Counting Down to Vacation!

The countdown is on! Only a few more sleeps and we will be on our much-delayed honeymoon in Panama. Of course I'd rather be closer to my goal weight before going somewhere tropical....but there's no sense in not living life while waiting. I've been busting my ass this week so that I feel strong and confident - I know I'm working on it, and that's what really matters. I found cute clothes that I feel good in and my mission is to just enjoy it and not fixate on my weight. I mean, look at this place - why on earth should I waste time worrying about how I look when I'll be surrounded by so much beauty?

(image via Google)

So in other news, Project Baby is going wonderfully. Some days I've had difficulty eating enough, but for the most part I'm doing the lean protein/complex carbs/tonnes of fresh produce and zero-sugar thing. My pace on the elliptical is improving and I've set some clear goals to challenge myself. 


Currently, 5 km on the elliptical takes me 60 minutes. I want to get that down to 45 minutes and then I'll add hills. Today I also swam 250 metres in 30 minutes. I want to reach 500 metres and preferably in 45 minutes or less. But so far so good! I'm feeling more in control of my body now and less helpless with the fertility situation. I think these changes are going to help a lot - I need to believe that. 


No doubt there will be some hiccups on my vacation, but that isn't the end of the world. I'll still try to eat lots of fruit, nuts, etc. and will be doing lots of swimming! I should at least break even and not lose too much strength over the week. I'll probably fit in some basic strength moves most days too. It feels too good to be working this hard to take a vacation from it!


~Michelle

Searching For My Niche

Having had a couple of blogs in my life, I can't help but notice I've never been great at attracting readers. I think the biggest problem is that I don't have a "thing". When I was (much) younger, I had teen angst, and that worked reasonably well to attract similarly angst-ridden peers. But then....well, I'm not sure what happened.

There are so many different blogspheres it can be next to impossible to figure out where you fit. I tried infertility blogging, but instead of soothing me it only encouraged me to dwell on the negative. Not to mention nearly everyone on my blogroll got pregnant at basically the same time. Great for them, but not very encouraging to me!

I love beauty bloggers, but I don't have an unlimited Sephora budget. I like photography, but I'm only just learning it as a hobby and am in no position to be giving anyone tips. I enjoy cooking and baking, but I certainly don't have the skill to create recipes on par with the food bloggers I admire. My dogs are my life, but we don't compete in flyball or anything as interesting as that. And social work is out. I may be passionate about social issues, but it's just too heavy to write about 24/7! And sure, I'm on a serious weight-loss journey right now, but I don't want that to define me.

So this leaves me where?

I'm confident that I will be a wonderful mommy blogger....but that isn't exactly possible when I'm not yet a mommy. I would love to know how other bloggers find their niche. There are surely other jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none such as myself? How do they build their blogs? How do you find your audience when you can't even sell yourself as being a certain "type" of blogger?

All interesting questions that I unfortunately do not yet have an answer for.

~Michelle

Reality Check

So the holiday season has come to an end...*sigh* I always find this time of year extremely depressing, and this year it is compounded by the fact that the end of the festive season also brings an end to my excuse for delaying my job search. I simply don't feel ready to return to the real world yet, but it's time to at least start. January 2nd also brings an end to my justification for eating everything in sight, such as these:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies -

find the recipe at Big Flavours From a Tiny Kitchen

So tomorrow I will be overhauling my resume while sipping smoothies. I'm going back on my Zero Sugar plan and will be hitting the gym. I'm exhausted already....*yawn*

I already miss my holiday playlist and the warmth and merriment of the holidays....not that my holidays were all that merry anyway. But that's not the point. Now there isn't much to focus on except waiting for summer to return and working on some serious self-improvement projects. I trust this will become fun once I get going, but right now it's a matter of utilizing brute force against myself, which does not equal a good time in my opinion. I'm calling the fitness and nutrition regimen Project Baby - to constantly remind me of why I am doing this and why I never want to slack off or cheat.

In the meantime, I bid adieu to the holiday tunes until next season. I'm hopeful that next year I will have plenty to celebrate!

(Notice that I'm photographing inanimate objects AGAIN? I really need to practice on some human subjects...)

~Michelle