Thanks! I was worried about that, too. I did have my trainer spotting me but it's still scary to get to the point where you can't push the dumbbells up anymore. I'm actually a big scaredy cat at the gym - I have to get out of my own head a lot, which is good that I have a trainer, I guess - otherwise I wouldn't be doing very much.

I used to have a bumper sticker that said, "Caution: Unsocialized Homeschoolers on Board." Now I'm wondering what that said to my kids ;)

My ds (17) says he wishes I pushed him harder. This is a kid who was really driven with music so spent years practicing, playing in groups, performing, and competing. He finally decided last year that he didn't want to purse violin in university - he really enjoys math and science and would rather do that. But, now he's applying for all of these impossible programs and he's working his butt off to get his average up. His biggest regret is that I didn't "make" him do better in grade 10 and 11. For what it's worth, most of his marks were in the mid-80's - I was pretty happy with how well he was doing. Since we had just moved here when he was in grade 9 (and grade 9 was his first year in school after always being homeschooled) I was actually just happy that by grade 10 he had made some friends and was starting to enjoy himself a bit. But he actually is kind of mad that I didn't "make" him study more.

Was at the gym for strength training this morning. Now that the half is over, I'll be at the gym three times a week for the next seven weeks. Should be interesting to see what kind of progress I can make. I deadlifted 205 for 8 reps for two sets and then a final set where I could only do 5 reps. I did dumbbell bench press today, too. 30 lbs a hand for ten reps x 4. And goblet squats with a 50 lb dumbbell for 12 reps, 4 sets.

You're doing so great with your steps. Mine are only over 10,000 on run days. I really need to get out for some walks. Nice job on hitting three strength workouts! So glad they liked the chicken! That is one of our favourite recipes.

Thanks :) Yes, it's tricky to figure out what to wear. Luckily, a few of our long runs were at about the same temperature so I had some practice.

Thanks everyone! It was -11 with a wind chill of -21 c, but I was only cold for the first five km. The sun was shining and it was a gorgeous day! I had a shot of pickle juice and a bit of pink salt in the morning and drank a bit of water at each of the three water stations. I felt great and strong. Managed to run the entire course, even the hills. I picked up the pace after the last water station and finished in 2 hours and 10 minutes. Three other people from my running group also ran it so we all stayed for the breakfast afterwards. I am so glad I did this and so glad that I wasn’t frozen the whole time. Also thankful that I didn’t have any washroom emergencies (probably my biggest running fear!). Tired now so I’m painting my nails and reading magazines in front of the fire ;)

Sigh. I know. I did mix the vanilla and the plain when I brought them home yesterday and he did eat that. I was thinking I could slowly add more plain and maybe he wouldn't notice. I guess some of the sugar in the vanilla yogurt is also naturally occurring, so it's probably not as dire as 21 grams. I made my own Greek yogurt in September and everyone seemed to like it. I found it a lot milder (not as tangy?) than store bought plain yogurt. Ds was fine with it as long as there was a little honey. I did make a big batch of my own granola at around the same time and everyone liked that. I should probably just put a bit of effort in and do that again.

I stay well below the guidelines, but I really worry about my 12 year old. He has a very small appetite and it's hard to get him to eat very much. For breakfast, I'm pretty happy when I can make him a piece of toast with natural peanut butter and sliced bananas. He'll have a glass of milk with that. Unfortunately, he won't eat that every day - he really likes yogurt with granola and fruit, but even when I'm buying Greek yogurt I think it's 21 grams of sugar in 3/4 of a cup of yogurt. I bought the granola with the least amount of sugar, but I still think I'm putting about another 5 grams of sugar on his yogurt in the form of granola. The juice boxes I buy for their lunches are 18 grams of sugar each. So, if he has yogurt for breakfast and a juice box at lunch he's already doubled what he should have in an entire day. He also likes having Eggo waffles for breakfast - he has them with peanut butter and syrup and obviously syrup is just sugar. I wish he liked eggs :( I don't pack cookies or anything with extra sugar in their lunches, besides the juice boxes. And our dinners are all home made with no extra sugar. But, the kid likes to spend some of his allowance on candy. I limit that to the weekends. I'm not sure what his average is over the week, but if he can double the recommendations with a yogurt and a juice box, then my guess is that with the occasional waffles, whatever snacks he buys when he's out with his friends, the occasional pop, and whatever candy he buys on his own mean he's at least doubling the recommendations and possibly tripling it.

My running group went out and did an easy 5km this morning and then we sat and had coffee. Tomorrow is the half. And, apparently, we're supposed to have very cold weather with a winds at 40km/hr gusting to 60 and a wind chill of - 25 C. That was what environment Canada said. My iPhone says that at 8am tomorrow it will be -10 with partial sun - no windy icon. I'm hoping my iPhone is right.

There is something exhilarating about running outdoors when the sun is out, but the sun isn't out too often here. I also find a feel almost a high when I've lifted something really heavy at the gym. I haven't had even a hint of seasonal depression this year - yet, anyway. It's hard to know exactly what it is working and what isn't as I'm hitting it with quite a few things at once. I'm just happy I'm happy :)

Basically, carbohydrates break down into glucose in your body. So, it doesn't really matter if you eat a candy bar or a piece of bread, it breaks down into glucose which triggers an insulin response in your body. A calorie isn't a calorie in the sense that some foods trigger a big hormonal (insulin) response in your body and some do not or only trigger a small insulin response. For normal weight people who are not insulin resistant, the body works the way it should. For people who are insulin resistant, overweight, or type 2 diabetic (which would be insulin resistant and likely overweight as well), eating more carbs makes things worse. The carbs trigger the body to release more insulin - insulin is a fat storing hormone. It tells the cells to open up and store glucose. Another problem with insulin resistance is that it also leads to leptin resistance - leptin is the hormone that tells you you are full. So now you are hungry and you eat more and your insulin is telling your body to store a bunch of fat. If you're really interested in how obesity is caused by hormones rather than by how much you eat and how little you move, I would suggest reading The Obesity Code. It's written by a kidney specialist in Toronto who saw so many type 2 diabetics with kidney failure and wondered what he could do to prevent kidney failure. He has had hundreds of patients reverse their type 2 diabetes to the point where they no longer need medication and no longer have AIC levels in the diabetic range and his patients have lost a ton of weight in the process. The Atlantic just came out with an article about the link between high carbohydrate diets and Alzheimer's disease. They talk about the link with obesity and type 2 diabetes there as well. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2018/01/the-startling-link-between-sugar-and-alzheimers/551528/ This is pretty interesting, too. It's Gary Taubes (author of The Case Against Sugar) having a conversation with an endocrinologist at a children's hospital. They're talking about how we get fat. https://heleo.com/conversation-why-do-we-get-fat-science-writer-gary-taubes-blames-sugar-heres-why/12508/

After a bit of a rocky start, my diet plan is going great. I had fantastic results last month and am sticking with it for February. I am running a half marathon this weekend, and after this week is over I’ll be working with my personal trainer three times a week instead of twice a week. My main goal here is to prevent seasonal depression, but my secondary goal is fitness. I’m really enjoying the weight lifting so I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of progress I can make with three times a week. One thing I’m not doing great at is daily steps. I’m good on days I run, but I’m not good in other days. I need to get out for some regular walks.

I am so jealous. I feel like chocolate should be a food group. I love sugar. I really, really love it. And I love baking. And I really can't eat any of it - not even in moderation.

That's awesome! Having a comfortable and convenient gym makes actually going so much easier. And the price! Fantastic.

I think my whole family would agree that this stuffed chicken thigh recipe is their favourite: https://www.ditchthecarbs.com/spinach-stuffed-chicken/

Had an awesome time at the gym this morning. I really love lifting weights. I've got a training run with the group tonight, but it snowed a ton this morning and then it rained a bit and the roads are a big sloshy mess. We have run in this kind of stuff before, which is not fun, so I'm hoping we'll run at the track tonight, which is also not fun but is definitely preferable to soaking cold feet.

I listen to diet podcasts when I'm driving - that's kind of like working out, right? ;)

No fair. I'd be curling up with a heating pad and Netflix, too.

Nice work getting a workout in even when you didn't feel up to it. That's tough. I hope you're able to find someone to help with your shoulder soon.

I think I'm going to get the book. Since moving here (this is our fourth winter), I've suffered from seasonal depression. The first year I didn't even know what was going on - I just thought I was really homesick. The third year was the absolute worst and I ended up on anti-depressants and those made it much, much worse. It was so bad that dh was suggesting I go live on the other side of the country (where we have family) from January to April. I spent pretty much all of the summer and fall trying to figure out how I was going to avoid seasonal depression this year. I think exercise is a big part of it, even though I have been exercising regularly since I moved here. The first year I was in a TRX class at the gym three times a week, the second year I'd added running three times a week. This year, I'm working out with a private trainer twice a week doing heavy lifting and I run with a training group three times a week. I am enjoying the social part of it as well - I don't make friends easily, so having an excuse to sit and have coffee with the group after our weekend long runs is really nice. Besides exercise, I've basically thrown everything I can at seasonal depression - saw a naturopath and am taking supplements, have regular acupuncture, am working towards personal goals, make a point of doing some sort of fun out of the house thing each week with someone else, journalling. So far, I've been really happy - I feel like my normal self. I'm still terrified that I could slip down into it again - I find it so baffling that I can logically be grateful for my life and also find living it unbearable all at the same time. So I'm not sure if it's the combination of what I'm doing or if there's one particular thing that is making the biggest difference, but I know that the pills I took last year sure didn't do me any favours. I'd be interested in reading anything that helps me figure out what I can do to try and avoid seasonal depression.

It's been 4 weeks since January 1st. So I thought I'd update as to how the diet and exercise is going. Backstory - I lost 60 lbs in 2016 through keto, exercise, and fasting. In the winter of 2017 I had some very serious seasonal depression and put back about 25 lbs. I had a pretty dark period where I ate just about anything and everything. During days where I felt stronger, I'd do my regular intermittent fasting and keto meals, but I still struggled with sugar. I really love sugar :( Anyway, stayed around the same weight until November when I really got motivated to get back down to goal weight. November and beginning of December went well until Christmas day when I enjoyed some Christmas treats. Treats lasted a week. It's like once I start I have a real issue with stopping. So - Jan 1 I started a new fasting regime, continued with my running training (three to four times a week, preparing for a 1/2 marathon in Feb), ramped up the lifting at the gym, and was enjoying my keto meals. Except that there was still chocolate in the house. The second week in Jan saw me eating a bit of chocolate after meals. Funny enough, I gained back what I'd lost the first week. I'm on my third sugar free week now. The new fasting routine is working really well - it's become very easy. I love the Keto meals that I've made. I have tons of energy and - most importantly - I feel so happy! No sign of seasonal depression at all. I fit into all of my skinniest clothes. I'm running faster than I ever have and I'm setting some fantastic personal best records at the gym. My trainer had a goal of me deadlifting 200lbs by the end of March - I've already hit that one so now he's revised it to 250! I did read that fasting increases human growth hormone and, especially for women, leads to increased lean muscle mass - which is, I guess, why I fit into all my skinny clothes even though I'm still weighing more than I did when they last fit. Oh, and I'm down 9 lbs in 4 weeks. So that's my January update :) I'm looking forward to a happy February. I feel pretty hopeful about making it through this winter without any seasonal depression! Which is even more exciting than wearing a size 0 skirt.

I was about to respond back and tell you you were right - I've never used the bookmark and had no idea it existed, but I double-checked first and apparently, Pepperplate has one, too. http://www.pepperplate.com/bookmarklet.aspx Maybe the difference is how many sites can be imported? Sometimes when I find a recipe on a blog or on one of my Keto sites I paste in the URL and Pepperplate tells me it can't be imported and then I have to do it manually.

Ran 10 km yesterday with my group. Next weekend is the half-marathon! I'm really looking forward to it. Today is a rest day. Plus, I've been up since 3:40am for some reason. Not impressed. And I'm going to a literary festival today where I'll be sitting through readings from 10:30 until 6pm - hope I don't fall asleep.

Your workouts always sound like so much fun.