You want me to do something...

tell me I can't do it.- Maya Angelou

This title doesn't really ring true for me. Others may find it relateable. I put it out there for you externally motivated folks.

I've been keepin' active this week. Monday night I went and played racquetball after work. Did a little solo session. I found myself smiling as I whacked away. I think I'm getting better. Or, I wasn't exhausted and actually felt like moving. I had planned on attending my first ever "latin funk" class (aka zumba the Y just doesn't own the rights to the name) but I'd read the schedule incorrectly and there was no class to be had. I figured I would do that and it'd be better than nothing and I enjoyed it.

On Tuesday I had a job interview over my lunch and I actually cried during it. I realized partway through the interview that I was in a serious interview for a grown up job that I really wanted. I normally LOVE interviews. The way I look at it is that the position is mine for the taking or else they wouldn't be interviewing me. Anyways, when this realization donned on me I got incredibly stressed plus I talked about a client who'd committed suicide. So the stress, excitement, passion and sadness I was feeling started leaking out of my eyes and I started crying. I got back to work knowing that I bombed what, to date- was the greatest employment opportunity in my life and feeling pretty downcast. I valued the experience though. They called an hour later to tell me that I had a second interview! It's a good thing it was a voicemail or else I would have started crying all over again. This time, I had to do a 10 minute presentation for them. Well this was Tues and they wanted to see me Thurs. I did some juggling and arranged it to do the interview over my lunch. That night, instead of working on my powerpoint and feeling emotionally taxed, I decided that I would go to do some yoga and rowing. Tuesday nights at the Burlington Y are my favourite. It was a decent class and i was happy to have something else to focus on other than job interviews. Rowing was all right. I did intervals on there so it was good for getting the ole heart rate up before Yoga.

I worked Wednesday and when I logged in to my work e-mail there was a message waiting for me about an interview for a couple of positions. Yup, another interview. Also on Thursday. 2 interviews, 3 positions. I normally go out with my best friend on Wednesday and cancelled in order to work on the powerpoint. I knew there was no way Tuesday that I would get anything done and so went to the gym instead. This left only the one night to work on a 10 minute presentation on a topic that I had very little knowledge of. It took a few hours but I completed it. This left no time to fit a theoretical run in (I thought maybe, just mayyyyyyyyyyybe I'd feel like going for one in this cool weather. I was wrong)

Last night I looked it up and  confirmed my suspicions. It takes 10 minutes less to ride my bike to work. that is what I did. hopped on my bike this morning and rode to work. I work down the escarpment so it's not a bad ride. I just have to remember that my morning smoothie doesn't cut it for breakfast in this situation. I went to the interviews and made it through tear free. They both went really well. I appreciated getting to talk to some people about other programs at my current job. The presentation went well, or I think so... I found out that I am competing against one other person for the position. I am top two out of the 40 applicants which alone made me feel good. Whatever happens happens. I'm feeling much better now that this is over. I only have one more interview next week.

I am pretty content that I am able to squeeze in activity here and there. Including after the interview when I made a mad dash back to work so I got a 15 minute run in today as well (wearing a back pack in so business casual attire)

Weekly Round-Up

I wasn't so active last week. I was exhausted on Thursday and wasn't sure what was going on then Friday I was under the weather with whatever mystery malady I have. I'm still not up to par. I had a couple of job interviews this week as well. One I am interested in, the other not so much. I also went on a boat cruise Monday night through the Pheasant Plucker and its sister restaurants. It was really fun! The band was great and did fantastic covers of songs from my late highschool early university days. We were on the Hamilton Harbour Queen and it tooled around the bay. The weather was perfect. I also got my bike tuned up and two new wheels I went to the New Hope Bike Co-op. I Highly recommend them. the work thatI had done only cost $55. They were done quickly but I wasn't able to pick it up for a week because of other commitments. I'm hoping to get to a clinic when they offer one.

I've just been pretty busy and wasn't making time for the gym. Today though I was meeting friends downtown for brunch at The Augusta House. I went yesterday and had the eggs benny and it was fantastic and it's my only weekend off all summer so I decided I may as well head back down there again. This time I had the banana french toast. Equally as wonderful and a large serving. I rode my bike down. It was perfect weather. I quibbled about whether or not I wanted to attempt riding home. I would take the rail trail so it would have been a gradual elevation as opposed to riding up the jolly cut which is pretty steep. I wussed out though and ended up busing home. Like I said, I'm still not up to par so I wasn't sure how I'd feel and just pictured myself getting worse and being stuck half way home and forcing myself to either get up the hill or head back down and needing a ride home. One day I will though! One day.

A friend of mine told me about the Glowing Green Smoothie. I'm not a medical professional by any means and frankly, it sounded disgusting. I made up a batch one day out of boredom and because I happened to have all of the ingredients. It was gross, not disgusting. I did learn that you could change up the recipe though and began exploring other fruits and vegetables to trow in. Carrot papaya didn't go so well. There was also just a batch I threw random fruit into. I did find this recipe for a peach ginger number that was delish. I used the 'green' base from the glowing green and the fruit base from this and it was great. To keep the carbohydrates down, for my diabetes I left out the honey. It's the perfect time of year to pick up our Ontario Peaches.

I talked to my dietitian about smoothies and she's not a huge fan as they don't often provide enough protein and psychologically your body gets full from chewing. So, a piece of bread and pb is just as beneficial as a smoothie. Additionally, she recommended not messing around with costly protein powders and said that powdered milk adds the same protein and is more affordable. Overall, she is not supportive of smoothies. She said they're better than juices though because they at least have fibre in them. What IS great about smoothies is that I can make up a batch for the week and just pour them the night before and bring them along in the morning as I am NOT AT ALL a morning person I find them very convenient because some mornings I don't even have the will to chew. If you're someone who needs to get your bowels moving with a morning coffee and are trying to cut back, the green smoothies seem to do the job too. I don't drink coffee, nor do I have issue with morning movement, but definitely noticed the difference.

Anyways, that's about all. Lots of links for you to peruse. Have a great week!