This princess is nearly a queen...

Halloween - the one day every year that I get up a little bit early to don the perfect princess hairstyle and put on my prettiest dress to match my tiara. 

It's a tradition. 

Tiara wearing of course is not reserved just for Halloween. My birthday is the other day of the year that I pull the tiara out of storage and take on my true form, princess Alicia. 

Over the years I've been many kinds of princesses. Princess in a flowing gown, hippie princess, Sailor Moon...the list goes on. Judge me as you will, but there is something about giving in to the gender stereotypes and living the castle-dwelling dream for one day that makes the whole world feel right. Like I could do anything. 

This year I got dressed in the dark. Typical well-practised bouffant hairstyle, sparkles on the cheeks, a little extra attention to the eye make up, and of course the crinoline under the skirt to really drive it home. It wasn't until just before noon that I had the chance to look at the whole costume in the mirror. 

That's when I noticed something different...

That fresh dewy princess face that typically greets me all day Halloween was replaced by a face that seemed to resemble a princess who was just about past her prime; A spoiled Peach, a Cinderella in Hush Puppies. The face that looked back at me closer resembled...a queen....

Suddenly I was struck by the meagre length of my skirt...was it inappropriate?

I was weighed down by the responsibilities. My mind quickly went to that salad in my lunch bag with the carefully measured feta cheese and closely tracked calorie count...

Am I turning into a "mature adult"?

MY TIME's NOT UP!! I haven't even had the chance to have a MASQUERADE BALL YET!!!! 

Heavy Stuff.

So I went back to my desk and cracked open a couple of candy wrappers. Just enough wrapper jingling and to take my mind off the mirror and put me back in the festive mood; The sweet melting bubbles of the Aero bar somewhat spoiled by the thought of laugh lines taking over my smooth sparkly cheeks...

Mirror, Mirror on the wall - WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!?!? 

So for all you princesses and queens out there. All my love and lots of chocolate. We can get through this together ;)

Blogging and tweeting...what would your grandmother think?

How do people stay engaged? Is tweeting the future of connection? Words and codes strung together to both draw people in and push people out. #whouseshashtagsanyway? 

I've recently been trying to move and shake (or at least stutter and quiver) in the Twitter world...I have a loose understanding of what is acceptable, and I have an equally (perhaps greater) loose grasp on what is relevant and interesting. My youth would likely loudly and enthusiastically tell you just how lame and old I'm getting. But in the Twitter world age doesn't matter and we are all relevant in some way (regardless of what those young hooligans may tell us). 

Trouble is, much like blogging and any other social media "engagement," it takes TIME. It takes me opening up twitter every morning to catch up on what my followed personalities or businesses have been saying, keeping the window open for most of the day to catch up on what else is "trending." Perhaps logging on to my twitter app on my phone throughout the day, or getting notifications to my email. 

Not only that, but much of the content is biased. We all have an angle or an agenda. The biggest difference is likely in the opportunity to share, engage and respond which is not as easily accessible with typical news sources. 

All that being said, I'm realizing that it's impossible, without serious investment of time, to keep my finger on the pulse of the Waterloo Region. But I'm closer now to understanding it than I have ever been. Is that thanks to Twitter? 

While "blog" and "tweet" may sound to previous generations like lingo with a likely dark or inappropriate edge, we have come to understand these terms in light of their possibility; A connection to our wider world and an opportunity to learn and share. So here I go, back into the melting pot of social media. 

So how do YOU stay engaged? 

Oops, gotta run - 11 new tweets just popped up! 

Pumpkin Cheesecake, Pecan Pie and the downfall of courageous men and women all over Canada

It happened, Thanksgiving that is. 

As I was preparing to eat a piece of pie this weekend someone asked me, "are you going to blog about that?" - C'mon guys, just ONE piece!?!?! lol

Yes pie and cheesecake and turkey and stuffing and ham and potatoes and SO many things that make your mouth water. ALL ON ONE WEEKEND!!!

To many this sounds like a great victory - "LET THEM EAT CAKE!" they yell as they dance into the dining room filling their plates with goodies and treats...."NO CONSEQUENCES!!" more shout as they fill their plates with Turkey and gravy. 

And yet to others this sounds like the beginning of a downward spiral. Perhaps even defeat. 

Of course suggesting this also suggests that there are no folks in the middle of this spectrum who either care mildly or don't care at all about any of the above, it doesn't affect their life more than planning to be away from home for an afternoon or evening. We live in spectrum - I understand this. 

I live closer to the defeat end of the spectrum. My Thanksgivings, Christmas' and Easters usually begin and end with unhealthy self-talk and a struggle to break the pattern. I can eat salad for months and be perfectly happy, but set me down in front of a dinner buffet and I'm finished. 

Set aside the feeling of being "overfull" or "miserable" after you eat all that food...
I dare you to try and set aside the feeling of reward or satisfaction after taking that 1st, 3rd or 5th bite of pie? 
I can forget how gross I felt after I binge on stuffing and gravy (with complete social acceptance btw) but I can't forget how tasty that buttery stuffing was as it passed over my tongue. 

So the battle becomes - how do I stop living "Thanksgiving" when Black Friday has come and gone? 

I don't have an answer.

If I did I'd be a size 2-4 and laughing at the pumpkin cheesecake still sitting in my refrigerator when I get home, maybe even tossing him in the garbage...Instead he will likely talk me into taking a bite...and then he may suggest strongly that I skip the gym....and if he's really smooth maybe he'll remind me of the stuffing that is still nestled deep within the shelf just behind the leftover turnip...Oh cheesecake....I'll win one of these days....maybe even today... 

I've been so good....why is nothing changing???

There is a part of me that stares at the scale on Monday mornings and thinks, "What the heck? You were so good last week - how is it possible that it hasn't moved?" 

Or the other Monday mornings when the scale has taken a turn upwards rather than downwards - "I've been so good!"

I need to be real for a minute here. There are some things that slip willingly into my "unconsciousness" that I need to address with my conscious mind.

Calories in - Calories out: The number of calories on average that my body needs is wildly skewed when I allow my weekend to become a full on cheat-fest. . . I need to think smarter about ways to enjoy my weekend without ruining any weekday progress. Just because it's the weekend doesn't mean the calories find some other ass to attach themselves to...

Water Weight: I know I don't drink enough water for my  body to flush properly. Weekends are especially terrible because I have been known to befriend a bottle of wine or two...delicious friends, terrible influences on my hydration. 

Wheat/Gluten: Even though it is possible for me to eat these delicious additives a couple of times a week with little "felt" consequence, the affect on my body is still negative - bloating, increased sensitivity....etc.

So I ask myself - "What the heck?" but really, I know why there's no real change.  I know I  need to make changes to the way I think about weekends if I want to see any more progress on that scale. 

Ready or Not...here it comes!

Tell me it's not October already!?!?! 

So, the month has come and gone, September's fitness challenge happened...

Now on to the next! 

2nd VERSE JUST LIKE THE FIRST, A LITTLE BIT LOUDER AND A LITTLE BIT WORSE!

Goal: 8lbs
Timeline: 1 month

For most of September I maintained that 5lbs I lost at the beginning. Now time for a bit of an extra push, less cheating on the weekend, more cardio - 6km runs!!

How did your September go? It's a fresh start today, nothing can hold us back, no matter what our goals - fitness or otherwise! :)