Where is Summer?

Who knew that here in Ontario I’d be wearing full fledged warm up jackets for working out well into June? Where is the scorching weather, Mother Nature? I moved from Newfoundland to Ontario to get away from the damp cold springs.

Well guess the weather waited a bit while I got to wear my new jacket for a few weeks at least. It’s the perfect time to add in that I’ve been wearing this sweet Under Armour jacket from Sport Chek.

Outfit deets: black Under Armour Studio Lux Jacket, GAP leggings and Reebok Nano sneakers. Now before inquiring minds ask, I received the Under Armour jacket from my Sport Chek friends, as I’m still part of the My Better Campaign. Under-Armour-jacket

I’m probably the only person who is this excited about thumb loops.  Genuine smiles right there folks. thumb-loops

The quality of the jacket is so luxe. It’s thicker than my all-time favorite warmup jacket by bright pink MPG, and thicker than the zip up jacket from Costco. I suppose it’s thicker and higher quality than the latter because it retails for $99 Canadian. under-armour-warmupjacket

I’ve recently purged my entire wardrobe and have kept a lot of stuff, sure — hey I’m female. But definitely kept in mind what makes me feel good and what I enjoy wearing. This being one of the few warm up jackets I bring with me to CrossFit.The jacket can be worn as a workout top or on a casual day with jeans. Here I am zipping it up. Careful not to expose myself to you.  zip-up-under-armour

I should start adding in my (many) blooper pictures. I think that adds a little interest to the blog posts. Keeps it true. blooper-pic It washes up well too. I’ve had the jacket since mid-May and had to wash it more than once due to the fact that I sweated in it many times. I don’t put anything in the dyer besides underwear and socks, so I have no idea if it shrinks. But I’d advise you not to put it in the dryer if you were worried. And so far? No pilling up — I hate it when clothing does that.

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Adventures at Sport Chek

While I was in Newfoundland, my best bud Trev and Sandra, my sister-in-law went to one of the two malls in St. John’s to do a bit of shopping. I didn’t realize Sport Chek had completely took over one entire section of the bottom level!

The place was massive.

Since I had a gift card to spend and we had about an hour to burn before picking my nephews up at school, we had a ton of fun taking photos of one another playing dress up.

Winter hats anyone? Trevor ended up buying the orange version of the hat he was wearing in this picture!

I love just being silly like this with Sandra and Trevor. We were laughing constantly! So very much needed. I loved being home.

Sandra and I both loved this one coat, but it was a little out of our budget. But soo toasty warm.  I couldn’t justify buying a white coat, I’m so clumsy and I’d probably get it so dirty. Dirty white coats aren’t the prettiest. lol

This grey one was my absolute favorite and it’s by FireFly no less. I kept going back to it, even when I tried it on again in Ontario!See? I just love it. Plus it’s super long, so that the wind doesn’t drift up your back on those cold winter days. B-double-uh-rrr… Brrr.

One thing that impressed me, and completely took me by surprise, was that Sport Chek now sells climbing gear. When did that happen?!

Gri Gri’s, harnesses, and rope bags!

Plus, these cute little s-biners for your chalk bag or to use on a key chain. Aren’t they adorable?

You may recall that Sport Chek sent me an inspirational kit, including a new set of Zoot sneakers. Which unfortunately ended up being a smidge too small. I think they’re a small make to be honest! I’m always an 8.5 but my toes were squished up at the front. When the Boyf and I got back from Newfoundland we made the trip to the only place in our area that sold Zoot sneakers at Sport Check: Toronto. Luckily, we had more things to do in Toronto that day than just return the sneakers and drive back all the way home.

Look how fancy the Sport Chek was in this area of Toronto!!

Trying on a variety of different sizes to see which ones I should exchange for.

I’m going to do a comparison post about these Zoot’s and the Nike Free’s, coming up this week. Stay tuned for that if you’re interested.

I didn’t spend my gift card at the first two Sport Cheks (St. John’s/Toronto locations) and it was burning a hole in my pocket! So this weekend the Boyf and I went to our local Sport Chek and again… had more fun trying on stuff. I’m easily amused, I’m tellin ya’.

My boyfriend tried on this massive winter coat from the men’s section, then thought it’d be funny if he took a photo of me wearing it. I look so tiny! Betcha I’d stay warm in that, all winter long. Haha!

I felt like the pilsbury dough boy in this down-filled one — hence the face I’m making.But now that I look at the photo, it kind of fits well…

I ended up buying some of my favorite sports bras. Nike makes a few different kinds of bras, but the dri-fit one’s are my main ones that I wear to CrossFit. They’re tight fitting, but don’t budge, if ya know what I mean. When the boyfriend was taking this shot of me, a sales associate came up right behind him saying to us both “Doing a little photo shoot?” I immediately turned a shade of purple and mumbled something. I should’ve told her about my blog, but I was so caught off guard that I got embarrassed.

Your Better Starts Here.

I am part of the Sport Chek campaign called #MyBetterMVP / #MyBetter. Selected Canadian bloggers were sent an inspiration kit to help us reach our personal bests. Sport Chek has reached out to a lot of athletes in all sorts of areas of fitness. Everyone has all sorts of goals when it comes to being healthy and fit. I’m here to help people stay inspired and motivated.

Thanks Sport Chek!

How do you stay motivated?

Are you buying a new winter coat this year?

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This is My Better: My fitness journey

I guess it’s about time I explain why I’m posting all sorts of photos of me hoisting up goodies that Sport Chek sent me, all while using the hash tag #MyBetter on twitter.

I am now part of the Sport Chek campaign called #MyBetterMVP / #MyBetter. They have contacted some Canadians and sent along an inspiration kit to help us reach our personal bests. My inspiration kit has already been featured on my instagram and twitter (@spiffykerms for both).

Sport Chek has reached out to a lot of athletes in all sorts of areas of fitness. Everyone has all sorts of goals when it comes to being healthy and fit. I’m here to help people stay inspired and motivated.

These are “my” sports: climbing, soccer, running, CrossFit, and hiking.

I’m not training for anything in particular. I am however, training to be the best person I can be. I want to stay healthy, fit, and happy. I’ve tweeted numerous times that I’ve been in cranky moods, feeling lazy or just have a headache. I head to CrossFit and after a long hard workout, I’m feeling on cloud 9 again. You never hear someone say they regret a workout, do you?

What inspired me to begin my fitness journey?

I don’t think it ever really started anywhere. I’ve always been quite active in my life, ever since I was a kid. I was involved with soccer, dance classes, my Dad teaching me baseball in the back yard. Being the only neighborhood girl, as I had all boy neighbours to play with thus me being quite a tomboy as a kid – I had to keep up with them. It wasn’t out of the ordinary that you’d see me hanging upside down from tree branches!

 Or even now, years later — just doing handstands at home.

It wasn’t until I was in my teenage years when the local climbing gym opened up, that’s when a passion started burning in me and that was when I was full-tilt doing my “hobby” which also worked out as exercising. Bonus! It was my hangout place, and I’ve met most of my long-time best friends at that climbing gym, who now read my blog on the regular since I live a 3 hour flight away.

Some amazing friendships have come out of climbing. Hi friends, you know who you are!!

Johanna and I. May 2012 at the climbing gym back home in Newfoundland.

Lori (my first climbing partner ever, circa 1995!!), me and Kerry. We always meet up for a climb when I fly home.

My bestest friend in the whole world, Trevor. Anytime I fly home, I immediately go to his house and hang out with him. He’s the funniest person on the planet. He’ll probably read this and be embarrassed (I hope not! Sorry! lol) that I’m posting a shirtless photo of him here on my blog. Here we are circa 2005-ish. Taking a break from bouldering.

I took a break from climbing for about 5 years after moving to Ontario (I’m from Newfoundland), because there wasn’t a climbing gym around me. That all changed, during summer 2011 when four local guys opened up a climbing gym here in my city.

From there I kept up soccer throughout high school, and still play now. Occasionally I throw in a random sport whenever I feel myself getting bored of my routine. I started CrossFit on a whim, because in the winter’s is when I usually slow things down a bit. My “running buddy” introduced me to CrossFit back in February 2011, and I’ve been hooked since.

I feel like if I don’t work out on a regular basis, I get in a bad mood. That doesn’t mean I work out every day though, because that too puts me in a bad mood (ha!) since I feel like I’m rushed in the evenings and feel as if I don’t have time for anything else.

I’ve recently gotten into Yoga as well. I had a two week trial membership at the local YMCA. But didn’t want to go buy a $60 month membership when I’m currently spending almost double that to attend CrossFit monthly. My local CrossFit box is now incorporating Yoga, starting in October. You betcha bottom dollar I’m excited for that to start.

I absolutely LOVE my job – it doesn’t feel like work at all. I’m a Graphic Designer/Marketing Assistant, and sit all day at my desk from Mon-Fri: 9-5, so I need some physical activity. I have tried to work out in the mornings but I’m really not a morning person, and I’m quite lethargic if I try to do so. I save my workouts for immediately after work, and then come home to make dinner, do some chores and hang out with my little family of my Triathlete boyfriend and our Pomeranian dog.

So. That my friends is #MyBetter, my fitness journey. This is just the beginning, for both you and me. Sport Chek is allowing me to host giveaways to help you reach your goals too.

A few questions:

What do you do, to stay active and lead healthy lives?

How do you stay motivated?

What do you do, to get out of a bad/cranky mood? Do you workout?

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