Healthy Life Lessons

Because we here in Canada celebrate Thanksgiving in October, one can only conclude that we've appropriated Black Friday solely for commercial reasons.  As if there was ever any other reason for it?  While it may make no sense to me, I won't complain that we have it now too as I am all about a good deal. Fortunately, we don't get as loonie here as folks do in the U.S....you don't usually see shopping-related violence here.  I've had enough chaos for a while anyways.  Last night was the girls' daycare's annual fundraiser and it is always, crazy and exhausting.  I am (by choice!) no longer on the fundraising subcommittee (I am now the communications person for the daycare), but last night was still nuts.  I helped with the basket raffle we have. The entertainment this year was a big hit: DJ Trevor , who the kids absolutely adore. Tonight I have a Christmas party for one of the fertility clinics I work with, which should be fun.  I work tomorrow...

So what's the deal with protein, you may be wondering?  It seems to be added to everything from granola bars to breakfast cereal to orange juice these days. And I am guessing that either you or someone you know has at least once attempted a high protein, lower carb diet at some point, right? I can't say the same for myself though...I already know that I couldn't restrict my carbs too much.  No one takes away my daily oatmeal I say! But every day it seems their is another headline contradicting the next in terms of how much we need and whether or not eating lots of it (and little to no carbs) will make us all look like Greek Gods. So, what's the deal with protein? North Americans have been obsessed with it since the resurgence of the Atkins and other low-carb diet trends in the late 1990s.  After failing to improve our health and lose weight on the popular low-fat diet (primarily because we gorged on high sugar, low nutrition carbs), the pendulum swung back ...

Why did the cookie go to see the doctor? Because he was feeling crumby! That's currently Little A's favorite joke. If you are feeling crumby and only a cookie will do, but you want something satisfying and nutritious that won't leave you with a sugar-crash, then these fit the bill perfectly.  They are sugar-free, gluten-free, vegan and high in protein.  Oh, and super delicious as confirmed by the family, including the picky little ones. I used pea butter so they could go in the girls' lunch boxes, but you can use peanut butter if you want, or any other nut or seed butter for that matter. If you want them a wee bit more decadent, feel free to add chocolate chips. PeaNOT Butter Protein Cookies 1 cup nut/seed/pea butter 1/4 cup ground flax 1/4 cup vegan, stevia sweetened vanilla or chocolate protein powder 1/2 cup granulated stevia 1/4 cup hot water 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (optional) Stir together all...

I have an admission...I am cheating on my beloved Tapout XT fitness program! Although I still think Tapout XT is super awesome, I had grown bored of it...something that happens to me frequently.  There is a second edition, but it is not yet available in Canada.  So when I was at the mall a few weeks ago with the girls and spied the UFC Fit program, I decided to take a risk and check it out. Oh man!  I have fallen in love all over again!  Honestly, I think this program is even harder!!  I also like how its organized.  Each workout has a set number of rounds and exercises in each round.  You do each exercise twice, for 30 seconds at a time.  Its essentially HIIT training, with a mix of strength, cardio and MMA exercises.  So much fun! I will warn you that there is a ton of level change exercises (BJJ get ups, burpees, sprawls, etc.) including going right from lying on your back to standing quickly, so if you have back or neck problems...

For a few years now this has been in the works, but its taken a very long time for everything to come together.  I am starting a business called Konjac for Life selling konjac powder (Some of my recipes on this site use it but I've been hoarding a ton more) and building an online community where you can not only purchase it, but learn everything you need to know about its health benefits and how to cook and bake with it. I am excited to finally have a product to bring to market that is perfectly aligned with my interests in healthy cooking and baking, and nutrition. Konjac Root has been harvested and consumed in Asia for centuries and is only now being discovered by North Americans.  Shirataki noodles, now widely available, are made from konjac, but the flour from this amazing plant has many other culinary applications and I have spent the past 4 years building up a repertoire of recipes using konjac powder.  It can be used to replace a variety of less healthy ingre...

We may be past the toddler stage in this house, but feeding the kids still remains a challenge.  Like most kids, they would prefer a steady diet of cake and candy, with the only savouries being pizza and hotdogs.  Sigh! I guess I should feel lucky that I can whip up all sorts of whole grain, stevia-sweetened concoctions and they'll gobble them down whereas I hear a lot of kids clearly distinguish between true crap and healthier imitations and will only go for the former. My kids also don't notice all the fruits and veggies hidden in their food, and they will, sometimes willingly eat vegetables. Its frustrating, because I feel like no matter what I do at home, they are still exposed to way too much junk from the outside world.  Probably a day does not go by...and I am seriously not exaggerating...when they get cookies, candy or other garbage either from school, daycare or other family members who tell me, there is no harm in the occasional treat.  The problem is...

What the heck are Holographic Acupressure Discs? Well, apparently they are "All-natural, non-invasive pain relief discs used by world class and Olympic athletes now available to consumers." They are just one of the products sold by the Winning Factor wellness company. I had just wrenched my shoulder when these arrived for me to try out.  I stuck one on the effected shoulder in the area indicated in the instructions for shoulder pain before bed.  Is my shoulder better?  It is actually.  Can I attribute it to the discs? Impossible to say, to be honest, because the day before I did an acupuncture session.  In any case, a sample of 1 does not make for scientific data.  I couldn't find any data, actually, on any link between holographic acupressure discs and pain.  In fact, I found just one study on holographic anything in relationship to health...apparently holographic arm bands do not improve balance or stability.  But here's the thing, perh...

Whenever Adam expresses delight over a vegetarian recipe, I know its one I need to share.  Generally, its hard to get him excited about savoury dishes that have no meat in them.  This one's a sure winner though.  Hearty enough for even the biggest, carnivorous appetite! Chickpea Sweet Potato Roti 1 tsp coconut or olive oil 1 onion, diced Large chunk ginger, minced 2-3 cloves garlic, minced 2 tbls madras curry powder (hot or mild) 1 tsp garam masala 1/2 tsp turmeric 1/4 tsp ground allspice 1 tsp salt (or to taste) 1/4 cup cider vinegar 1 cabbage, sliced 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas) 1 can light coconut milk 1 large sweet potato, cooked, peeled and mashed Caribbean hot sauce, to taste (optional) Roti skins or whole grain tortillas Heat oil in large skillet, pot or fry pan.  Add onion, garlic, ginger and spices.  Cook for several minutes over medium heat.  Add in vinegar, cabbage, chickpeas and coco...

  Good Morning! I hope you had a nice weekend.  We woke up to a winter wonderland this morning.  Good think the girls were cooperative, or actually, pretty excited, to get all dressed up in their winter gear.  Don't they look cute? I can't help but brag a bit about my girls.  They got great report cards last week and we had lovely parent-teacher interviews.  I am so proud of them!  Big A is a good student, but what makes me so incredibly proud of her is just what a good person she is.  It was noted on her report card and by her teacher in person, that she is very kind and helpful to all the other kids.  All.  She is not clique-y at all.  And she apparently is learning not to be as bossy as she used to be.  I would say that between her kindness and her assertiveness/confidence, she has the makings of a very effective leader (CEO, politician...), ha ha!! Little A is miss smarty pants, blowing away her teachers with her...

I have made it no secret that I believe strength training is absolutely critical to health and fitness.  Unfortunately, I find even committed fitness fanatics, particularly female ones, resist embracing it.  I suspect this is due to many misunderstandings and myths about strength training, but its very frustrating to watch people failing to reach their fitness goals because they are missing out on this vital component in their exercise program. Why is strength training so important?  This is why, it: - Reverses sarcopenia, or the loss of muscle mass we experience with age - Lowers risk of osteoporosis - Lowers risk of dementia - Strengthens tendons and ligaments, lowering risk of injury - Improves overall strength and helps to maintain mobility as we age - Builds lean mass which increases metabolism, making it easier to lose weight and maintain weight loss - Improves sport performance - Is empowering Need I say more? But since the world is primarily moti...

Yep, it snowed yesterday.  Didn't stick, thank goodness.   Nothing to build snowmen with yet at least. But there is no denying winter is here, whether its 'official' or not.  Tuesday we had a gorgeous, warm, sunny day, but I think that was it for that until spring. I am already looking forward to our trip to Florida in the middle of December with my family.  We usually go to Orlando with Adam's folks, but in honour of her 70th birthday, my mom is treating us, and my brother's family to a vacation in West Palm at the Sandpiper Club Med resort.  Apparently its just a dream for people with kids as they keep the little ones occupied practically 24-7, giving adults time on their own.  Sweeeeeeeet! But this does mean we will be in town over Christmas, which is going to necessitate some serious planning on my part to keep them busy when they are home from school and daycare. I just worry that if we have another particularly bad winter, whic...

Yep, another flavour of oatmeal squares.  Why? Because having a prepared breakfast in the mornings that the kids love is brilliant.  It makes life so much easier. Since its pumpkin everything season I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon. The frosting is optional but it always increases the attractiveness of a baked good for the girls (of course!).  You can also choose to make it less sweet but I knew I had to mask the pumpkin taste completely if they were going to go for it. Success was mine.  The girls fought over the frosting bowl and were covered in it before I plunked them both in the bath.  They refused to wait until morning to try these and ended up having a couple for dessert after dinner. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Squares 2 cups quick cooking steel cut oats 1/4 cup flax meal 2 cups boiling water 1 cup canned pumpkin 1 scoop vegan vanilla protein powder 1/2 cup granular stevia 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice ...

Given that I don't believe in cleanses/detoxes, etc. nor the Paleo diet, you might be wondering why I agreed to review this book. Well I try not to judge a book by its cover...or its title.  You might recall I reviewed Paleo Fitness , which I expected to be ridiculous, but actually was pretty good?  So I decided to give this a chance too. Unfortunately, that was a mistake. Paleo Cleanse is written by Camilla Carboni and Melissa Van Dover, who both have a background in marketing.  I guess it should come as no surprise that they clearly don't understand how to do proper research. These women are devout followers of Loren Cordain, who supposedly came up with the whole stupid Paleo Diet thing.  The book starts with them chronicling their own health journeys are their discovery of the Paleo Diet.  Next, they compare the Paleo Food Pyramid with the traditional one here in North America.  In the third chapter they supposedly 'debunk marketi...

Sorry that the picture is so crappy.  I snapped it quick with my phone...and also had just finished guzzling 2 beers, which likely clouded my perspective...or at least my motivation to get a decent shot. All you have to know about these is when I asked the girls if they were good, Big A said, "No mommy, they aren't good...they're the best!" Good thing they don't realize how healthy they are!  Low-fat.  Gluten-Free. Vegan. Sugar-Free.  Yet, super rich and fudgy.  How do you beat that?  As soon as they were cool enough to eat, both girls scarfed down 4 each before I cut them off.  About 20 minutes later they begged me for another and I gave in.  Yeah, seriously!  I feel so smug when they go nuts for things I make which they think are a major treat but are actually super healthy.  Ha!!  I kid you not, these disappeared in less than 24 hours and the girls have been begging me to bake more ever since. "The Best" Sweet Potato Bro...

Sorry for the bummer blog post on Friday but man, the day just got worse from there.  One of my favorite clients got a negative on her IVF cycle...I think I took it as hard as she did.  Some times I just feel like raging about how unfair the world is.  But that's kind of pointless, because it just is.  I try to focus on making it a little less unfair, if I can, in some small way.  I guess that's why I love, love, love my job.  I can't do magic, but if I can at least support someone through a difficult time, I guess that's something, no? I didn't work on Saturday, for a change, and even though it was cold and rainy, it was nice to have some family time.  We got new portraits done of the four of us, and they turned out pretty good!  I have to acknowledge just how lucky I am to have these guys: The grey weather continues, but am pretty pumped about some work-related stuff happening this week.  I can't give any details yet until I know mo...

In my line of work, I see so-called miracles and happy endings, but I also see an unbelievable amount of pain and loss.  I am astonished by what some of my clients have endured.  Loss of loved ones, accidents, health issues, abuse, betrayal...its heartbreaking.  But what's truly amazing to me is the ones that, despite all the seemingly insurmountable obstacles and set backs that would crush many of us, not only survive, but thrive. Life is not fair.  It just isn't.  So often when a tragedy occurs we spend a whole lot of time asking, "Why me?"  And the answer is - in my opinion, at least - its just all random.  Bad things often happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. Occasionally karma seems to work.  Like this whole CBC Jian Gomeshi scandal, for example.  He is hopefully going to get his comeuppance now...but, unfortunately, before that happened, this total scum bag was able to spend years getting away wit...

I admit, throwing carrots into a breakfast dish for the girls was risky...but it turned out great.  These are marvelous as a breakfast or snack.  While tasting absolutely decadent, they are actually really healthy. Unlike my other oatmeal square recipes, however, these take a bit more prep and have a much longer cooking time, so best not to leave them to the morning of...make them the day ahead so they are ready to go for your busy day. If you are wondering why the cream cheese icing is tan in colour, its because of the protein powder.  I find that vegan protein powders, even the vanilla flavours tend to be kind of tan/greenish.  I used this one, which is quite good: Carrot Cake Oatmeal Squares with Cream Cheese Icing (Vegan, Sugar-free, & Gluten-Free) 2 cups quick-cooking steel cut oats 1/4 cup flax meal 2 cups boiling water 1 scoop vegan vanilla protein powder 1 540ml jar golden pineapple plus juice 1 carrot, cut into chunks 1/4 cup granulat...

Although I had never heard of Jari Love before, when I was approached to review her new DVD, I was excited: I love fitness DVDs! As it turns out, she's a fellow Canadian, but resides across the country in Calgary with her husband and 2 kids...I've never been to Alberta, by the way. She actually has a whole series of workout DVDs that you can purchase . Love is a personal trainer and fitness expert who has been featured in media across North America. This particular DVD offers a full hour of strength-based exercise segments.  The cover says it is split into 30 minutes for lower body and 30 minutes for upper body.  Perhaps my copy is messed up, but it actually has only 20 minutes of lower body exercises and the rest is upper and core.  Not sure what's up with that. You need several sets of hand weights, and a step, although, you can do the DVD without the step and modifications are shown. The whole idea is similar to those Group Power classes from Les Mills whe...

We had our good friends and their kids over for dinner Saturday.  I was a bit worried the girls wouldn't find too much they would eat since we were ordering in Thai food so I decided to bake a sort-of healthy cake, so there would at least be dessert. Caramel and banana are flavours that compliment each other nicely and I thought this would be a nice change from the banana chocolate chip everything combo they usually request. The girls loved this cake, but if truth be told, I was the one that ate most of it.  I couldn't help it, it is scrumptious...and after all the Thai food we ate that night, I was still hungry.  Go figure?  The girls were pretty peeved at me.  I guess I'll just have to make it again. I made this quickly in the Blendtec, but a food processor would work just fine.  The caramel turned out a bit grainy, but no one minded, it still tastes absolutely awesome. Caramel Banana Bundt Cake (Vegan) 3 ripe bananas 1 cup coconut sugar 1/4 ...

Hi there and happy Monday.  How was your Halloween? Personally, this was the best Halloween I can recall in many years!  Why?  Because I totally slacked off. Here is what you need to (not) do to have an awesome Halloween: 1. Spend too much money buying your kids' costumes online and choose ones that don't require you to paint their faces.  Just buy enough ahead of time so you make sure they arrive before the big day! 2. Say "YES" when your neighbour invites your kids over for dinner and trick-or-treating (someone else do the dirty work for me?  Sign me up!). 3. Don't return the overpriced pumpkin to the market even though it started rotting the day after you brought it home.  Just cut out the bad parts and make the holes part of your Jack-o-lantern design.  Besides, rotting pumpkin is far easier to cut. 4.  Throw out pumpkin seeds and the whole rest of the pumpkin the next day and don't bother to cook or bake with any of it. ...