Guess What?

It’s my birthday!

It’s true.  Friday, May 24th.

It has been a fabulous year! 

The weather is just not good enough to spend the day sailing, so we are going to spend the day being tourists in our city…   and I will be back on Saturday or Sunday with lots of pictures to share… it will likely depend on how MUCH fun I have…

In the mean, time,  have a fabulous Friday, and do leave me a fun birthday greeting.

Happy Victoria Day

I have had lots of little things going on over the past several days, so playing catch up today….

I completed my Immunity Boosting Food Detox and am on a quest to continue to eat as clean as I can.  I know that not everyone is in favor of such a strict regimen when it comes to food, but I am a sincere believer in doing what works for me…. and for encouraging you to find and do what works best for you, too.

On Saturday morning I completed my 3rd strength workout of the week and it included a series of burpees…. I almost cried when I finished the 100th one. I was so overcome with excitement and emotion at having actually done 100 burpees!

I used to absolutely dread doing them… burpees and mountain climbers were the 2 different exercises that I hated the most. But now that I am gaining strength and endurance through the Best Body Boot Camp workouts, I not only CAN do them, I actually kinda LIKE doing them. 

You can tell I am liking the shape my arms and shoulders are starting to take… but mostly I am loving how strong I feel.

And because there is no stopping me now… I just signed up for the next round of Best Body Boot Camp which starts on June 17th.  This just proves to me that it is never too late and that change, through hard work, really IS possible. 

I am one of those long stringy ectomorphs that really needs to work hard and long at building muscle.

Cardio comes so easy to me whereas resistance/strength training has always been so much more of a challenge.  Results are not quick so the changes I am seeing are not dramatic but I can see them; I can tell the difference.  I know that the hard work is paying off, and dare I actually say it… I am loving the strength training even more than the cardio now.  I am gonna work hard till I get back the arms and shoulders I rocked in my 30s and keep it up!

Today is a national holiday in Canada..  It is Victoria Day and we are honoring one of the Commonwealth’s most famous and beloved queens.  Queen Victoria’s birthday is May 24th (as is mine) and we celebrate it every year on the Monday on or before the 24th… and the city I live in is named for her so lots of big excitement here.

from history1800s.about.com

Her reign of 63 years and seven months, which is longer than that of any other British monarch and the longest of any female monarch in history, is known as the Victorian era.

I started the day by doing my strength workout and then after breakfast we opted not to walk downtown to the parade, so  I baked some cookies for The Captain…



and then after lunch we went for a nice long walk through the park and around the neighborhood. We live in the oldest neighborhood in the city and never tire of wandering up and down the streets looking at the huge old houses and beautiful trees and flowers.

This is on a huge bushy tree… no fragrance... any idea what is called?

The chestnuts are so pretty when in full bloom, especially the red ones.

I need to learn more about cricket.. it looks like fun.

Love watching the action on this log.

♪ ♪  We love turtles  ♫

Hope your week is getting off to a happy start, too… what are you up to today?

Week 7 Best Body Boot Camp

We are half way through Week 7 of Tina’a Best Body Boot Camp and I am really kicking it!

I love the exposure to new exercises that I haven’t seen or tried before.  I can’t do them all, but I am working hard at them anyway.  And I love that Tina offers modifications and alternates, too.

I have not loved EVERY move, but have surprised myself by really embracing some of the harder ones.  I have learned to like burpees… who knew?

I love getting up in the morning! I love getting in my strength workouts and then making breakfast, hungry as a bear… and then sitting down to a nutritious, protein-packed meal that is going to power me through the rest of the morning.

I love the results I am seeing after having been faithful to the plan!  Gravity is NOT going to get the best of me… not yet, anyway.   And I am getting stronger and able to do some exercises now that I never could before. 

I love that I am inspired and motivated to do even MORE.  Today after the scheduled workout I tacked on a tabata session of bicep curls and overhead tricep extensions to really finish off my arms... the stretch afterward was a lovely reward for the hard work.


I love being part of Tina's Facebook community where I can read about how the other Boot Campers are doing, and get advice and more inspiration.

If you haven’t checked out Tina Reale’s Best Body Boot Camp yet, you really better get over to her site and do it!  She is getting ready to take applications for Round 6 soon and has some exciting new and innovative things in store for you… and me!

happy, happy, happy....

Are you in?

How do you stay motivated and working out regularly?

Because Some Asked…

A few people have asked how my Immunity Boosting Food Detox is going, and how I am feeling, so I thought I would share a bit more about it.

Since I started my regimen on Saturday morning I have been eating fruit, vegetables, lean meats, and eggs,  a bit of flax and I have also have had a bit of almond milk.  I am drinking gallons of water and green tea, and yes, I have had a few sips of coffee here and there. 

Each morning I wash and cut a fresh lime, and squeeze the juice into a glass, and then put the lime into it, and fill it with cold water. I drink that along with taking one of my Epicor gel caps.  Epicor is a supplement I cam currently trying.  After I drink that glassful I fill it up with cold water again and set it aside. Then I have a sip or two of coffee and my first green tea of the day.

Then I do my workout, drinking my lime water as I need to throughout the workout.  THEN I have breakfast.  By this time I have been up for about an hour and a half and have done a half hour workout so I am pretty hungry...

Today is my fourth day and I feel good… very energetic.  I have shed all the excess water I was retaining and this morning I woke up without any swelling in my legs and feet at all.  I am eating whenever I get hungry and not limiting the amount of the food I am eating.  I think, though, because I am eating such nutrient dense food, that I am actually eating less overall… and that makes sense to me.
I am eating a good variety of food…

Breakfast is usually eggs… but I did make some hot flax ‘cereal’ for a change  of pace.

Shredded chicken salad on lettuce wraps one day for lunch.

Apple slices with cinnamon makes a good snack.

The massaged kale ended up making 3 different salads… this one with sliced pork loin and oranges.

The hardest part of this has been trying to come up with some suitable for afternoon snacks.  Lately I have been relying on nuts, or fruit with flax, hemp seeds, almond milk and almond butter all mixed together in a bowl… most of those things are off limits this week, (okay I snitched a couple of raw almonds yesterday) so I have been baking some ‘bites’… 

These are just banana and egg white with a bit of cinnamon… baked in the oven. I have also done them with mashed sweet potato… so tasty, and the protein does tend to satisfy longer than fruit alone and keeps the blood sugar down too.

Overall, things are going well.  The plan is to eat this way for 7 – 10 days, and then do a one day juice and water fast to flush all the released toxins out… we’ll see how that all pans out when I get to that point!

I am not advocating that anyone follow this food detox, just reporting/recording my experience.

Have you ever done a detox of any kind?

My Immunity Boosting Food Detox

I have been reading a new book this past week… one that I got from the library.  As soon as I saw the title, I was intrigued… Boosting Your Immunity for Dummies.  Published in 2013, so I knew the information would be current and not outdated.

I have been a fan of these Dummies books since they first began publishing them many years ago.  They are laid out so that they are easily read, and usually make great reference materials… Sailing for Dummies has been part of our boat library for years!

Why am I interested in boosting my immunity?

After I ran my first half marathon last Mother’s Day I started on a mission to find out what was causing swelling in my ankles and feet.  Through the course of many doctors visits and blood tests, it turns out that I have low levels of proteins in my blood which allows the veins to leak fluid into my tissues causing the edema.  (I am on a wait list to see a hematologist)  I also have a slightly low white blood cell count.  White blood cells are the ones that fight disease and infections so I am conscious of doing everything I can to avoid illness and remain healthy.

I am not a fanatic, but I do wash my hands a lot. I wash the fresh fruits and veggies I bring home from the market before I use them, and I try to be aware when out in public to not touch my face, or put my fingers in my mouth! 

So… that is why this book appealed to me.  If I can do something to actually  boost my immunity, I want to see what it is and give it a try!

I won’t bore you with all of the science, that I have to admit I find fascinating, but does make The Captain’s eyes glaze over a bit when I talk to him about it… but I will say that the nutritional advice given in this book pretty much echoes the nutritional advice in It Starts With Food and The Paleo Diet, and Practically Paleo. The culprits that cause inflammation and problems are: grains, dairy products, legumes, and sugar.

There is a lot of information about the things that we should be eating to support our immune systems and a group of Super Foods and what each one does for us.  I was happy to find that most of these things are already in my diet throughout the week… fruit, veggies, nuts, herbs and spices – a few in particular, such as the spice tumeric, and dark chocolate were a (pleasant) surprise to me.  Who wouldn’t like to have dark chocolate prescribed for their health?

The authors also discuss various detoxes and the reasons for and against… and they outline how to go about doing a mild cleanse that uses real food instead of potions and powders.  I have read this chapter several times and decided to give it a try.

It is pretty similar to the Whole30 Program with a few more restrictions  -  They suggest that your only beverages should be water and green tea.  This scares me a little as I am a huge fan of coffee… and normally wouldn’t even think of trying anything that asks me to eliminate it, so I am going to make a bit of a compromise here.   I just may have a few sips of coffee here and there to keep the raging headaches away… will see how that goes. 

Otherwise, I am on board completely and the foods suggested and allowed are all ones I am happy to eat!

And just as a reminder to myself.. I am not eating nuts, nut butters, or any dried fruit this week, even the naturally dried organic figs that I have been loving so much lately.

And, just in time… I was given a 90-day sample of Epicor to try out.  It is a dietary supplement that is designed to boost the immune system and  I will be taking that along with my regular supplements.

So, I am excited to start today.  I have done a bit of preparation… the fridge is stocked with fresh vegetables,  and  the fruit bowl on the counter is full… I have frozen berries and a huge store of green tea!

The Captain bought me the largest head of cauliflower I have ever seen cause cruciferous veggies are on the list... and he also picked up a bag full of of fresh limes…

so each morning I will have lime and water instead of the lemon and water that I normally would have… along with my Epicor.  Apparently limes "contain antiviral properties which trigger the productions of white blood cells".

Last night I washed and dried a bunch of kale, and massaged some oil, lemon juice and smashed garlic cloves into it, and will use that for salads over the next few days.

I am not a health professional, and I am not suggesting that anyone else try a food detox or even follow a Paleo or Primal diet.  I am doing this for myself and writing about it for my own reference and my own interest in tracking and analysis. 


Have you ever done a detox of any kind?