Healthy Life Lessons

Its the last week of summer here before school starts, and there is a lot of anxiety in this house.  Not from the kids though, from me! Big A now has the sleep habits of a teen, and its tough to drag her out of bed before 9am.  Mornings with the girls have always been challenging, but now even more so.  School begins before 9am so Big A will have to start setting her alarm and waking up a lot earlier.  Unfortunately, no matter what time she wakes up, she never moves quickly.  Little A, too, often goofs off and doesn't get her butt in gear, even after I've asked her to get ready a half dozen times.  They often have me losing my shit, particularly if I have a morning client or other commitment.  Getting them out the door in the morning often feels like running through quick sand. Fortunately, both girls are motivated by food.  So the new rule is that they don't get breakfast before absolutely everything is ready - they are dressed, lunches ...

I have admitted my addiction to HGTV home design shows before so you may be surprised to hear that since moving into our home almost 10 years ago, we've done almost no cosmetic work on the interior of the house. Our home is cosy and comfortable.  Its a 1,300 square feet semi, with 600 square feet of finished basement space.  It works well for us...but it could work better.  Because of the insane cost of real estate in Toronto, its doubtful we will ever move, so utilizing every inch of space efficiently is important, especially because adding an addition really isn't an option.  Built in 1998, some elements of the house are now starting to look dated...like the kitchen.  We've actually done a lot of work, but its mostly been functional/eco-friendly changes (new windows and doors, more efficient toilets, tankless hot water heater, etc.). While it would be nice to have a more updated kitchen (I don't want to be those people who do nothing to their hom...

One of the many recent media warnings that has caused confusion about nutrition and health, is the issue of salt intake.  We've always known its not great to overdo it, but then the alarm sounded and we were told that North Americans were eating way way more than is safe, and that we can blame this on many of our chronic health issues. Then we heard that salt isn't actually that bad. So which is it??? Well, from everything I've read, its the high consumption of salt and low consumption of potassium and magnesium.  This should come as no surprise since the vast majority of our sodium intake comes through processed foods, not from the salt shaker.  Essentially, those folks with the highest sodium intake are probably eating the most processed foods, and the least amount of fresh fruits and veggies and whole foods, where you find potassium and magnesium. You see, potassium lowers blood pressure and magnesium lowers risk of Type 2 diabetes.  So the si...

When my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998, I freaked out.  I thought it was an inevitable early death sentence for both her and I.  Even before then, cancer was always something I feared.  When I heard the news, it was like my almost phobia was being realized.  I experienced extreme anxiety, as well as anger and resentment.  "Why my mother?" "Why me?" I kept wondering.  Feeling a complete loss of control, I decided to research causes and risk factors to see if there was anything my mom could do to increase her chance of survival and what I could do to reduce my chances of getting breast cancer.  Unfortunately, what I found was that so many things had been linked with breast cancer (some which are definite correlates, others which are urban legends), that I ended up hysterical, feeling like the entire world was toxic and basically breast cancer was almost an inevitability for me, and, actually, for almost every woman on the planet....

As I have gotten older, I have become increasingly smitten with all things vegetable and increasingly picky about fruit.  Apples are one of my favorite foods of all times, and I like berries and cherries and citrus.  I love plums and peaches if they are cooked, and besides that...meh! Melons, in particular, which I loved as a kid, just don't float my boat.  The rest of my brood gobbles them down like they are going out of style. Lately watermelon has emerged as a trendy fruit.  Its turning up in savoury dishes at upscale restaurants.  For some reason, this has intrigued me.  I do like sweet/salty/savoury flavour combos.  I finally decided I had to try it for myself.  After all, is there anything better than a refreshing salad in the dog says of summer?  If nothing else, watermelon is super hydrating! As it turns out, I really enjoyed this combination.  Its a great balance of flavours.  The dressing was just my own inventi...

Well hello and happy Monday morning! How was your weekend?  Ours was lovely and a nice balance of family time, errands and fun. I would have preferred, of course, if it hadn't been so hot!  Summer is close to being over, so already the start of school is looming, which means packing lunches and snacks.  If you are a parent, then you are probably always on the lookout for healthy snacks for your kids.  If so, you may want to check out these Zbars from CLIF. We've known about these bars for years since we found them in the U.S., but they're new to Canada.  The girls have always loved them, so when they offered to send some samples, I jumped at the opportunity. We got one of each flavour being offered here: Chocolate Chip, Iced Oatmeal Cookie, and Chocolate Brownie, which was perfect, because the girls hadn't tried these varieties. Big A's favorite was the Chocolate Brownie, while Little A favoured the Iced Oatmeal Cookie.  Both felt it was hard to det...

Just a few more things from the fitness conference last weekend.   First, I saw a demo of Piloxing , which, when I'd first heard about it, I wrote off as some gimmicky thing.  A fusion of boxing and Pilates, really?  I couldn't picture it.  Well, once I saw it, I realized it's pretty cool.  It looks like so much fun!  With all the punching and kicking, its not so different from a lot of the workouts I already do, but its also got a dance vibe and is done to upbeat music.  Hmm, I think next time I am in the mood to buy a new exercise DVD, I might give this a try! I did 2 spinning sessions both focused on interval training, but nothing too new to report there. For the past few years I have been eying the mini trampolines .  I've used them a wee bit in Pilates classes before, but the folks demonstrating the cardio programs using them at CAN FIT PRO every year, just look like they are having such a great time, I really want to try this....

Okay, I know you're going to be interested in this post! I am sure virtually every woman in North America has wondered how Hollywood celebrities achieve such 'perfect' bodies.  Well, at CAN FIT PRO last week, one of Hollywood's top fitness trainers, Eric the Trainer , was there to tell us fitness professionals the secrets! Eric the Trainer, gave several presentations, and I caught the one on Celebrity Secrets, and it was most interesting!!!  I also found some of what he said rather disturbing. First off, he was very upfront about the fact that celebrities come to him for improve their appearance.  Not to improve their health or athletic performance.  To look their best.  He admitted that his approach then, is entirely dedicated to that end. Male and female celebrities are trained in completely different ways because Hollywood wants women to be lithe and thin and in his words, "look like they dropped out of heaven looking this way without every having ...

Good morning and happy hump day! Before I post more about the CAN FIT PRO conference, I have one of my wonderful rants for you, but I promise its relevant to what I'll be sharing with you tomorrow. I detest fashion and beauty magazines.  They are incredibly heavy on advertisements and the articles they contain couldn't be more boring, in my opinion.  I care not one bit about fashion shows, new designers, the latest makeup trends, etc.  But, hey, if you are into this stuff that's awesome. My problem is that I am interested in health.  Yet virtually any health or fitness magazine I pick up is also dominated by ads and articles devoted to beauty.  What is that doing in my magazines?  And the women featured on the cover are generally models and celebrities.  Why not ordinary fit women? Why not female athletes? My beef (or kale, if you prefer), is that beauty is not the same as health.  Sure, you could argue that if clothes and mak...

Last Thursday I did a full-day intensive seminar with Registered Dietician and sports nutrition expert, Nancy Clark .  She's been a top name in the field for a long time, and I've had one of her books on my shelf for years, so I was very excited about getting a spot.  Although she has many 'regular folk' like you and I who see her, she also has a lot of clients who are elite athletes.  Currently, she is the dietician for the Boston Red Sox. The session didn't turn out to be quite what I expected, but that's because, as she explained, neither has her career.  She said that when she entered the field of sports nutrition, she didn't expect to spend so much of her time dealing with disordered eating and clinical eating disorders, but, unfortunately, this is the reality. So much of the discussion and info she shared was about weight loss strategies and disordered eating, but that is actually more applicable to my counselling practice, so I wasn't dis...

Good morning! Its ass-frying hot here today. Boo! Okay, I am really behind in my posts because I have so much info to share from all my fitness activities last week, but I'll go in chronological order. On Wednesday, as 'media' I was invited to attend an event sponsored by BioSteel and Under Armour . Aside from getting a kick-butt workout, we were spoiled rotten! I brought along my friend Nat, a fellow fitness freak, and all of us got a swag bag of goodies.  The photo above is the group of us.  I am the brunette with the big-ass sunglasses protecting my very sensitive eyes from the sun on the right. From Under Armour, we got a gym bag, 2 brand new pairs of running shoes, leggings, 4 pack of socks, shorts, 2 sports bras, 2 tank tops, 1 t-shirt and sweatshirt.  Seriously!!  From BioSteel we got a whole slew of supplements. First, Matt Nichol , who developed the BioSteel products and founded the company, gave a talk about how this came about....

  How is this for a cultural mish-mash?  Regardless of what you want to call it (Fusion?), its delicious.   It can also be used in a number of ways by subtly adjusting the consistency, as a dip, spread or even sauce.  If you aren't a fan of heat, just make it a Not-Spicy Thai Hummus.  It will still be fantastic!  The bonus is its also quick and easy since all you do is throw everything in your food processor or blender. Shown in the pic is whole grain pita slathered in it and topped with pea sprouts.  Yum! Spicy Thai Hummus 1 (14oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas) 2 tbsp. peanut butter 2 tbsp. fish sauce (or Asian plum vinegar for vegan) 4 tbsp. Unseasoned rice vinegar 1 bunch green onions (or to taste), ends trimmed 1 chunk fresh ginger, peeled 1 clove garlic Crushed hot chili flakes (or Siracha), to taste (optional) Optional: handful fresh cilantro Throw everything in blender and puree u...

As I write this post I have my Omron Electrotherapy device massaging my pecs/delts (get your mind out of the gutter, I don't have it on my boobs!).  I did some different exercises for back and chest at the gym on Sunday, and even though I didn't go lift any heavier, just mixing it up activated the muscles in a different way and I'm sore as heck. I better loosen up soon though, because its the CAN FIT PRO conference this week!  But even before that, I've got a super special event going on tomorrow.  I was invited to a workout sponsored by BioSteel featuring NHL trainer, Matt Nichols and Canadian Olympic medalist in trampoline, Rosie MacLennon . I am bringing along my fellow fitness fanatic friend, Nat, and I can't wait, it should be a blast.  We also get amazing swag bags full of all sorts of fitness goodies...is there anything better than free stuff? Thursday I am attending a full day seminar on sports nutrition, with registered dietician and author...

I love working out...although I am paying the price this morning for the kick-ass workout I did yesterday...ow, to my pecs and lats ever ache!!!  But I know most people are not quite as enthusiastic about exercise.  If that's you, then you might be interested in this program which requires very little time and cost nothing. Fitness trends come and go.  Sometimes its nice to see them go, but sometimes good ones get thrown out for no good reason, in favour of the supposed next best thing.  But effective workouts need not be novel, flashy or trendy.  If you do the same basic stuff that was done decades ago (say, bench press and squats, for example) you can still get awesome results. Apparently, one of the current top trends is shorter, high intensity workouts (i.e. HIIT, Tabata, etc.).  And for good reason, one of the most common excuses people have for not exercising, is lack of time. That being said, I am always skeptical of fitness programs that p...

This makes my already scrumptious Coffee Frappes even more awesome... This makes the most amazing, creamy peanut butter frosting, and is also great added to baked goods.  I don't like it as a spread, however, I'll stick with regular nut and seed butter for sandwiches. JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. You must have JavaScript enabled in your browser to utilize the functionality of this website.        Live Clean's Keratin Oil shampoo and conditioner is helping to keep my hair from being a frizzy freak show...     The following shows we've been watching in re-run are making us laugh: Brooklyn 99 Modern Family Blackish Schitt's Creek (we're actually still on the fence about this one, but we always give Canadian shows more of a chance) There was an Essentrics sale a few weeks ago, so I grabbed anoth...

Nowadays people are becoming conscious of not only what they put IN their bodies, but what they put ON them. Reports of various carcinogens being put into commercial makeup and hygiene products is scaring folks and leading them to look for alternatives that are better for us and for the environment. derma e is one of the companies that offer healthier alternatives.  Here is some info on derma e: Keeping It Real derma e ® was founded in 1984 by David Stearn and Dr. Linda Miles, D.O.M. with the humble commitment of offering skin-friendly, earth-friendly, highly effective skincare. This commitment still guides everything derma e ®  does today. derma e ® now offers over 80 unique face care, body care and treatment items enriched with healthy vitamins and antioxidants to address various skin types and concerns. Each item is still hand-formulated by Dr. Linda herself and is produced in David Stearn’s family-owned, small-batch manufacturing facility in Southern ...

I am obsessed with this salad recipe.  Its quick and easy, so yummy, and very satisfying.  It can be a main course salad because it is packed with protein.  And fear not plant-eaters, a few modifications and it can be made vegan too! Lemon Dill Tuna Slaw 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (vegan or regular) 2 tbsp. mayo (vegan or regular) Juice and zest of a lemon 2 tbsp. white vinegar 1/4 cup finely chopped pickles 1 clove garlic, minced 1 tsp dried dill 1 can tuna packed in water (or skinless, boneless salmon), or 1 can chickpeas, drained, rinsed and mashed 14oz bag cole slaw mix In a large bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients, and then stir in tuna. Add cole slaw to bowl and toss everything until well mixed. I brought this recipe to this week's Plant-Based Pot Luck Party Link-Up on Urban Naturale and Gluten-Free Friday on Vegetarian Mamma.

I know I promised to write a post about what makes Toronto such an awesome city...but unfortunately, first I have another bitch post. The biggest issue here is transportation.  It sucks.  Compared to other cities our size and/or stature, we have a pathetic and outdated public transportation system. Right now, living in or around the city is a pain because of the constant congestion on the roads and the subpar transit system...as well as the fact that drivers, cyclists and even some pedestrians lack patience, empathy and manners and are distracted (i.e. still using devices even though its illegal!!). This was the blight on what would have otherwise been an amazing long weekend. I had to work Friday night, but Saturday I booked off because we had tickets to take the girls, along with my in-laws to this play at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake.  Its called Peter and the Starcatcher , and it was AWESOME!  Its written as the prequel to Peter Pan, and it...