BEDA 15: The Perfect Reading Tree and The Sorceress on sale May 2009

Hello fellow bloggers

I went for a 30 minute walk at lunch today and found the perfect reading tree.

Yes I have a reading tree. Actually I have more than one. One in this little park in the west end, I rarely go there anymore since I moved downtown. Two along the rideau canal and they are weeping willows. And now one so close to work meaning I can go for a walk, take my lunch and sit under this perfect tree to read during my lunch break.

On another news front, I just googled Michael Scott, for those of you who would not know who this is, he is the author of a really great book serie. First book is The Alchemyst. Second is The Magician. And the third is The Sorceress.

Why am I so excited? Simple. I just found out that The Sorceress is schedule to be released May 2009!!!!!

I have been waiting for this book ever since I finished The Magician. I love this story. I think I got interested by this serie because of this sentence I read on the cover of the books: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. Ever since there was a mention of that in Harry Potter, I needed to read more books talking about this.

The Sorceress cover is release, check it out:
http://www.dillonscott.com/the-alchemyst/the-sorceress.htm

If you loved The magick of Harry Potter and fantasy in general, you will love this book. I totally recommend this serie of books to any Harry Potter fans or anyone who loves fantasy and magick stories.

I have this little application on my google page that displays fat loss tip of the day so I decided to share one every day right here on this blog. Thought I will call it healthy tip of the day.

Healthy tip of the day:

Drink 8 glasses of ice water every day. Cold water speeds up your metabolism while keeping you hydrated.

WOW! I can't believe I kept this blog every day April initiative for half a month already. Okay I admit two or three times I posted two blogs a day since I forgot the previous day or did not have time, but I am still proud of my accomplishment considering I blogged way less before.

See you tomorrow.

*Edit: A funny and weird thing just happened as I was writing up the keywords for this post. I was writing or wanted to write "walk" as one of the keywords and somehow without meaning to or noticing I ended up writing "haunted walk". Hmmm... was my subconcious trying to tell me something or perhaps it was just coincidence, funny how sometimes things like this happen.

Current weight: 107.4lbs

(though my scale early this morning said 105.4lbs, my scale is messed up, it kind of does not make sense to lose 2 lbs already only after one day of healthy eating does it?)

BEDA 14: Speeding of metabolism and taking better care of myself

Hello everyone

Today is back to work day. It is all right, can't always be on holidays.

I have been noticing lately that I tend to gain weight a lot faster these days. Perhaps due to lack of exercise which slowed down my metabolism. So I decided to do some research on what is best to eat and how to speed up one's metabolism.

I found that one of the best way is to make sure not to skip breakfast, after all it is the most important meal of the day. Lately I have been a lot more tired which also can slow down metabolism and keep hitting the snooze on my alarm and waking up later and rushing to get to work thus failing to eat a proper breakfast that can sustain me throughout the day. Sometimes I grabbed a muffin, mind you not the worst muffin of all, it had oats and chocolate chips of course not all that healthy.

I figured that the fact I have been tired has been going to bed too late as a result of chatting on msn.

I have decided first and foremost to stop it and go to bed at a reasonable hour (9pm 9:30pm) to try and catch up on the sleep that I have missed. It is good since I wake up really early to get to work at 8am.

Hopefully this will help give me back all the lost energy.

I also decided to make sure I set aside time to eat a proper breakfast.

A sample of the food that I found, from my research, are likely to help boost the metabolism and speed it up:

Spinach, plain yogurt, berries, beans (lima, kidney beans, lentils, quinoa, etc.), eggs (they say we should apparently eat some every day), and of course a lot of vegetables, chicken, turkey.

Drinking green tea at least five times a day, I have a little trouble scheduling a fifth cup though. breakfast, lunch, dinner, evening. When else can I drink another one? :) Apparently green tea, I already knew that, is great to help burn fat consumed and also speeds up the metabolism.

They also said coffee. Yuk. Sorry that is something I just won't commit to. I hate the taste. Plus it may have the speeding up the metabolism good point but has other negative aspects that I just don't like.

Drinking a lot of water! That is something I NEED to commit to. I always start to but then I find that it is just too much water, always need to go pee. That is good to get your kidneys functioning well but man is that a lot of water, eight glasses a day. They say really cold water helps speed up the metabolism, emphasis on COLD or REALLY COLD.

I am also going to get back to my morning Yoga and possibly running (on the Wii). Of course I have a 10 minute walk every morning to the bus stop and sometimes, when weather permits, an hour walk from work to home. Now that the weather is finally nice, I plan to hop on my rollerblades and go every day after work when weather permits of course. And soccer, possibly twice a week now that the weather is looing better.

I found a lot of speed your metabolism diet but I won't follow a specific diet. THEY DO NOT WORK. Instead I am just incorporating the list of food that are said to speed one's metabolism into my regular daily food intake.

That way there is no giving up of favourite food for a certain time that only makes people want to binge later on and gain the weight twice as fast.

Knowing what you are eating and eating proper food that are sure to sustain you for the entire day without making you crave the junk, is the way to go. It is easy, just incorporating more vegetables in your diet, some spinach, plain yogurt, nuts after workouts, etc.

Something from every food group, giving you the proteins and vitamins your body needs. And also doing simple exercise that you love and that are fun rather than forcing yourself to do an exercise for the sole purpose of exercising.

I choose rollerblading, soccer and walking simply because that is what I do anyway. Or rather what I used to do a lot more. It does not feel like exercising since it is all things I quite enjoy.

I know most people reading this will say that I have nothing to lose since I am 5'1" and 107lbs as of tonight.

But the thing is I used to keep my weight easily around a 100lbs. I found I had more energy and now if I exercise I am more out of breath than I used to be. And the fact that I gain faster than I used to whenever I ate something.

I think it is time to take better care of myself and get back to my healthy weight and therefore my more energetic self.

Some of the links I found with my research, might be of interests to others as well:

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/dietweightloss/a/12ways.htm
http://daytimetalk.com/2008/03/17/seven-ways-to-boost-metabolism-today/

http://www.myfit.ca/foods_that_speed_metabolism.asp

http://www.quick-weightloss-results.com/negative-calorie-foods.html

http://www.uweightloss.com/3secrets.aspx

Current weight: 107.8lbs

That is it for today's fourteenth day of BEDA. Off to dreamland.

See you tomorrow.

BEDA 13: No soccer game, House MD and TV is bleh

Hello everyone

The long weekend is over, I am sad. When is the next one? Can't wait. ;) I drove four hours to get back to Ottawa today. I don't mind the long drive, most people might find it long but I like driving.

No soccer game today as it is easter monday. I am a little sad but at the same time I am happy that I got to watch House MD. I always miss it since they decided to put the show on mondays, why? *sniff*

I don't know if it is just me but TV has gotten bleh wouldn't you agree? My TV has pretty much been off for at least a year now, aside from the times I play some Wii or the occasional simpsons or family guy episode and House MD of course whenever there is no soccer that monday.

I used to watch a lot of TV growing up, when I say a lot I mean an insane amount. I watched all the sitcoms, on NBC, ABC, CBS. Blossom, Full House, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Family Matters, etc.

Do you remember the TGIF line-up? Every friday it was like a religiously experience for me I swear. I never missed a single TGIF. I taped the shows as well and watched over and over and over again.

That is how I actually learned english as a second language. Who said TV is not good and you cannot learn anything from it. lol

Unfortunately now, ever since seinfeld and friends wave their goodbyes, TV for me has not been the same. I have yet to find a sitcom or drama that I MUST sit and watch religiously. Aside from House MD of course, it would be a lot easier if they switched days. Grrrr.

I used to love Gimore Girls and watch that and not want to be interrupted. A lot of people thought I was nuts for liking this saying that the fact that they spoke so fast was annoying. That is actually what I loved the most about the show. I know I am odd.

Another show I loved was smallville, I know it still is playing, but they switched channels and timeslots so much on me that I have no idea when it plays anymore and missed so many episode that at some point I will need to buy the dvds and start to watch the serie all over again.

Don't you just hate it when you love a certain show and the network decide to switch the time and day on you?

I also loved the charmed serie and followed that without missing an episode, but yet again they switched day and time on me so much that I got confused and never knew when it was playing resulting in missing a lot of episodes.

I loved this monday's House though. House thinking that one of his old team member wanted back on the team when she canceled plans with her boyfriend - the cutest one on this show btw with the british accent - because she found a ring and knew he was thinking of proposing but she did not want him to propose as a result of what happened last time, the guy on the team who committed suicide. And House thinking she was falling for him.

I loved the case with the greenpeace activist who tried to get up and couldn't walk, turns out the cause was him buying flowers for his wife and the pesticides made him sick... good news for him since now it gave him even more reason to protest and bad news for his wife, she wanted him to be there for their son more.

What TV shows are you addicted to or have to watch on a daily basis?

Do you find TV has indeed gotten Bleh lately?

Did you use to watch the 80s sitcoms, and if so which were your favourite? I would love to now.

Remember the TGIF line-up?

Allright that is about it for this thirteenth day of BEDA.

See you tomorrow.

BEDA 12: Egg day at the Sugar shack and a visit with the giants

hello everyone

On day twelve of BEDA I went to the sugar shack as it has been tradition in my family for years. You know religion is losing its touch when all churches are empty on easter and you see people reserving a year in advance to go to the sugar shack.

The sugar shack is basically a restaurant in a shack in a country setting. The food is typical Quebec (french canadian) meal, we usually go for brunch or rather bruncher (breakfast-lunch-dinner), i invented a new word, since it is so easy to over eat that you don't get that hungry for dinner after.

The meal start with traditional french canadian pea soup, some sugar shack now have vegetable soup. I suppose for the ones who do not like pea soup. than people dressed in old time clothing bring eggs (omelette), ham, mini sausages (it depends on the sugar shack some may not have that), potatoes (some sugar shack the potatoes are cooked with onions making it even yummier). beans. And it is all you can eat, usually it is an occasion for families to get together and therefore people reserve for big groups, since it is all you can eat you can always ask for more of one of the things they bring.

Some sugar shack also make their own home made ketchup, this is made of awesome, not all of them do it though. And you put maple syrup on everything. For dessert, my favourite is the crepes, the sugar shack i go to and most quebec sugar shack, the crepes are fried and crispy, I prefer that to the traditional american pancakes. Simply delicious.

At the sugar shack we went to this year, they also had another traditional french canadian thing, galette sarrazin, this is made with a different kind of flour and is flat. We usually put butter and molasse on it. And they also had maple syrup pie.

I ate one galette sarrazin and of course pancakes, this is one of the main reason I love going to the sugar shack, that and the taffy.

Taffy is amazing. They usually boil the sap to make maple syrup and boil it some more and you have taffy, they pour the mixture on snow, and yes there were still some snow where my parents live, though they manage to find some snow in the summer somehow because some sugar shacks are open in the summer, people from france actually came to experience this in the summer.

If you want the true experience of sugar shack I would suggest the province of Quebec, I went to one in Ontario and no offense but it WAS NOT the same, perhaps because I am used to the ones in Quebec and am picky.



I took a picture of myself replacing my face with the Paper Towns book. I received an email from Hank Green that he was asking everyone to take Paper Towns everywhere we go and take a picture with the book, in a way to celebrate the release of paper towns and send it to him. It said he would write a song and use the pictures that people sent him. I received this because i once signed on to the mailing list to receive news concerning the project for awesome.

Here my picture of sad margo at the sugar shack in Mont-Carmel.



After the sugar shack, I went to visit some giants. Not really giants just cousins but they are so tall that they look like giants compared to me, 5'1", I shook their hands and was afraid mine would be crushed. It was great to see them, I hadn't seen them in forever, the last time I believe I was perhaps 16. I didn't recognized them at all.

Well, since egg day is over, tomorrow I take a four hour trip back to Ottawa. As much as I love visiting my family, I can't wait to go back because I love Ottawa. It also means back to work but that is ok.

Day 12 of BEDA done, see you tomorrow.

BEDA 11: Easter, a celebration of new life

Hello everyone

Today will be a short picture blog. I went to the mall because every easter is a tradition, I need to see the little easter farm. With easter comes spring and new life, newborn rabbits, birds, poney, goats, etc.

Easter has to do with the celebration of new life, as the easter egg represents the beginning of new life and the easter bunny represents the creation of new life since bunnies reproduced quite quickly to multiply and proliferate their kind.

Here are some pictures of the animals including me holding  the cutest little black baby bunny with my favourite store in the background (garage clothing).

That is it for the eleventh day of BEDA.
See you tomorrow.

BEDA 10: Nerds vs Geeks

Hello everyone

I had a conversation with my boyfriend and we were trying to figure out whether there was a difference between a geek and a nerd. Which type of people can be label as geeks and which would be better labeled as nerds.

Our personal opinion consisted of:

Geeks being the ones who are into video games, comic books, dress up as their favourite characters and go to conventions, etc.

Nerds would be the bookworms, programmer, etc.

I did some research online and found out it is actually a lot different. Check out my findings:

Geeks are about fantasy, technology, sci-fi in a general manner and also bare the brunt of all stereotypes. While nerds are all about learning whatever the passion. Of course a computer nerd is sharing the same stereotypes as a computer geek, but for the nerds there is a lot more passion about how technology works. However because the passion is spent in their pursuit to gain knowledge, socializing gets thrust on the back burner.

There is a lot of overlap and as a result a geeks can become a nerd and therefore have issues with socializing which can hurt them in the long run.

All in all both are passionate people but have to be careful in making sure they do not end up neglecting the social aspect of life. I would have to create a new category called hybrids.

Hybrids would be the type to be passionate and want to learn more about their specific interests and enjoy what they love without sacrificing the social aspect of their life.

I would say I fall in the hybrid category. I love fantasy, technology, some sci-fi (not star trek though) but also like to be social. It was not always the case, I believe when I was younger I would say I was more of a nerd than a geek or hybrid.

As I got older I realized the importance of being social, we are human beings and all human beings need to interact with others in order to grow and learn new things helping us in our quest to be better people.

So based on this, what type are you? I would love to hear your comments and suggestions on this.

That is about it for this 10th day of BEDA.

I will see you tomorrow.

Embrace your geekness, nerdiness or hybridness whatever the case maybe and

DFTBA.

Fat loss tip of the day:

Chill soups, gravies, and stews in the refrigerator, then skim the fat off the top.

BEDA 9: Chocolate Long Weekend

Hello everyone

Day 9 of BEDA, I am currently packing to go visit my family, four hours away from where I live. It is currently 10 pm and I am still packing, I am such a last minute person. 

On Friday I am taking a four hour trip to visit my parents in light of this easter four day long weekend. Well-deserve I might add, this week has been tiring. 

How will you celebrate easter, if you celebrate it?

I know it is traditionally a religious day where a lot of people go to church. As for myself I do not. So easter is mainly about chocolate, I need my chocolates of course. Also, the main easter tradition in my family is to go to the sugar shack. 

I am originally from Quebec and churches aren't so popular anymore, not many people are so religious or practicing by going to mass. In fact, we often joke that during easter you need to reserve a year in advance for the sugar shack and churches parking lots are completely empty. 

For those of you who would not know what the sugar bush is, i will explain. Basically it consist of a restaurant, a shack in the wood where you eat traditional quebec meals and drown everything in maple syrup. 

I know that doesn't sound that healthy or good for your weight that is why we usually only go once a year.  My favourite thing at the sugar shack is the taffy on snow. That is MY reason to go.

Some sugar shacks have live music as well.

I decided to do some research about the history of easter, instead of just believing blindly that it is only about jesus' resurrection and here is what I found out.

Did you know?

There are a lot of pagan elements in the modern easter celebration. The word "easter" derives from Eostre, the anglo-saxon lunar goddess. Eostre feast day was held on the first full moon following the vernal equinox and a sam calculation is used for easter among western christians. 

Two of Eostre's most important symbols are the hare and the egg. The hare being a symbol of fertility and because ancient people saw a hare in the full moon.  The egg, which symbolizes the growing possibility of new life as in spring time, trees and flowers bloom, usually animals have newborns as well. Curiously those are symbols that christianity hasn't really incorporated in its own mythology preferring to make it about the resurrection of christ.

American christians continue to celebrate easter as a religious holiday but public references of easter almost never includes religious elements. 

Christians and non-christians alike celebrate easter in non-christians ways: chocolate and other forms of easter candy, easter egg, easter egg hunts and the famous easter bunny. Most cultural references include these elements which are pagan in origin and have become commercialized, sometimes sadly a little too commercialized.

I am one to be curious and wanting to know the truth and therefore always try to do research before accepting something that is told or taught as being the truth. I would rather find out the truth for myself.

So basically for myself, my easter celebration is associated to going to the sugar shack and spending time with family as it has been my tradition in my family for years.

I hope you will all have a great easter weekend, however you celebrate it. 

That is about it for this 9th day of BEDA. 

See you tomorrow.

DID YOU KNOW?

Giant Pandas generally eat bamboo--for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! In their native habitat, more than twenty varieties of bamboo are available, so they do have some variety in their bamboo diet. Giant Pandas DO eat a few other edibles on occasion, such as mushrooms, crocuses--even fish and rodents.

And nothing could be cuter than watching a Giant Panda consume a bamboo stalk! Pandas sit with feet outstretched in front of them, bamboo in their hands, eating.

- C. Herold