Whew - what a week!

Wow - it looks like another week has flown by! Honestly it was a bit of a tough week for me. Not in terms of being healthy, but just in general. I've been in kind of a funk lately. Part of it is work stuff and part of it is random life stuff. As a result, I haven't actually been sleeping very well lately. Usually I'm a really good sleeper but lately I've had trouble falling asleep and/or waking up in the middle of the night or very early morning and not being able to go back to sleep. I'm hoping things will be resolved soon and I will feel better!

The good part of this is I've been able to get in all my workouts in. Since I'm awake at 6 am I've gone to the gym a couple times before work, which is very rare for me! Also I've needed the stress relief so I've been going regularly after work or in the evenings. This past week I've crushed my 5 km (3 mile) record on the treadmill - I did it 3 times: the first time 28:10, second 27:50, and the last time 27:05! Being able to run 5k under 30 min was always my goal so I'm super happy with this. I also tried a new class at the gym - it was called Knockout. I thought that meant it would be kickboxing. WRONG! It meant a crazy Latino chick yelled at us for 1 hour straight, wanting us to do crazy cardio moves faster than anyone can move. It was so tough it was laughable (the instructor actually got mad at me for laughing - I couldn't help it!). But I went with a friend from work and we had a good time and got a good workout. I'm going to try to go to one class a week at the gym to switch up my workouts! The rest of the time I'll continue with my new muscle building workouts. I've also set up a standing gym date with one of my friends one evening a week. Always good when I can combine hanging out with a friend and being active!

I've eating pretty well this past week, embracing the 80% eating smart and 20% little bit of leeway mentality and it seems to be working. This morning my scale said 143 lbs, which is definitely a happy weight for me. I feel strong, healthy and slim. I love being able to wake up in the morning and know that I can wear whatever I want, not just the clothes that are a little looser! At this weight I am 5 lbs under my WW goal weight. I'm not going to set any more weight loss goals for myself but just keep on working out and eating smart and see where my body wants to end up. Besides we leave in Europe for a week and I plan to indulge a bit! So it's great that I am at a good weight when we leave - gives me a bit of room for croissants, crepes, churros, and sangria!! (If you missed when I mentioned it a couple weeks ago, we are going to Paris, Barcelona, and Madrid for 10 days!)

I've taken a couple pictures of my eats this past week. Sometimes I wish I took more pictures, but then again, this blog was never meant to be about my daily eats. So I take pictures when I remember, but it's pretty sporadic. Nevertheless, here are some of my meals from the past week.

Carrot Ginger Soup and a Tuna Melt

Dijon Asparagus

Baked Vegetables

Also I didn't take a picture but I did make and eat another batch of Kale Chips. I have decided I really like kale in chip form (it's a great carrier for oil and salt, and healthier than potato chips!).

On Tuesday, I went snowshoeing with my lab up on Seymour Mountain. It was a gorgeous day. Here are a couple snaps:

Then today Evan and I we went skiing up on Cypress Mountain. On the drive up we stopped to take a couple pictures of the city.

Vancouver really is a beautiful city!!

At the mountain:

Me and my new skiis!

I bought new skis this year and this was my first chance to try them out. Up until now I was using the skis my parents bought me in Grade 4 or renting - I was in desperate need of an upgrade! Now that I have my own gear I hope to ski more often - maybe next year we'll get seasons passes. I love skiing and am actually pretty good now. It's amazing how much my skiing improved as I got fit! Another NSV :)

I think that's all for now. This next week I'm going to try to update this blog more frequently with shorter posts, so it doesn't all just come out at the end of the week in a super long one! One week until we leave for Europe!! Time to wrap up the last few details and start to figure out what to pack... Hope everyone is having a good weekend!