nothing happens and nothing happens and then everything happens

I kinda wish I could go back and tell the gal in the top photo (who at the time was really unhappy, stressed, not really healthy and pretty good at keeping all of that under wraps) that everything would work out just fine.

Some of My Favourite Posts In 2009

I don’t know what I did with myself before I started reading blogs.

The blogging community has been incredibly kind to me and with their support, encouragement and inspiration, I have been able to do some pretty awesome things this year. I wanted to highlight nine of my favourite posts from some of my favourite bloggers in 2009.

It seemed like it was a year of change for many bloggers, so posts on the topic of transition and following your dreams by Tina, Angela and Gina really hit home for me. Reading posts of this nature by these incredible women inspired me greatly. It gave me proof of others, just like me, who have followed their dreams and haven’t turned back. Amazing.

Speaking on inspiration, I was so blessed to find Annabel’s blog, In the Hot Spot. She posted a round up of her 2009 posts the other day and I think that pretty much sums it all up for me. I dare you to read any of her articles and not feel inspired to shoot for the stars and change your life.

Andrea’s post on how to get the most out of your Weight Watchers meetings was absolutely stellar. They say that people who attend WW meetings lose 3 times more weight than people who don’t. Andrea goes to meetings and has lost 74 lbs and counting. I think that speaks for itself!

It has been incredible to read the story of Kristen’s journey to pregnancy and I wish her all the best with her little monkey. I bawled my eyes out watching this video. It is just stunning.

Crazy Sexy Life has also become one of my favourite sites this year because of posts like Rory Freedman’s Tips for a Better Life. I am going to post this at my new work station so that I can read it daily in 2010.

I do a lot of cooking and I’m constantly being inspired by the beautiful and delicious foodie blogs I follow. Some of my favourite blogger recipes this year have included Heidi’s asparagus stir fry, Jae’s pear ginger amaranth crumble, Michelle & Lori’s chocolate cream cake and everything from Meghan’s kitchen.

Speaking of Meghan, I have to say that I look forward to her posts every day. Her recipes are staples in my kitchen and I appreciate her outlook on life. Finding her blog this year was such a blessing, taking her cooking classes was wonderful and I am so lucky to have her as a mentor and friend. Everything on her blog rocks, but two of my favourites this year were I’d Rather Be Chubby and My Secret to Healing.

There are days when I can’t keep up with my Google Reader and suddenly I find myself with 300+ posts to read. Rather than click Mark as Read, I do my best to actually catch up and read everything because of amazing bloggers like these ones!! These are just some of the fantastic posts I have read (and starred) this year. Thank you to all the bloggers for your thought-provoking, gutsy and inspiring posts. Keep ‘em coming!! 

Which posts have inspired you this year?

Celebrating the Year That Was – 2009 Edition

My Saturday morning meeting is closed today due to Boxing Day, so I sent my members a video meeting talking about this week’s topic: celebrating. In the video I’ve encouraged my members to celebrate their accomplishments in the year that has passed as well as set some goals for the new year. I’ve decided to take my own advice and celebrate my accomplishments from 2009:

• I quit my job and enrolled in nutrition school
• I received 2 major awards as a Weight Watchers Leader 
  
• I led more than 25 people to Lifetime membership and countless others achieve their goals
• I blogged 4 times as much as I did in 2008 and have increased my readership by leaps and bounds
• I performed leads in two wonderful shows (Silk Stockings & Annie)
• I performed in my first and second belly dance recitals
• I completed an 8 week Boot Camp and saw great changes in my body and felt proud of my accomplishments both mental and physical
• I did a complete overhaul of my eating and am now gluten free and vegan
• I continue to actively do everything I can to heal my body and as a result feel amazing
• I have continued to maintain my weight
• I joined a gym and actually use my membership weekly
• I raised $1,724 for my first Heel n Wheel a Thon in support of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of Canada
• I was asked to be the Honorary Chair for Toronto’s 2010 Heel n Wheel a Thon

I will be following this up with a list of goals for 2010 early next week. This list covers a lot of the big stuff and I have to say it feels wonderful to look back at everything that has happened in 2009. I’ve had a lot of fun with friends (old and new) as well as getting to know so many more people through this blog. Thank you for your continued readership and enthusiasm!! 2010 is going to be a year of change for me, and I’m truly looking forward to everything coming my way.

I now encourage all of you to look back on 2009 and celebrate your accomplishments: big, small and everything in between!

Give yourself the credit you deserve and spend some time truly celebrating. Don’t make it about the things you wished you did or things you didn’t do. What’s done is done. I know that each of you have done some remarkable things this year, and now is the time to be proud of yourself. Reflecting on your accomplishments can be incredibly motivating and can be a great source of inspiration when the negative thoughts start to creep in. Positivity is contagious!!

What accomplishments are you celebrating from 2009?

Surviving My Office Holiday Party

As part of my office’s social committee, I’ve been busy planning our holiday parties for quite some time now. We had our kiddie party last weekend (where I was in charge of the cupcake room) and last Thursday we had our adult party at Milagro.

Milagro serves traditional Mexican fare and I wasn’t sure exactly what that would mean for me! I had a late lunch and had a snack before I left the office to ensure that I wasn’t going hungry! I spent the first part of the night greeting everyone as they came in and handed out drink tickets and raffle ballots. It was really fun to mingle with everyone and chat with them as they came in. We had rented out the entire restaurant, so I also had to turn some strangers away.

In between employees coming in, I munched on corn chips with guacamole. Best. Guac. Ever.

It was creamy and tangy and wonderful. I ate a lot of it. Other appetizers came including quesedillas and shrimp ceviche, followed by a veggie one, which my table bestowed upon me, dish and all. It was really yummy, but it had a lot of black pepper in it and I find that I just can’t handle black pepper!! It burns my mouth, so I generally try to avoid it and don’t cook with it at home. Black pepper aside, the ceviche was refreshing and delightful.

Because I don’t drink, I found myself drinking water or cranberry juice all night. The guys behind the bar were laughing at me, so I asked them to make me something fun: A mango-pomegranate smoothie – yum!! It was delicious. My decision to drink has been based on a few different factors:

• I’ve always had a very low alcohol tolerance and that tolerance was dropped down to ZERO once I had gotten to my goal weight
• When I was first diagnosed with Crohn’s, I was put on a medication I was unable to mix with alcohol so I stopped drinking altogether
• Once I was taken off that medication, I wondered what effect alcohol was having on my body and decided that I was probably better off without it.

I’ve come to learn that I can have a great time with people, even if I’m the only one not drinking. I’ve noticed that as long as you have something in your hand (like my giant smoothie or even a glass of juice), people don’t say anything. And if anyone asks, I give them my reasons and they go on their merry way.

When the mains came out there wasn’t a ton of options for me, so one of the other members of the social committee spoke to our server and they brought me out a cactus salad and some rice So at the time, I had no idea it was a cactus salad. I knew that it was green and tasted tangy and veggie-like but wasn’t exactly sure what I was consuming. It was great that they were able to accommodate me and I left with a happy tummy.

The party was a great success and everyone certainly enjoyed themselves (I left when the complimentary tequila was starting to roll out). Lucky for me I did not leave empty handed. We had scored some pretty sweet prizes for our raffle and as a member of the social committee I knew what everything was including a blackberry, Raptors tickets, days off, bottles of wine, sports jerseys and a PVR. Wasn’t my name called first?? Merry Christmas to me! I picked this:

An LG netbook – perfect for school!! I haven’t gotten it going yet (because in the beginning I wasn’t sure I was going to keep it for myself) but after taking it out of the box, I fell in love a little bit. It’s super light, very small and will be perfect for school and blogging.

I had a wonderful night with my coworkers talking, dancing (with the mariachi band) and laughing. While I thought that the food might pose a little bit of a challenge, I had quite a few yummy choices and definitely did not leave hungry! Everyone was interested in hearing my plans for the new year and I was even told that I’m expected to come back as the office’s corporate nutritionist. Everyone was enthusiastic about my new endeavours but also shared that they were sad to see me go. It was a really nice way to end my time at the office as I transition into my new life!!

How did your holiday parties go this month?
Anything exciting coming up this week?
I can’t believe that Christmas is tomorrow!!

Christmas Traditions With Charis And Zoe, My Adopted Family

On Saturday afternoon I mentioned that I was on my way to my “Charis & Zoe” Christmas. It was so much fun!

After my mom passed away, my family never made a huge deal out of Christmas. My dad would give my brother and I our gifts on Christmas morning, but we didn’t have any other family over and the celebration was usually fairly low key. I’ve always really enjoyed Christmas, so I usually latched on to the Christmas traditions of friends or boyfriends. It was when I was in musical theatre school that Charis and Zoe invited me to spend Christmas at their house.

I had known them for a couple of years at that point and had started to become fairly close with both of them. I had a wonderful time that year. Being in school, I didn’t have a ton of money to spend so I got them a bunch of little things like socks and chocolates. The following year was kind of funny, thanks to an extra-large gift.

I had just started spending time with a boy a few weeks before the holidays. I was talking with Charis on the phone one day and she asked me what I was getting him. I said that I was thinking about baking him some cookies or something because it wasn’t very serious and I just wanted to get him something small. She called me back later that day to say that I needed to get him something more, because cookies were just not going to cut it. She couldn’t tell me why, but said that I would feel bad if I just went with the cookies. Recognizing that she obviously had insider information, I complied and ended up getting the boy some tickets for a play that was coming up.

I arrived at Charis and Zoe’s house on Christmas morning and noticed that Charis was acting sort of strange and that she wouldn’t let me into the living room to drop off their presents. After a few awkward moments, she finally relented and I saw the cause for her behaviour: a gigantic present sitting in front of the Christmas tree.

Oh dear.

Turns out the boy that I had been spending some time with had gotten in touch with Charis and asked if it would be okay if he dropped off my present at her house so that I could open it on Christmas morning. I had given him his gift the week prior but had not received anything in return and the appearance of the huge box explained why. After fearfully avoiding the present for nearly half an hour, I decided to open it. Inside was a stereo. Yes, a stereo.

Me and the gift giver had been talking for a few weeks and he gave me a stereo. I realized it was because I had mentioned that mine was broken and that I had been using a discman to listen to music. It was incredibly thoughtful, but a little too much, too soon. Charis, Zoe and I coined the term “going stereo” for when someone tries to make a relationship get serious too quickly. Unfortunately for the stereo-riffic boy, I realized that I wasn’t as interested in him as he was in me and I broke things off with him on New Year’s Eve. We’ve had a Christmas gathering every year since then, and I think the stereo is mentioned at least once each year.

Despite there being no stereos at this year’s Christmas celebration, but we did have a wonderful time together!

Charis and I consulted on the menu this week to determine what she and Zoe could make that was “Ashley-friendly”. We’ve always had something non-traditional and this year we ended up with Gado Gado from the Moosewood Cookbook (a favourite of Charis’)

It was so yummy!! It was rice with a mix of steamed and raw veggies, tofu, sprouts and a delightful peanut sauce. I savoured every bite and even went back for seconds! Zoe and I were sceptical about the raw veggies mixed with the steamed ones, but it was actually great because it provided us with a variety of textures within the layers. I made a cranberry-apple crumble for dessert Served warm from the oven with a scoop of vanilla rice-based ice cream, it was absolutely delicious! The cranberries were sweet and tart and paired wonderfully with the apples. Such a comforting dessert, perfect for opening presents! (Zoe scoping out the gift situation)

Prior to our celebration, we send around lists so that the elves know what to buy! We also know one another pretty well by now, so we’re able to choose gifts that are fitting without relying on the lists as well.

I didn’t take pictures of all their gifts, but they included some body care, candles, notebooks and essentials oils for both of them, some pretty eye shadows and a super cool pepper grinder for Charis and some Foxy earrings and Dark Chocolate Dreams for Zoe. I received some amazing presents including:beautiful earrings
incense from Santa (how does he know where to find me?)
a great snack carrying container from Fit & Fresh pretty pens and post-it notes
over the knee stripey socks
and an amazing scarf. They know me so well!

It was such a fun night and I really feel in the Christmas spirit! I am so lucky to have such fantastic friends in Charis and Zoe. It is such a wonderful tradition and look forward to it continuing in the years to come.
Do you have any funny stories about overwhelming Christmas gifts or other mishaps? What are your holiday traditions?

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas…

I’m nearly on holidays and I’m so excited!! Had a really nice day today, which shall continue with my Charis & Zoe Christmas tonight!

Last night as I prepped for my meeting I made my first juice: Beet-apple-pear-ginger (it matches my hair apparently) which was absolutely delicious!! I found my new Breville very easy to use and clean, especially since it comes with it’s own little scrubby brush. Prepare yourself for many juicy photos on the bloggy.

Led three awesome meeting this morning. We were talking about perseverance and persistence, even through the challenging times. I shared this poem with my members:

When things go wrong as they sometimes will;
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill;
When the funds are low, and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but have to sigh;
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest if you must, but do not quit.
Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you can never tell how close you are
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-
It's when things go wrong that you must not quit.
-- Author Unknown

I encourage you to think back to a time in the past when you were demonstrated perseverance. What did you do? What motivated you? How did it feel? Remember that feeling and hold it close this week if you’re facing challenges at Christmas and New Year’s events. You have the strength and determination within yourself to make great choices and keep going in your journey.

This morning was made extra special by some visiting bloggers… (Andrea, Kerry, Kate, Allie & Kat)

because Kate got to Lifetime today!! Such wonderful icing on the cake. Thank you to all of my members for their hard work and dedication this year. Each and every one of you is doing so well and I look forward to helping more of you get to Lifetime this year. Last year I had 23, let’s shoot for the stars for 2010!!!

Some of my members brought me gifts and cards which was super sweet I felt so spoiled!! One of my members even made me latkes made with quinoa flour and homemade apple sauce after I had mentioned last week that I had been craving them – how adorable is that?? I was so surprised and was incredibly touched by their kindness. It was so great to see everyone and hug and head into this busy festive week on such a positive note.

After the meeting I had lunch with Lindsay at Mocha Mocha. It was so lovely to catch up! I had my usual warm brown rice salad and it did not disappoint. We had a wonderful long chat about life and work and Weight Watchers and other goodness that we had been missing out on for a few weeks. We also exchanged Christmas gifts which was fun!!

I received a beautiful set of bamboo utensils and a book of juice recipes (which was a bonus after Lindsay had seen the post about my Breville) So thoughtful and lovely – I can’t wait to use both!! I’ve promised Lindsay that I will have her over for juice very soon.

I love the holiday season, because it means that I get to spend quality time with all my favourite people!! I feel so blessed and couldn’t ask for anything more!! I hope you’re all having a good weekend and I will be back on Monday with details of the rest of the weekend’s festivities including our gluten free vegan Christmas meal from tonight!!

Goodbye Stress, Pass the Sparklers

I had a nice weekend of festive-related events:

• Received a big shipment from Amazon, rounding out my Christmas shopping
• Ushered for (and watched) the musical version of It’s a Wonderful Life
• Baked cupcakes and decorated them with 25 kids at our office’s kids holiday party

Even with all of this is done now, I can’t help but feel overwhelmed rather than excited for Christmas. The next few weeks are going to be incredibly busy for me and I need to find some ways to deal with my stress.

“But Ashley, didn’t you just quit your job so you would be doing what you loved and leave this stress behind?” Ultimately yes, but there are a number of things along the way before I get to calmer waters.

They have yet to hire a replacement at my office, which means I haven’t been able to start training someone. As a result, the beginning of January is going to be a ridiculously busy time for me. In that first week I will be starting rehearsals for my new show, starting school, leading 6 Weight Watchers meetings of my own and filling in at another PLUS training the new person. I thrive on being busy, but at the moment I feel like I’ve bitten off a little more than I can chew.

Let’s add to that my upcoming trip to Kirkland Lake to visit Joey’s family and friends smack dab in the middle of my transition. I have not been stressed about going up there for past holidays and visits, but this will be my first time up there since going gluten free and vegan. The last time I was up there was last Christmas and while I had made some changes in my diet, I made all the big changes a few months later. Kirkland Lake is a small mining town of 8,000 people. Considering that there’s only a handful of restaurants in town, I doubt I’m going to have a ton of choices when I go out, which means that I’m going to need to eat a lot of things at home. Joey’s mom is a wonderful cook, but very old school in her methods – lots of dairy, meat, and other things I don’t eat.

I see myself eating a lot of salad.

I plan to bring some things with me (cereal, almond milk, snacks, steamer basket etc.) and take a trip to the grocery store to stock up on fruits and veggies,  but it’s just not going to be the same as being at home and it feels a little daunting right now.

I also think that I’m just ready for my new life to start. When I first gave my notice at work, I felt a huge sense of relief. Waiting 2 months to go to school seemed much more feasible than waiting an entire year (until September 2010) The problem is that I feel like I’ve already checked out. My patience is wearing thin and it’s showing. I thought the the stress of my role would go away when I delegated some of my duties, but it’s still fairly high pressure and some of the people around me haven’t been on their best behaviour. Being in an open concept office makes this challenging and there have been a few days where I’ve just felt like walking out and/or crying.

So how am I coping?

I’m doing my best to take it day by day and stay positive. Negativity has gotten me nowhere in life and I truly believe in the power of positive thinking and words. January is still 3 weeks away, and projecting how stressed I’m going to be is not going to make anything better. I’ve got a lot of things to enjoy over the next few weeks including a vacation, time with friends and family and learning my part in my upcoming show.

I have to say that as a result of writing this blog post I feel a bit better and less anxious than I felt earlier. I’m also getting back into journaling. I’m reading Julia Cameron’s Artists Way 10th Anniversary Editionand am working up to writing my morning pages. Journaling is a wonderful way to release your emotions and thoughts in a constructive way. I’m also journaling something else: my food intake. I’m working on filling up my tracker each and every day because it’s really easy to make crummy food choices when I’m stressed out. Last but not least, I’ve been doing lots of activity and filling up my December Activity chart. Not only does activity make me feel great, but it also helps me to take my mind off things!

Heather sent me a great “message from the universe” last week,

Life isn't supposed to be all 'cakewalk' and no 'baking'.  Especially not for those who like to experiment, take risks, and be surprised.
Please pass the sparklers,
The Universe

So very, very true.

How are you coping with the stress of this season? What do you do to manage your stress? Any tips for me as I wait for my new beginnings?

Christmas Shopping? Oh Yeah! Gift Ideas to Make Your Life Easier

Do you like my attempt at making my desk at work more festive?

I felt like I was really ahead of the game when I started my Christmas shopping way back in August when Joey and I were in Niagara Falls. After that I forgot that Christmas was coming. It didn’t dawn on me again until I was in a card shop 2 weeks ago, buying a birthday card and heard “O Holy Night” playing in the background.

Oh crap.

Since then I’ve gotten caught up and am happy to report that I’m nearly 95% complete. Hooray! I know that for some of you reading this post might be your “O Holy Night” playing in the background, so I thought I would pass along some gift ideas for the loved ones in your life.

Every year I have a mini-Christmas with my friends Charis and Zoe. Our tradition started 4 or 5 years ago when I was back in musical theatre school. I didn’t have a ton of money so I bought them a whole bunch of little things like festive socks and candles. Since then our tradition has continued and each year I am always on the look out for really cool ideas that might not be on our elf lists.

Last year I found some incredibly unique items on Etsy that were absolutely perfect. The first were these great book stamps from Terbearco. Both of the gals are big readers and I thought personalized stamps to make their libraries complete would be lovely! I also got them each a fun coloured ink pad to use with the stamps. One of my other favourite finds for the girls last year were these coffee corsets from Jenn Gee. I even bought one for myself and still use it (although I couldn’t seem to find a picture of it!) It’s a great gift for those that you know drink coffee or tea on a regular basis and it’s nice because she has all different styles. Mine is leopard print with a pink ribbon, Zoe’s was beautiful blues & greens and Charis’s had a gardening theme.

There are thousands of amazing vendors on Etsy, each with tonnes of  great gift ideas. Some of my other favourite shops include Seagoddess Jewellery for beautiful handcrafted bellybutton rings, Heather’s super fun tote bags, and beautiful jewellery and fascinators (like the one I won back in the spring) from Ten Things.

Books are always one of my favourite things to give and I’m a big fan of Amazon’s Super Saver Shipping option! I would highly recommend any of the cookbooks I’ve reviewed on the blog this year for the gluten free folk or vegans in your life. Some of my other picks for the people in your life would be Make it Fast Cook, it Slow (amazing slow cooker recipes from Stephanie O’Dea), Gluten Free Girl (Shauna’s wonderful memoir) or Julie & Julia (for a good giggle).

I recently discovered Herbivore Clothing after winning this super cute wallet during Lazy Smurf’s awesome Vegan MoFo giveaway. They’ve got tonnes of great t-shirts, books and accessories for the plant eaters in your life and their shipping is very inexpensive (even to Canada!), which is always a plus when you’re ordering online. A wallet very similar to mine is currently in transit for a special guy I know (because he can’t stop raving about how awesome and small mine is! Shhhhhh don’t tell!! )

As much as online shopping is convenient, I love shopping in my neighbourhood and supporting the local businesses. Some of my favourite shops include El Pipil at 267 Danforth (wonderful housewares, accessories and clothing), iQ Living (amazing kitchen and house stuff), The Big Carrot (natural food and bodycare), Grassroots (green products)and Red Tent Sisters (women-friendly workshops, books and sexy products)

I’m always a big fan of homemade gifts and every year I always do some baking for my friends. Cookies, squares or truffles make lovely gifts especially when wrapped pretty boxes with a heartfelt card. Hannah over at Bittersweet has some awesome ideas for sweet treats to give. I will definitely be making some gluten free vegan treats this year for friends and co-workers as I’m doing my very best to save as much money as possible for school (which starts in 26 days! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee) I will show you what I come up with in the coming weeks.

How is your Christmas shopping coming along? Are you always ahead of the game or are you a last-minute Lola?

DOING IT In December

Brain cells have not returned, so “Doing It in December” it is.

With 31 days left until the New Year,
what are you going to do to make 2009 count?

This month is going to be about getting back into some sort of normal routine. November was crazy with my show and changes in my life. I had a bit of a scary moment at the beginning of the month, when I did my monthly weigh in and was down over 2 lbs. Most people would rejoice, but my loss had not been intentional, and it had put me at the very bottom of my BMI and actually sort of scared me. After monitoring my eating for a week, I realized that I wasn’t eating enough. My stress had gotten the better of me and it took some effort to get back on track.

My activity levels went pretty much down the tubes once the show opened. The last time I visited the gym was on the 14th for zumba & Flow. Even though I was still active during the show (running around the stage, dancing and walking to the theatre a few times a week), I feel really out of sorts.

All of that changes today.

I’ve already printed off my activity calendar, and have written in my goals as well as the classes I plan to attend this month. I started tracking diligently on Saturday and will get some groceries into the house and get back to cooking dinners at home (hooray!) I will be hitting the gym and attending the classes I love, especially since I want to look and feel great for my new headshots that are going to be taken in January. I feel fantastic both physically and mentally when I do activities that I love, so I’m going to use that as motivation!!

December is also going to be about making my dreams a reality. As of today, I start school in 37 days!! I can hardly believe it. I know that the time is going to fly by, so this month is going to be all about preparing myself for my new life!!

What are you going to do with the remaining 31 days of the year?
What are your goals for the month?

The End of My Hard Knock Life

Annie closed on Saturday which means my life is officially mine again!! Thank you to all who came and watched, I truly appreciate your support. For those of you who couldn’t make it, here are some shots from the show, photos with some visitors as well as some backstage shenanigans.

I want to say a big thank you for everyone’s support on my Crohn’s Week Month posts. It has been great to share my story with all of you as well as the stories of so many others. Together we will continue to raise awareness of IBD.

In IBD awareness related news, I had also mentioned that I had some news to share… so here it goes! Remember when I did the Crohn’s Walk last year and raised more than $1700? This year I will be doing the walk as the Honorary Chair for the Toronto event!! (page not updated for the 2010 event yet)

I’m so thrilled to be a part of the planning committee and look forward to help raise more money and more awareness for this cause that is near and dear to my heart (and intestine…) As honorary chair I will not only be sitting on the committee, but also being a spokesperson for the event, doing local media and leading some of the proceedings on the day of. There will be lots of information about this amazing event in the coming months as well as some fun things on the blog to assist in my fundraising efforts, so stay tuned!!

Coming up in December on the blog…

• New activity chart – I need to get my butt back into gear so I will be printing off my chart (to be posted tomorrow) and COVERING it with stickers!
• Food picture catch up – I have been eating during Annie and want to share some yummy pictures with you
• “Doing it in December” (Or maybe a better name to come when my brain cells return…) I need to get my butt into gear this month and want to assist all you in doing the same. This week we’re going to talk about strategies for dealing with the people we may encounter over the holiday season, as well as tips for including the foods you love into your life! We need to achieve our 2009 goals!! I am going to set some new goals for this month and MAKE THEM HAPPEN!! Are you with me? Is there anything that you would like me to talk about that you require additional support with? Leave me a comment or send me an email and I will do my best to include it!
• The countdown to my new life – school starts in 38 days!!!

Annie was a lot of fun, but I truly feel a sense of relief when a show is over. It’s like a chapter in a book. You enjoy the beginning, middle and end, but you also recognize that it’s going to come to an end at some point. December is going to be a busy month and then I start rehearsal for the next one, so I’m going to do what I can before the cycle starts again!!

What Does Preparing Yourself Mean to You?

Is your calendar for December filling up with social gatherings, parties, dinners and other events? Are you feeling overwhelmed? Now is the time to figure out how you’re going to handle it, by preparing yourself.

At my meetings on Saturday, I asked my members what preparing yourself meant to them and here’s what they came up with:

• Planning – including meals for the day and/or week, Points values for favourite treats as well as activity. Having a game plan means that you’re more likely to make things happen the way you want them to go. While it might seem daunting while you’re doing it, planning ahead saves you time in the long run and makes your life easier.
• Learning from experience – what has worked or not worked in the past? Where were you at this time last year and what are you going to do differently or exactly the same this year? Take these lessons learned and apply them to your intentions for the holiday season.
• Asking for help – getting support from others to help you through the challenging times is so important. Talk to friends. Read blogs. If you’re a WW member, make your meetings a priority. You’re not alone in this and will always have people to help you be successful.
• Taking care of yourself – Putting yourself at the TOP of your busy to do list even when you’ve got parties to attend, presents to buy or meals to make allows you to achieve balance. You can do this in whatever way feels good to you. Maybe it’s having a nap or going to bed an hour earlier. Taking an afternoon off work to do a bit of shopping. Finding some quiet time to do yoga or read a book. It’s an easy time of year to forget about the #1 person in your life – you. Putting yourself first, puts you in a better place to take care of everyone else in your life.
• Making healthy options available – Stocking up your pantry and fridge with healthy choices and easy grab n go options, making it easier for you to make good choices even when you’re super busy. Or if you’re attending a pot luck, bringing a healthy dish so you know you have at least one great option available to choose.
• Mentally rehearsing – Practice makes perfect! Who are you going to encounter? (I’m going to talk more about this next week when the topic is managing food-centered relationships…) What are you going to say? Where are you going to position yourself? What are you going to eat? Rehearsing these things ahead of time makes it a lot easier to actually do them when you get to the event.
• Keeping your goal in mind – When you have a goal, you have a direction and know what you need to do in order to get there. Is having a whole box of Turtles or skipping out on exercise for a week because you “don’t feel like it” going to help you get to where you want to be by December 31st? What needs to happen for you to reach your goal? What are some ways that you can remind yourself of your goals when things get busy? Maybe you could write them on a sticky or card to keep in a prominent place at your desk or stash in your purse.

It was great to hear my members’ thoughts on preparing themselves. Between all of them, I think they came up with some really great ideas and strategies and it was great because they were able to do almost all of the talking! Thinking about these strategies now is so important because the objective is that you’ll feel less overwhelmed and stressed by the time that you’re up to your ears in holiday baking, wine, and wrapping paper. Preparing yourself is setting yourself up for success!

How are you preparing yourself for busy times ahead?
Where would you like to be by December 31st 2009?
What needs to happen for you to get there?

Tips for Maintaining Sanity During Tech Week (or Life)

This week has been absolutely insane.

On Friday I had a date night with Joey. We went for Indian food (delish) and did a little shopping. On Saturday, I led three busy meetings, did two classes at the gym and read my new book. On Sunday I went to Lindsay’s WW meeting, meal planned & grocery shopped, took a Weight Watchers conference call, made dinner then went to the theatre for 6 hours. Since then it’s been chaos as we prepare to open Annie on Thursday.

This feeling has inspired me to share some tips on keeping sane during tech week or just busy times in your life (like the month of December, perhaps?)

1. Be prepared
When performing in a show, it’s not just about knowing your lines, cues, costume changes and choreography, it’s also about planning your life. For me, being prepared is meal planning, having good food in the house, slow cooker meals that are easy to prep and packing everything with me so I can eat throughout the day. That’s lunch (mega salad with mixed greens, avocado, cucumber, peppers, sprouts, chickpeas, hummus & hemp seeds), dinner (potato kale enchiladas from Veganomican) & snacks (apple, banana & pb&j larabar) It requires a little bit of thought in the morning, but for me it is a safety net because I know I have delicious, Ashley-friendly food for the whole day AND I don’t have to spend money.

2. Take care of yourself
I called in sick yesterday because I needed to rest. I took a 2.5 hour nap and it was glorious. (Although I felt like I was back at square 1 again when I got home from the theatre at 12:40am) I also used the time to make a yummy dinner and actually spend some time with Joey enjoying it! Roasted acorn squash stuffed with snobby joes (another Veganomican fav) with some steamed Brussel Sprouts on the side. I also made the effort to go to the gym on Saturday because I knew that it would be a great way to relax (Bodyflow + Zumba) but also because I knew I wouldn’t have time to get back there for a few days.

Onstage, taking care of yourself, also means worrying about your own business. This is a good approach to take in life as well. As Byron Katie says, if you’re busy worrying about other people’s business, there’s no one there to worry about yours!

3. Have fun
Even though you’re tired or cranky or stressed.
Even when you have to get up for work early the next morning.
Even when your hair and make up goes from looking like this:

to this:

Not everyone in the world can say that they get to be onstage, acting singing and dancing up a storm. Performing is something that I find so much pleasure in, yet sometimes I need to be reminded of that after rehearsal that lasts from 6pm-12am! At the end (or beginning) of the day, I’m excited that I get to do what I love!!

How do you prepare yourself, take care of yourself and/or have fun?

2009, 58 Days and Counting

Last week I asked you to think about what you hope to accomplish before 2010 comes around. I’ve been thinking a lot about this as of late (as you might guess from all my posts on taking care of yourself, finding balance and taking risks) and I thought it would be good to write out some of my goals to take me through to 2010.

1. Eat mindfully – I came to a realization the other night, that I have a tendency to eat out of habit. Sometimes I think I should be eating, so I’ll make a snack. Or I feel like a snack would somehow make me feel “better”, because I’ve often used food as a comfort. I want to focus on eating purposefully. While I’m proud of the way I eat and the foods I put into my body, I want to work on listening to my body’s needs. I will do this by taking the time to stop and ask myself whether I’m actually hungry or I’m eating because of boredom or another emotion. I can absolutely do this, and I think it will help me to get in touch with what I actually need in each moment.
   
2. Love my body – It took me more than a year to come to terms with my new weight and body, and this year I’ve worked really hard to tone and shape. For one of the first times in my life (that I can think of) I am proud of my body. It’s so easy to focus on our flaws and be negative, but I want to keep my head up and stay positive with this. I have another belly dance recital coming up in December and I know that I’m going to feel confident and gorgeous in my cropped top and feeling that way is an incredible accomplishment.
   
3. Move more - While I didn’t exercise/go to the gym as much as I had hoped last month (20 days/31 rather than the goal of 24 I had set for myself), I did do something 20 days and I think that’s great!! I hit the gym for bodyflow, zumba and a couple of runs, went to bellydancing, walked a bunch and took a lyrical class. Finding the time is much more of a challenge when I’m doing a show, but this month I hope to continue making activity a priority. I will do this by scheduling workouts, going with a buddy and making time to go to the gym in the morning at least once a week.
   
4. “Stop talking yourself out of the life you want most” – Tina posted this quote on Carrots N Cake last night and truly resonated with me. On Monday I was feeling very negative, stressed and scared about the decisions and challenges that lay before me, but after talking with Joey, wonderful friends and doing The Work, I was really able to turn my negative thoughts around. I am sorry to be so cryptic, but I promise that everything will reveal itself in due time. I can honestly say that 2010 is going to be an amazing year, and thinking positively is absolutely going to help me get to where I want to be.

As you think about what it is that *you* would like to accomplish over the next two months, I encourage you to consider this quote:

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams!
Live the life you've imagined.
(Henry David Thoreau)

Whatever it is you’re working towards, be passionate about it and give it all you’ve got. Think about the steps you need to take in order to reach your goals, and get to it! Only you can stand in your own way of the fantastic life you’ve dreamed of.

...To keep your balance you must keep moving

Smart man, that Einstein...

With November 1st on Sunday, it means there are 61 days left until 2010. Wow!

What do you hope to accomplish before we say goodbye to 2009?

What are you going to do this month to make that happen?

Is that something you can do? Will you do it?

I can't wait to hear what you're planning!! I'm going to detail my November goals in a post early next week along with my October results. Send me an email if you would like your activity chart for October to be included.

Celebrating at the 2009 Weight Watchers Celebration Meeting

Saturday was very exciting.

I started off my morning with 3 fantastic meetings. The topic this week was the Good Health Guidelines and we had some great discussion on how to incorporate them into our meals each day as well as their importance. I also had a member reach their goal weight, 2 reach their 25 lb milestone, lots of other losses and non-scale victories and another member getting to Lifetime (after losing 42 lbs on the program).

Achieving Lifetime membership is a very exciting milestone with Weight Watchers. As you go through your journey, you eventually set an ultimate weight goal. When you reach that goal we celebrate in the meeting room, discuss the maintenance phase and the member is awarded a silver star for their keychain (bling!) After at least six weeks of maintenance, if the member is within 2 lbs of their goal weight they are awarded Lifetime membership, which has a ton of benefits including only having to weigh in officially once each month, a gold key for their keychain, being eligible to become a Weight Watchers staff member and not having to pay for meetings (as long as they continue to maintain) Getting to Lifetime is hard work and as I always tell my members “there is no save button at goal”. It is a pretty exciting time in the meeting room and it is incredibly inspirational for other members to see people getting to Lifetime.

On Saturday afternoon I skipped over to the the 2009 Weight Watchers Celebration Meeting for my Territory with some amazing friends. Avra and Lindsay (on my left and right) both became Lifetime members this year at my meeting and both made the decision to become staff members. I met Jess through Weight Watchers and watched her become Lifetime earlier this year. She knew right away that she wanted to become a staff member and recently completed her leader training. Lindsay T and I did our Leader training together back in 2007. Since then, we’ve attended 2 of these meetings together and it was thrilling to be celebrating together once again with these newbies. I am also thankful for the amazing friendships I have made as a result of Weight Watchers! It is such a pleasure to work with others who share a passion for this program and believe in giving their members the best experience possible.

The objective of the Celebration Meeting is to celebrate (duh). There’s a lot of amazing things happening within the Weight Watchers organization and this is an opportunity for staff to get together and celebrate the year in our territory.

I was incredibly pleased that Lindsay and I were both recognized for our efforts as Leaders. We both received awards for having members in our meeting rooms who have lost over 100 lbs. So pretty!! It’s been my honour to lead members to all amounts of weight loss, and to have a 100 lbs loser at my location has been so inspiring.

Lindsay was awarded the Diamond Leader award which is given to a Leader that meets a ton of criteria and I was incredibly proud of her. Lindsay is a fantastic Leader and it shows because her members are incredibly successful!

I received an award for having the most members in my meeting reach Lifetime. This year, I helped 23 members reach Lifetime!!!

I was so excited!! I actually started to tear up a bit. My team celebrated with me and I thanked them for letting me do what I do and not have to worry about any of the behind-the-scenes efforts. My team recognized me for my enthusiasm and passion in the meeting room.

I want to carry this around with me all the time.

I absolutely love what I do and find such joy in attending and leading my meetings each week. I have the best members and am so proud of all that they have accomplished. I always so that I have the best “job” in the world and yesterday’s festivities was really icing on the cake. I couldn’t be happier!!

I’m looking forward to another fantastic year ahead with Weight Watchers and celebrating with my staff, peers and these 4 lovely ladies again next year!