Busy!

I'm super busy because I'm moving next weekend (not this coming weekend). I finally had a workout today because I've missed them so much! Last weekend, Hubby and I took some friends who were visiting down to Calgary for the Calgary Stampede. My camera died while at the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller the day before the stampede. The following photos were taken using my phone. I'll have more photos of the trip after I've had some time to re-group - moving is a lot of work and headache!

 

One of the chuck wagons.  

 

The drive to Banff, Alberta.

 

Riding the gondola up Sulfur Mountain in Banff, Alberta. That large building is the Banff Springs Fairmont hotel.

Jamaican Road Trip

I shared some photos of the resort I stayed at during my honeymoon a long time ago, and thought it was time to share some more photos from Jamaica. These are from our drive off the resort. We went on a day trip in a small tour bus. There were a number of small shack-sized bars along the way, and various kinds of houses. The drive itself was quite bumpy as we got up into the mountains. Actually, I'm fairly certain we were almost hit by a truck on our way there - the driving in Jamaica was a bit frightening, mainly because they drive on the left side of the road (I'm used to the right), have smaller roads that curve around hillsides where you can look straight down, and the drivers appeared more reckless. It could have all been in my head as a passenger, I guess. But, I was told drinking and driving is not at all uncommon. Gorgeous views, though!

A note about my weightloss efforts - I've had to take a week or two off from working out. A heatwave hit Edmonton, so it was too hot to workout. I spent a lot of my time trying not to feel sick just going about my day. Then the next week, after things cooled down a bit, I was fighting a head cold. Now this week I have friends visiting from out of province for the week who will be sleeping in my living room where I work out. I'll try to get out for a run or a swim once or twice, but I really doubt it.

On the plus side, I've noticed that my body is finally starting to trust me. What I mean to say is, during the past two months my weight jumped up to 146 lbs and fluctuated between that and 142ish lbs. I have been eating about 1600 calories daily, which is what my goal weight of 120 lbs requires for maintenance. Now I'm seeing my weight start to go down, without changing my eating habits. My body is finally trusting that it's not going to starve, because I'm giving it enough calories (never going below my BMR of 1440 and therefore above that ridiculous 1200 calories rule), so it's starting to let go of some of the excess. So, if you're with me on this journey, eating the calories of your goal weight may mean that you gain 5 or so pounds for a month or two, but then the weight will start to melt off. Yes, it sucks and messes with your head at the start, but will be better in the end.

I Made Yogurt!

I must admit, I am quite proud to say that I have made yogurt twice. The photo above is my second batch, which I decided to make double of. It was very easy, inexpensive, and tasted just like the yogurt I used to make the first batch from (you need to start from an existing yogurt culture). And look how thick it turned out! I had the jar on its side for about a minute while taking pictures.

I created a make-shift double boiler and went about my evening while the yogurt practically made itself. This is what I did the first time, and the second time I used a bigger pot, mini casserole dish, and a silicone vegetable steamer to lift the dish off the bottom of the pot. If you're interested in making your own, I learned how here.