at the same time I feel incredibly strong.

If you didn't read my week 1 update please go check it out!! Make sure you are subscribed to my blog so you can follow my full 18 week journey.

Last week when I posted my update I hadn't completely finished my full first week. Friday I still had a 21 Day Fix workout (which went great) and Saturday I had to run about 10km - which I finished but it was difficult.

I started my 10km pretty late in the day - around 11am. It was a nice day for a run and I got to explore my new neighborhood...which I got lost a few times and had no idea where I was lol. But that's ok because I had a blast! If you follow me on Snapchat (mspamblam) I even stopped to Snap a few pictures of my community.

The point of a long run is to just go slow and complete the distance. I wasn't doing intervals, or any speed drills. While running I like to listen to some Beachbody coaching personal development...listening to audio books helps me keep my mind off of "how much further", "I'm getting tired", "my legs are hurting" and it helps me stay in the present and focused on what I'm doing.

Not going to lie thought - it was no walk in the park. After about 8km I went home to drop off my jacket and grab some water..I almost didn't finish my last 2km. Luckily I had a very encouraging husband who motivated me to head out and finish! Which I did and I was VERY happy when I was done.

Sunday was REST DAY! The best day of the week. I think that it's very important to give yourself one day to rest and let your body recoup.

Then on Monday I head back to work with 21 Day Fix. Monday was Pilates....perfect for coming off a rest day and still recovering from my 10 km run. It was great to be able to stretch out my body and slow my training down.

Tuesday was running intervals...these are probably my favorite to do! I love speed drills, which makes sense because I have a sprinting background. Most of them around 5min pace, which was the same as last week. So I didn't get any faster, but I didn't get any slower AND this week I had less rest in between intervals. Overall when I compare week 1 to week 2's times I've very happy with the results.

Wednesday was about 21 Day Fix workout. CARDIO FIX!! This was really tough after intervals but I got it done!! If you follow me on Instagram you would have seen a short video demonstrating 1 of the moves.

Then back to running on Thursday which a tempo run. I was really dreading this workout...I was very fortunate to have my husband come with me! It's so much more motivating going out for tempo and interval runs when you have someone beside you. We really pushed each other during the run, we really traded off who lead...sometimes he was in front and I was falling off the pace....sometimes I was in front and he was falling off the pace. But we managed to finish together and in an ok time - it could have been better. I definitely have room to improve with my tempo.

That's it for my week 2 update!!

If you have any questions about my training/progress please feel free to leave them in the comments below and I will answer them next week.

Happy Fitness Friday