Welcome To 2015! Happy New Year!

I do not consider myself one of those people who are obsessed with fitness. I work two jobs and on the days where I only end up at one of my two work places I hit the gym; normally about 5 times a week. I take pretty good care of myself and watch my diet without really ever feeling like I am missing out on anything.

At one point I was very unhealthy and overweight, it started in my 4^th year of university and ended in halfway through my 1^st year of trade school. That year of binge eating whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted with little to no exercise was worth the lesson it taught me about life. Unfortunately no one really told me I was getting fat. I was 200 lbs and felt super hot. Usually because it was because I was winded from walking up stairs or moderate movement in general, but I never felt ugly.

I went into radio school bigger than I had ever been in my life. I started to realize what was going on with my body when I looked at my photos from my first trip to Disneyland in California and finally when visited Value Village and stepped on a scale for the first time in over a year. Late night snacks, quick drive-thru trips and 7/11 sugar rushes were adding up... fast.  

After deciding that enough was enough I started with the smallest step possible. Something manageable that I could do everyday, every morning I woke up with enough time to drink a protein shake before heading off to class. This was strategic, protein early in the morning helps you feel fuller later in the day and it was easy to do. Waking up early in the morning really was not my jam. Doing something quick and easy to start the day in the right day was key. I had been starving myself for the first half of the day and then fueling myself with something quick and easy for lunch at school. Unfortunately quick, easy and cheap is not a good combination in a school cafeteria.

My protein shake breakfast started during the winter months of 2012 and it is hard to believe it has been almost 3 years! To this day I have a shake for breakfast on mornings that I have to rush out to work and I still hate waking up before the sun.

That one easy step helped me drop weight quickly. The first pounds seem to be the easiest for me. I cleared out my stock of high carb food and scheduled my first cheat day. I have been doing this ever since.

The weight that I lost just by keeping an eye on my diet did more for me than I ever imagined. I had energy again. I had been napping every day since I was in high school and struggled to stay awake every day; that ended after about a week of smarter eating. I liked to look at myself again. Even though it never bothered me seeing photos of myself when I was overweight once I realized what was going on it tainted the moments a little bit.

It took a little over a year for me to feel comfortable enough to go back to the gym. I had been regularly going in the fall of 2010 but as I learned about health and my body I realized that my intense cardio workout were part of my problem staying committed to the gym. I knew as I was dropping weight from a healthier diet that I was going to have to change the way I exercised my muscles.

The first time I visited a gym after dedicating myself to eating properly was in the spring of 2013. I learned how to properly schedule my workouts and a variety of new diverse things to do at the gym. It was very intimidating. I was back in the gym that I had stopped going to when I started to gain weight but using a completely different floor with new machines. I did things wrong and it scared the shit out of me to be told that maybe I should tweak things to do them a more effective way but I kept at it.

My mother owns a tanning salon in a gym so growing up I spent a lot of time in a gym. I started lifting weights when I was in 8^th Grade in the weeks between seasons when I was not playing sports. As I got older my workouts changed into being straight-up cardio sessions. Why? It was easy, mindless (for me) and there was little chance that someone would approach me to correct my movements. I hated it which made me think it must be what I needed to do to lose weight and have a kick-ass body. Cardio was all my friends wanted to do when they went to the gym and there were rarely women downstairs on the weight lifting floor.

It was a big change to program workouts, track progress and lift heavy things. I still do cardio; I just do it differently and in conjunction with lifts.

Changing my thought process regarding working out has been the most challenging part of my weight loss story. I do get bored with my workouts some times and my schedule has changed multiple times since I started working out. These things have taught me another valuable lesson about being healthy and fit; willpower is a muscle you have to train just like any other part of your body.

In 2013 I made it about 15 weeks straight hitting the gym. I moved across the country during this period, finished post-secondary education and internships. When I was offered a job in British Columbia it brought me into the 9-5 fold and I was thrown from my fit routine. It took me about 9 months to get back into a gym after the move.

That was 40 weeks ago today. Yes, I keep track. That is one of the key things for me. I am a nerd who carries around a notebook at the gym so I can proudly tell you exactly what I did the last time I was there and how many times I have visited the gym since I started going back. It has been 40 weeks and 165 gym sessions and I feel great. I feel better than ever actually. I would be going to the gym today if it was open, I could write a massive rant about why the gym should be open on New Years Day but I decided to start 2015 on a positive note.

Back to willpower, it is a “muscle” that always can use an extra set. Even on the days I do not feel like going to the gym (which is pretty much every weekday after working at my desk job) I go. I put an hour on the clock and go hard. I let myself do some mindless cardio and rock out to my music. I prove to myself that my mind is as strong as the body I have spent so much time to build.

Now, to be clear I do not have the perfect body. Not even close. Especially coming out of the holiday season. That is not why I go to the gym. I go to release the energy that I now have from eating and sleeping well, I go to get out of the house and see people, I go because I like to binge watch television shows and I go because I LOVE to eat. And sometimes when I make the turn to go home instead of to the gym I think about seeing myself on the TV monitor while I was taking Radio and Television Arts and seeing my bloated face’s headshot. I think about how crappy it felt to not want to watch myself on TV, something I has wanted all of life. That for me is the kicker, the thing that gets my ass into the gym and helps my willpower kick in when it needs to at the grocery store.

We all have motivations and things that drive us to be the person we want to be. I like to think I had a kick ass 2014, I hope you did too! As great as the past year was, lets make 2015 even better!

This year I am not setting New Years Resolutions. Not one. There are things I would like to keep up on, but I will not be beating myself up to get them done. I would like to continue to learn; so I have gifted myself Lynda.com access. I would like to continue to be fit and healthy, so Santa has brought me 40lbs of protein powder and 4 boxes of Quest bars to go with my year gym membership. I have also gifted myself a new gym outfit from Fabletics. Nothing feels as good as slipping into new workout gear after a day in heels and business attire!

The most challenging thing I would like to do in 2015 is to continue to create. Working two jobs I find I have no time to write a blog or something witty for radio and that is the big thing I would like to exercise my willpower on this year.

So I’m going to sum up how I would like to see 2015 in my mission statement right here:

“2015 a year of learning, exercising and creating”

What would you like to happen in 2015?

All the best and Happy New Year!

Kate

PS

A BIG THANKS to CanadianProtein.com for all of the awesome deals on my Christmas gifts. Yes, I know where Santa shops. It is my favourite place to order pre-workout, protein powder and protein bars. Click here to check out CanadianProtein.com.

One more shutout, this one goes to Fabletics. I am obsessed! I used to be all about Lululemon and saving up to treat myself to a new piece of workout clothing. Now I shop at Fabletics.ca and get an entire outfit for the price on one of the Lulu shirts I bought at a Lulu Outlet! Check out Fabletics here.

PS. This is my new outfit! I love it! At 50% it was $56.00 with shipping and taxes. 

"Savage"

A Proud Moment Thanks to a Childhood Watching Oprah

Both Dane and Oprah are visibly proud of me.

Time has been flying away; it is hard to believe I used to have time to write everyday! 

Yes, my blog used to be part of my job and now that I have branched out into the world of marketing, finance and banking I really do not have time to write my humble thoughts in a trivial blog daily. But, I do miss it. 

Today at work I was challenged by weaving my fine radio skills with the art of ad writing for radio. Normally this is not so much a challenge, but an almost fun creative writing exercise. Over the past week it has not been, it has been a learning experience just to get through all the material I need to know before writing an ad for products that I am still rather naive about. I know have the first drafts of both spots done and I am about to start the editing process and mark up all the beautiful white paper I can. So, I thought I would share the inspiration for the second of the two ads I have just penned because it is a moment from my childhood I will never forget. 

I was 15 when this Oprah episode aired and I remember thinking to myself, "no way Oprah would ever drive one of those cars, she is a better actress than everyone gives her credit for". Today, I called up this moment in television history and twisted it for my own purposes for a radio ad. I will share it when the time comes for it to be produced, if it is ever produced. There is still a chance that it will end up in a paper ball on my floor at home or in a recycling bin in my boss's office. Regardless, nothing can take away the happiness I feel right now as I check this item off my to-do list. 

Here it is: 

I think anyone who enjoys a laugh can watch that without thinking about Dane Cook's bit on the same episode. Honestly, my inspiration was about 1/3 Oprah and 2/3 Dane Cook for the ad so here is that moment as well:

1/3 Oprah, 2/3 Dane Cook not a bad combination right? 

Just in case you are wondering what my inspiration was for the straight ad I wrote, the one I am much less proud of well it was $$$. Dolla-dolla bills. 

Life and Lou

I often start my blogs off with a comment about how crazy life has been and an explanation about why I have been too busy too blog. This blog is no different. Since leaving the radio game and moving back home to the Annapolis Valley things have been different, busy and very adult. I know that is a weird way to explain it but we have a new responsibility that is making us feel extremely accountable for my time, a puppy. I have discussed getting a puppy in previous blogs, when the puppies were born before we actually took custody of our little guy.

Now our lives are all about Lou.

Seriously. Lou is ruling all right now at 5 Lodge. Let me explain…

Lou looking pretty annoyed after his first bath.

Growing up my family always had a dog, always. Living on a big farm it was never a problem, it was natural to have a puppy that overtime transitioned into a dog that could be left alone and find things to do all day.

The last time I blogged about the puppies we had not determined which one we would pick. I am happy to announce we have a 9-week-old addition to the family who is relatively lazy male that is about 99% cocoa chocolate lab in the sun. He is pretty much black but it has been debated off and on since we brought him home, I think he is just a very dark brown. To celebrate his 9-week birthday I bathed him for the first time and he is not very happy about it. He is growing so fast, I wish we could freeze him in time for a little while.

Life has changed in the week and a half since we brought Lou home. We have scheduled every last minute outside of our house so that Lou will not be alone, since he came home he has only been left home alone for about an hour total. He was not a fan. We have had to settle in at night a lot earlier, Lou wakes up rather early for us and sleep levels have been rather low. Being completely honest, Lou sleeps on the bed. I said it would never happen, but he really does not like to be alone on his mat or in his crate in the dark.

Lou hates the car. Soon he will be too big to hold, to carry or to even sit on my lap. If is mother is a good indicator of his future behavior than it won’t matter how big he gets, he will still try to be a lap dog.

Lou has definitely been a learning experience and it is really about time that I develop a backbone. Between the three of us we have all given in to Lou a lot. He has been incredibly easy to teach to do his business outside, now we have to teach him how to be alone. I think it is going to be much tougher. Working at the restaurant I have been home all day with him and given up my gym time and the boys have been staying at home with in the evenings while I have been at work.

This brings me to another big piece of news, proving everything in life really does happen all at once. I have accepted a 9-5 job in an industry I never thought I would work in, banking. I will be taking on a marketing role with a bank in the Annapolis Valley (I will give more details after I actually get rolling with the job on Monday) starting Monday. As I was offered this unique opportunity to develop my marketing skills I was also offered another opportunity in the industry I am actually trained in, radio. I do not want to give out too many specifics because that role has not been advertised yet, but turning it down was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make.

Before moving to the Kootenays the exact same thing happened to me, I was offered a Promotions Director gig at a Calgary station and the Midday Host/Promotions Coordinator position (that I accepted) for Vista Radio Kootenays. I maintain that I made the right call there, moving to BC and taking on the roles that I filled at the station was a big challenge for me; I hope I will learn as much with this new position I am taking on here in the Annapolis Valley.

I am very sad about my continued temporary hiatus from the radio world, but I think this is the best decision for the time being.

Now to wean Lou off of all the daytime attention he has been receiving. Right now he is pretty annoyed with me for bathing him so he has cut me off, lets see how long it lasts!

One last thing, did I mention how fast he is growing?

Sometimes I write my blogs to get something off my chest or to practice writing creatively or objectively if I have been silent for a little while. This blog is simply a reminder to future Kate about this weird phase of life, when everything seemed to be inconveniently coming together after a shit storm of craziness. Sorry for the language there, but I could not think of a better way to describe the last few months.

This is a reminder that at a time when everything was swirling and twirling around in life (the way it does for 25 year olds) there was a 9 week old little puppy around who wanted nothing more than to cuddle up all day and sleep on your feet to keep you in one place for a little while. Someday Lou will not want to slow me down, unfortunately I fear that the day is coming soon that will have me struggling to keep up with him. I saw hints of this today as I fought to keep him in the bathtub. This is a reminder of his needy/toddler days when it was a challenge for Lou to stay awake to play sometimes because his little puppy eyes needed to nap.

Lou has his very own #Olaf! He loves him so much he ripped his head off. #worthmeltingfor #puppylove #puppy #dog #dogsofinstagram #disney #labrador

A video posted by Kate Bruce (@kategbruce) on Dec 12, 2014 at 7:59am PST