Thursday, March 27, 2008

Tamsin’s answers frequently asked questions about her NutriSystem experience

Weigh-in (Day 49):
• Tamsin – 1.1 lbs (-8.1 pounds to-date)
• Eden – 3 lbs (-17.5 pounds to-date)

Eden and I are past the halfway mark. It feels great! Lots of friends, family, and co-workers are rooting for us. This week, I’ll answer a few of the questions that I hear most often:

Does the food really taste as good as it looks on the commercials?
I started out a bit sceptical, but I was pleasantly surprised! It’s true that the eggs are awful but, all in all, the food is very tasty and the menu has a lot of variety. Plus, I get to choose your own vegetable, fruit, and protein servings to suit you.

Are your clothes fitting differently?
More than anything, I notice my pants are getting looser in the waist and thighs. Also, my face feels thinner.

Anyone notice a change in your appearance?
My co-workers and several of my pole-dancing students have noticed a difference.

Are you in a groove now or sick of the whole thing?
After the first week, I couldn’t imagine 84 days of NutriSystem – I thought I’d get sick of it. But the truth is, I like the routine and the variety of food. Tonight, I enjoyed Lasagna with Meat Sauce (still my favourite!) with a spinach salad and Blueberry-Lemon dessert bar (yummy, not too sweet!).

What do you find most challenging?
Maintaining variety! I am always looking for new protein, veggie, and fruit servings to add more variety and I’m not a big fan of salad (except spinach). I live near Chinatown East, so I am experimenting with interesting fruits (like litchi) and veggies (rapini and bok choy).

My favourite discovery is steamed edamame – I found them in individual-sized servings that steam right in the bag (they come with little packs of sea-salt). I love my plain-old vanilla protein shake in the morning; this week, I’m going to pick up a different flavour.

How do you stay motivated?
I’ve noticed that my energy is consistent and pretty high – an extra bonus for me because I often struggle with fatigue and low iron. The protein boost works! I have no problem tackling writing contracts until late into the night or teaching 3 pole-fitness classes after a day at the office. Plus, there’s always the dream of great new spring clothes in a smaller size to keep me on track!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Arthur Mendonça Sample and Inventory Sale

What?
Arthur Mendonça Sample and Inventory Sale:
•
sizes 2-12 - note the full size range ladies. ;)

•
up to 90% off samples
•
up to 75% off SPRING 2007 overstock
•
up to 50% off AUTUMN 2007 overstock
•
up to 50% off RESORT 2007 overstock

Where?
Arthur Mendonça
219 Dufferin St., Suite 112C (map)
(south entrance)
Toronto

When?
Wed. Mar. 26 - 4 p.m.-8 p.m.
Thurs. Mar. 27 - 4 p.m.-8 p.m.

Info.
visit: www.mendonca.ca

Payment
• full payment required
• all sales FINAL
• cash, cheque, visa, or mastercard

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Weekly Wish – Attending L’Oréal FashionWeek

Last week I attended a special TFFB where everyone was preparing for a week of fashion excitement, as Toronto’s finest designers were getting ready to debut their fall-winter ’08 collections. Most of them had press passes because the Fashion Design Council of Canada (FDCC) is enlightened enough to realize the value local bloggers bring to the community.

If you’re like me, chances are you didn’t get to L’Oréal FashionWeek. I really wanted to see the Pink Tartan show – I love Kimberly Newport-Mimram’s Pristine Punk collection. The Joe Fresh show always amazes me too – how does Joe (Mimram – yes, he’s Kimberly Newport Mimram’s other half) pull off such an incredible show while keeping prices so affordable?

Fortunately, there’s a lot of coverage online. Fashion Television assembled an incredible multimedia archive. And if you want to get a behind-the-scenes look at the make-up, check out what Henna from Canadian Beauty had to say.

Enough of this virtual view of L’Oréal FashionWeek, next fall I’m wishing for my own press pass so I can share the details first hand. Wish me luck!

Tip of the Week – Three tips from twitter pals

I thought I’d try something new this week and ask some of my pals on twitter for their shopping tips.

Even at dinnertime on Saturday night, I got some terrific responses…

Alexandra Clark of Cheap Eats fame shared her timely grocery tip:
“Food shopping tip - you can get a fantastic deal on meat if you hit a 24-hour grocery store the day before a statutory holiday.”

John Meadows from the new On the Log podcast (more about that in an upcoming post) had two great tips to share:

“If I don’t want to be bothered by sales people as soon as I enter a store, I put my iPod headphones on :)

Another one - don’t get extended warranties on most electronics; they are a 90% profit for retailers.”

I’ve tried the iPod thing too and it works. Sometimes I even have it turned off!

I think I’ll try this more often. Of course, if you have a tip to share, send me an e-mail and I’ll do my best to include it on the blog. ;).

Photo credit: the girl on Flickr

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