Blogging - The Secret to Weight Loss?

A strange thing has been happening since I started this blog - I started losing weight!

It definitely wasn't a planned thing but when I began this blog, a few new habits began to form and low and behold -> blogging = weight loss. I'm not talking a lot here but I've probably lost about 5 - 7 pounds, yay! Perfect timing too with Summer just around the corner.

It began when I stop my very expensive habit of buying lunch on work days. I was mildly trying to buy healthy lunches - turkey sandwich w/ milk, or veggie panini w/ salad, etc. They were always really large portions and I'm the type of person who will more or less eat until I'm stuffed if the food tastes good and is in front of me. My food schedule usually consisted of eating breakfast before work, one large lunch and a late dinner. I wasn't too worried about my weight but was always about 8-10 pounds over my ideal.

Fast forward to today: Now I pack my lunches every day! And generally try to include a lunch item plus three snacks so that I can eat at regular intervals.

8:00am, Breakfast before work - toast w/ natural peanutbutter & banana

10:00am, Snack - green apple

12:00pm, Lunch - dinner leftovers or Lean Cuisine microwave meal

2:00pm, Snack - small yogurt or carrots

4:00pm, Snack - dark chocolate cherry Kashi granola bar

8:00pm, Dinner - Spinach salad w/ chicken breast

(obviously this isn't what I eat every day but it's a good representation)

Because of this new schedule, I've really noticed that my metabolism has been kicking it up. I'd heard this before but had never tried it myself. Now I'm a believer, eating 5-6 small meals a day really works. My budget also allows me to fit in hot yoga once a week without feeling guilty at the cost. So I'm doing that weekly now too.

So, what I have to keep doing to get ready for summer is,

1) Keep bringing my own lunches to work

2) Eat at regular intervals

3) Hot yoga weekly

4) Blog about it!

Officially Frugal

What a hectic week, I've barely had time to update my blog.

This morning I did something for the first time that in my opinion, was the final confirmation of my new frugal status. What was such a milestone?

I hand-washed a zip lock bag.

Yup, that's it! In one thrifty move, my zippy was washed and back in the drawer. Sticking it to the man, frugal styles.

Thankfully, I got my transit expenses back this week and now they're safely in my savings account so I don't short myself next month. Other than that, my budget is in excellent shape this period.

This weekend S and I were talking about going canoeing & camping in Algonquin park. We were thinking it might be a little chilly but I was going to rent a super warm sleeping bag. Anyway, S calls to rent the canoe and the guy says that sure we can rent a canoe! Except for one small problem - there's 6 inches of ice on the lake. So, S & Allie from Vancouver potentially could have been sitting in a canoe trying to paddle on a frozen lake this weekend. Hmmm, Veto!

Happy long weekend everyone :)

Power Weekend Run-down

This was such a great weekend, I wish I could rewind and do Sunday again. It was so beautiful here in Toronto and this morning, it's slushing, yuck.

Thanks to S's extra injection of funds into my account, my budget is not looking half bad this period! And the weekend didn't knock me off course. On Friday I went to go see my cousins; Saturday I slept in and was late for the art show I wanted to see but went to say hello anyway, did my grocery shopping, went to the concert S had tickets for. On Sunday, we woke up early, had breakfast, went for a 27 km bike ride down to the waterfront and up the Humber river, walked down to Kensington market, went to hot yoga, watched ANTM on youtube, went to sleep!

Money-wise

Friday

Bottle of wine - $9.75

Saturday

Used Book purchase - $13.64 - The Portable Dali

Groceries - $75.04

Personal Care - $13.00

Sunday

Bulk Quinoa - $8.00 ("Nutrient Powerhouse", cheaper in bulk!)

Sushi lunch - $16.45 - treated S $5.95 each plus tax & tip

Hot yoga - $18.00

Total Spent $153.88

*It's now slushing plus thunder & lightning, I don't want to leave the house today!

My addiction to Hot Yoga is completely growing and the more I go, the less the heat bothers me. This week we were working on anchoring before twisting to get a deeper stretch. I'm by no means an experienced yogi (this was only my fifth class) but after a few weeks of getting used to the heat and learning the basic poses, this was the first week I really noticed my flexibility had increased. I've taken to going on Sunday evening because it's a great way to calm the mind and spirit after a full weekend and to prepare for the week ahead... which is starting Now.

Weekend Money Merengue

I had such a great weekend, this weekend - despite being totally foiled by the weather!  I decided to clean house on Saturday (picture perfect sunshine), so that I could relax and have some fun on Sunday. Then on Sunday it poured!  Lucky for me the Vancouver roots kicked in and it ended up feeling pretty refreshing.

S and I have a pretty good division of chores going on right now. We alternate weeks, cleaning the house and grocery shopping. Cleaning has never exactly been my strong point but Karma was my friend when I met S - a cleanoholic.  I get a lot more pleasure from grocery shopping because I'm a label reading fanatic.  For any entrepreneurs out there, I think you should open an ethical grocery store that doesn't stock any products with trans fat in it. I wonder what that would look like...

Anyway, money-wise the weekend was not too shabby. I didn't spend any cash on Saturday and on Sunday my expenses broke down like this,

1.5 hour Hot yoga class (including mat & towel rental) $22

Sushi lunch $19

Salsa practice $10

Total: $51.00

Looking back it seems kind of frivolous.. Since I'm going to hot yoga every Sunday now, I'm going to invest in a class card so I don't have to pay the drop in rate. I'm also going to check Craigslist for a reasonable yoga mat (new). I shouldn't have had to pay $2 to rent a towel but I forgot mine.

$19 is pretty expensive for lunch, not sure how that added up so quickly. I haven't been eating out much lately and have stopped buying work lunches cold turkey so I'm not going to beat myself up over it but looking back, I'm definitely wincing! I have to do better on being more price sensitive if/when I do eat out.

Salsa practice! I found this fantastic new salsa spot not far from my place. Thrilled!!! Best $10 spent all weekend.

When I was a little kid, I had this green Snoopy sign above my bedroom door that said "To Dance is to Live, To Live is to Dance".  I still think that :)