Hardcore. It's a word I've been employing quite liberally over the past few months to describe my workout and nutrition efforts. Unfortunately, words only mean so much, and I've not been particularly diligent about following up with actions. The last few weeks have taken an especially hard toll on my body. A combination of stress, lack of energy and urge to indulge my sweet tooth have resulted in a weight gain. Boo! OK, but now I have no excuse because I've dealt with all issues causing stress and that is the only reason I had a lack of energy and urge to eat excessively. So now I really am going hardcore. Monday I started a new workout regimen which includes a daily 4 K jog, at least 45minutes of cardio and 45 minutes of weight training. Also going back on Lifewise eating plan. I intend to lose 9 lbs in three weeks. Ambitious, yes. Impossible, no.

Yesterday I went on a road trip with Tony (the Aussie), Thomas (the French guy) and Danielle (K'town origin). We headed 'Up West' in search of rubber boots and the image of Jesus, which has apparently made an appearance at the church in Tignish. We stopped at the Acadian Museum in Tignish. I re-learned a lot about the history of the Acadians. I sometimes forget I am 1/4 Acadian - a Gallant. It was nice and Danielle made a great observation - the older you get the more you understand the importance of museums. Which explains why most museums are visited by senior citizens.

We stopped for lunch at a pub in Tignish. We had checked out SHirley's, which was one of those combo 'Grocery, Laundromat & Cafe' type places, but the smell of grease was a bit too overwhelming. The pub fare was actually really decent. The only complaint I had was with the lack of empathy from my fellow travellers. Danielle & Tony shared a lovely Coconut Cream Pie while Thomas raved on and on about his ice cream crepes smothered in chocolate sauce. Sigh. Damn me and my sinfree plan!

Next we headed to North Cape, the very Western tip of the Island and home to the Wind Test Site. It was absolutey breathtaking in its beauty. We drove up along the coast. To our left we could see an unending expanse of blue seas dotted with snow-covered chunks of ice. To our right, we watched in awe as row upon row of windmills gracefully cut through the sky.

We got out of the car and made our way down the ragged red cliffs to the rocky shore, where chunks of ice were bobbing gently in tune with the waves. Tony decided to take the opportunity to invent a new sport, called ice surfing. He managed to make his way onto a chunk of ice and stay on it while the waves pushed it up and then let it fall back. Eventually Tony decided ice surfing wasn't enough...so he went ice-chunk hopping. It was all fine and dandy until he got out a certain distance and then realised he had to find his way back. And the ice chunks had moved further away. Oops. Aw, but in true Aussie style, he found his way out of trouble and landed back on the shore mostly dry.

We headed back to civilisation and I decided to take my friends to my father's place. It was a lovely ending to a fabulous day. I was super tired by the end of it, but managed to stay up to watch American Idol which was disappointingly mediocre this week. Oh well.