Bikini (no) competition journey (12 weeks out)

I have started a bikini competition plan but I have no intention of competing so I am just following the three months plan for now. I followed this plan once before for about 2.5 months last year with great success. Last time, my starting weight much higher (~10 heavier) and I went on a vacation and had to cut it short. When I came back from vacation I started having some stomach issues and did not follow the plan and then life happened etc. But since I saw good results with  the plan I decided to try it again. Last time I did not end up with a bikini competition ready body but definitely my body changed A LOT! Afterwards I was able to maintain the weight more or less. However, when I did not workout regularly I lost some of the toning and definition in my body, which is ok.  This plan includes both food and workout for duration of three 12 weeks and was tailored for my weight, shape, and food presences by a fitness coach (online one). I have done lots of research and realized the diet itself can be the same this time around too but I have to change a thing or two about my workout plan. I will post a before after photo along with my stats soon. The food for today:

Meal 1: Protein shake, 1 tbsp peanut butter
Meal 2: 3oz turkey, 2 tbsp avocado
Meal 3: 3 oz tilapia, ½ cup rice
Meal 4: 3oz chicken, 4oz sweet pot
Meal 5: 4 egg whites and 1 whole egg

Workout:

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Triceps rope pull down	3	15-20 reps
OH extensions vs dips off bench	5	fatigue
Kick backs	3	failure
Lat Raises out in a V form	5	dropping weight
Shoulder Press machine	3	failure
Rear Delt using T-bar	3	failure
Upright Row	3	Failure

and lots of coffee of course. I am also taking some supplements. 

Miss M had a rough week

I am glad that Miss M is diagnosed and is on her way to recovery. She (unfortunately) has gigardia and we started her on metronidazole (125mg) and tylosin (100mg), every 12 hours. It is really sad to see her throwing up and curling up in her blanket but I am glad it will come to an end soon.

How it stated you might asked! well we were away for a week and Miss M was in her favorite boarding facility for that week. When we picked her up last Monday, they told us that a week prior to her arrival at the facility, a dog was boarding and later on diagnosed with gigardia. They added that they have taken the necessary measures to cleanup and disinfect the place and there is noting for us to worry about. When we got home, I googled the symptoms and watched M for next couple of days. She did not show any signs until Wednesday morning when she vomited once. Then she was ok until Saturday when things took a turn for the worse and .... fast forward to today... she has taken her medications and snoozing right now :) 

We had guests!

little guests that is! my sweet niece and nephew were visiting over the weekend and I planned as much fun as possible during their short visit. We start the lunch with a double cheese pizza from our local pizzeria. Apparently the only pizza that kids now day eat is plain cheese (I learned my lesson the hard way). No picture but it was really good. Then we moved to dessert. They love ice cream and their taste changes every second time. It is really hard to keep up with them. And their major complain at our house is that the ice cream is not what they expected. So this time around, I called my sister in law in advance and asked her what the flavor of the day is---> chocolate and rainbow. Of course I could not find the rainbow for the life of me and the closest ice cream to rainbow was Neapolitan. In addition, I bought some smarties and gummy bears for the toppings which were a big hit :) I think I am more than ready to be a mom (I am a fur mom already) :) My niece keept adding the toppings to her ice cream until I told her that she would take the leftovers home and after that she stopped.

My nephew liked the ice cream and the toppings but he could not get enough of the potato chips (Kirkland Kettle Krinkle Cut Chips - Sea Salt). He was moving around with a bowl of potato chips in hand. We also played some games with Miss M supervision of course.

My nephew is so much into the "guess who the famous person" he is describing is. He even did not know more than half of the people he was describing (his dad was whispering into his ear) but still enjoyed it a lot. I think I won the best auntie of the year award.  

Mother's day Brunch!

I am not a mother yet! but my mother in law is visiting us and I made it my mission to take her to my favorite brunch spot. Kerr Cafe <3. I cannot say enough good things about this restaurant. I have been there only for brunch but it has never disappointed me. The wait time is reasonable and the food is amazing. Miss M was with us so we sat in the patio/side walk. It was a bit on the chilly side but well worth it. The best thing about this cafe is their long black (aka big black according to B) and cappuccino.

While sipping on our caffeine drinks, we decided on our food. I went for everything bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon. Simple but delicious.

B and his mom ordered Warm Lamb Salad with pumpkin. They liked their salads but I do not think I would ever have that as my brunch! Miss M is not feeling well and we have an appointment later this afternoon to take her to the vet. Fingers crossed, things go back to normal soon and my baby fur feel like herself.

It's been for ever!

 even forgot this blog even existed until today that my mother in law, B and I went out to couple of wineries! It was amazing to say the least. When we decided to start winery hopping it was already around 3:00pm (its Friday and a working day people). But still we managed to go to 3 wineries. We bought three a pinot noir and a Rose which was out of this world. I will go in more details later but the plan for the summer is to try all the wineries in Niagara peninsula during this summer. Each winery has its own tasting menu. Some come in flight of 3 or 4 and they costed $5 which can be credited towards purchasing wines. The wineries that we tried were:
1. Thirty Bench Wines: It has a flight of 3 wines to try for a quit impressive menu. Both B and I are red wine lovers (mostly Merlot) so we usually opt for the red wine. We like 2 of the three red wines that we tested. The wines were on the pricier side (compare to other wineries we have tried in the past in the region) at this winery but I think well worth it.

2. Angels Gate Winery: there was a flight of four for testing. There were plenty of wines to select from. Unfortunately we did not like any of the wines we tried and since we were kind of in rush to try more wineries we decided to just leave.

3. Rosewood Estates Winery & Meadery: we were offered a flight of 4 wines to try. The ladies at this winery were super nice and view was spectacular. They had Mead (honey wine) that was amazing. We tried the Ambrosia which was more on the sweet side but still super yum. The Rose was amazing and we ended up buying two bottles of their Rose. I like their Merlot too but B was not really onboard with that. 

New Year, New me!

Not so much. I am pretty much happy with the state I am in right now. So not very drastic changes for me 2013, thank you very much. That being said both B and I have goals that we want to be able to achieve this year. Here is my list:
1. Stick to my schedule 5x a week workout. It has been worked great for me and I am seeing very good results so I want to continue. Unfortunately I am not going to do Crossfit during winter as my schedule is pretty tight and I rather work on my own.
2. Do my comp exam. It is getting really intense with my research work and I think I should consider doing it sooner rather than later. It is on my agenda to talk to my supervisor (Dr.R).
3. I want to have at least one paper this year. Considering the nature of my work which is mainly experimental, 1 paper is great since I won't get a lot of results before finishing the experiments. SO you modeling people do not dare to look done to me!
4. Make sure to floss every night. Does it sound gross? well, I floss but every now and then. But I want to make sure to floss every night.
5. To decrease my sugar consumption drastically. I am already on the right path, meaning most of my sugar cravings have been satisfied through natural sugar like honey, dates, raisin, etc. I have to find a quantitative goal and a good action plan for this item.
6. Last but not least I want to see my six packs! Which means I have to get lean and serious with my food planning and type of food choice.

B list has some overlapping goals with mine:
1. Continue doing Crossfit! It has been working wonder for him. He is much stronger and leaner. His only hiccup this term is his 8am classes 3x a week!!!! We'll see how we can tackle this problem.
2. See his six pack!
He does not want me write about his career goals. We welcomed 2013 with good food and great company. So much fun and laughter!

 

Double unders

Another great day at the box. Today we had a different coach than our usual one, still lots of fun. The WOD wasn't a tough as I thought it might have been. I still have a sore back from all the dead lifts I did on Wednesday. The WOD included:
10 Burpees
15 Back squads
30 Double unders
and the skill was front squad. My arms are my weakest part right now and I am really sruggling with pull ups. That being said, I can see myself doing them at some point but monster double unders!!! Don't think they will happen anytime in near future:(
My legs are doing fine so far and i hope I don't get as sore as I got last time.

Breakfast:
I had my new favourate 3 ingrediant pancake:
1 small (~4oz) sweet potato
0.5 cup egg whites
1 scoop protein powder

So good with my coffee. There are contradictory information on benefit or harm of coffee. I am a tea drinker for most of the day and I really enjoy my cup of coffee (which got part of my life when I came to Canada) in the morning. So for now I am going to stick to it.

BK's (hubby) mom left last week and we took M to the airport to keep us company while there. It's not she the cutest in here little bag??!!! She behaved really well and made me really proud :)

The other day at the Costco I was surprised/ happy to see this product. The re giving out samples and it seemed that it was a huge hit! I did not sample it (I am trying to avoid bread as much as I can) but BK liked it but mentioned that it is not even close to Iranian/Persian bread!

Crossfit!

I survived my 3rd CF class:) Have no idea how it all happened?! Started crossfit with Hubby on Monday (September 10, 2012) and I am already in love, committed, devoted, hooked. That's a first for me, it was love in first sight for sure. I am planning to do 3x a week, which is recommended by my coach and the other 2 days I will practice my same o'l exercise at my gym which has worked perfectly for me.This week is/was however was the first week from vacation and the problem with the car made me so tired so I decided not to the gym and stick to the box only.

The WOD (workout of the day) was a killer today. After not a very intensive warm-up (when we got to the box, people were already in the middle of their warm up process) we started the exercise. O MY. I hated it so much but I loved it so much. I cann't wait for monday to kill myself again:)

Don't worry Canadians...

source

The new budget is released and off the leash. Yes, Canadians face it we are and were in recession and it was not the conservative government who saved us. We are in big messy situation and cuts on every service imminent. And for me the saddest slash is on Health Care  services. I still have to pay 40k+ tax and not get one fifth of the services I use to get. Nice job. To top it off, they Ministry of Environment is almost gone, which in turn means more cancer, new strange diseases, etc. 

I am not even worry about the retirement now, how many of us do you think will grow old to see those days by these cuts on health care and environmental regulations....

Women and Engineering!

There are lots of female engineers in engineering schools and they do very well while in school but what happens to them (us) when they (we) mature and start their (our) real world experiences. Why there are not a lot of us working as faculties in universities? Why they are not significant number of us present as CEOs and top shareholders? Why governmental institute have to enforce rules and regulation for hiring more women forces? What it is that keep us behind?! Is it our commitment to our partners and children that does not let us advance the corporate ladders?

source

After working in the industry for 4 years, I have realized that sexism is one of the reasons that prevent us from advancing in our career, but unlike this time we, women, are doing the dirty job for them. Because we are still being judged by our feminine aspect rather than our brain and competent. Let me elaborate. When someone is promoted to a position based on her other qualifications that are not related to what she is doing, she does not feel secure and at the same time she does not have the independency of making decisions as she is not qualified for the position. So on one hand, you have someone who listens to you no matter what because she is not confident enough to think independently. On the other hand, she will be super cruel to her subordinate specially the female ones since she feels insecure. She thinks she can seduce the male subordinates in most cases as she did with the big boss. But female ones are danger, specially if they are smarter than her. She knows she lacks knowledge compare to them in few years so she starts bully them in various ways. Men are more likely to participate in aggressive bullying behavior (60%), however when the bully is a woman her target is more likely to be a woman as well (71%). So as a junior female engineer please be aware of these fifteen signs of workplace bullying:

Fifteen signs of workplace bullying

1. Continually undervaluing effort. Recognition of effort is an important motivator for every employee. Without it, people tend to decrease effort, have little desire to be in to work on time, or perform their work to the best of their ability. By undervaluing an employee’s efforts, an exceptional employee can quickly become a problem employee.
2. Refusing to delegate. Delegation is a tool for getting more done in less time and for developing employees. When an employee is not given the opportunity to develop, they will certainly look for the opportunity elsewhere.
3. Frequently changing workplace rules. When the playing field is ever changing, how can the players play the game effectively? Changing the workplace guidelines on a regular basis sets employees up for failure, "keeps them on egg shells" because they never know what the "rules of the day" are. It also undermines trust amongst co-workers.
4. Public humiliation. Reprimanding an employee in a meeting or in the presence of other employees, yelling at or swearing at an employee, or rolling of the eyes when an employee or co-worker is expressing an opinion are all examples of humiliation.
5. Personal insults and name-calling. Whether in the presence of the individual or behind the individual’s back, this tends to alienate and lends to the forming of camps, further dividing your workforce.
6. Over-monitoring with malicious intent. Micromanaging with the intent of finding problems undermines the ability of an individual to do their job and do it well. Over time this approach can increase the mistakes a person makes. Micromanaging can make someone feel as though their every move is being monitored and judged. It can make them nervous and take their mind off of their work, increasing stress levels and developing into health issues.
7. Unfair applications of leave or promotion. This occurs when the rules for promotion are not applied consistently among the staff, when some have flexibility in scheduling, or some have the freedom to come and go as they please and others do not. When one individual is singled out and the rules of the workplace are not applied consistently it constitutes as bullying. This behaviour undermines trust, decreases motivation, and creates a negative attitude toward the supervisor and the organization. This will be reflected in the quality of work of the individual if the individual does not leave the organization first.
8. Instigating complaints from others to make an individual appear incompetent. Not all staff complaints are genuine issues. The challenge for the supervisor is defining the difference. A well versed bully is able to manipulate others into believing that the person being bullied is incompetent and will manipulate others into joining their camp in ostracizing the one being bullied by filing complaints that are unfounded.
9. Constant criticism. Feedback, whether positive or negative, is a useful tool for improvement, however some mistake criticism for feedback. Regular criticism that is judgemental in nature is destructive to the individual receiving it, undermines self confidence, impacts the spirit of the individual, and instils a sense of incompetence.
10. Spreading malicious rumours, gossip, or innuendo. Hard to catch, yet extremely destructive to the workplace, rumours are hurtful and demeaning; they pit staff against one another and undermine the ability to work as a team.
11. Ignoring or excluding. The act of ostracizing someone in the workplace has the same effect as exiting someone from the community. Shunning creates a loss of identity and belonging. Every employee needs to feel a sense of belonging. One of the reasons people work is to experience a connection to others, as a sense of purpose is required for each individual to feel whole as a person.
12. Withholding information. When information is required to do a job and the information is withheld, we are setting someone up for failure.
13. Intimidating a person. Intimidation comes in many forms, and all instil a sense of fear in the person being bullied, whether it be fear of losing one’s job, fear of humiliation, fear of being ostracized, or fear of reprimand. All of these forms of control constitute intimidation.
14. Removing areas of responsibility or promising projects and not following through. In particular when there is no reason or explanation. By taking away responsibility or not following through on a commitment to an employee, the employee looses trust, motivation and starts to question their own ability.
15. Deliberately sabotaging or impeding work performance. This can happen in many forms, by not giving information required to perform the job, by not providing adequate workspace to complete the job, not giving the authority required to complete the job etc. This sets the employee up for failure; the result is that the work fails, the individual fails, and the organization looks incompetent in the end.