Monday, January 30, 2012

Thank You Honey!

I very rarely get sick, so I was outraged when I came down with a nasty cold last week.  I was in denial as I dragged myself to teach my classes, and almost dead after teaching 4 spin classes and a bootcamp class in one day.  I was not going to let this cold get the best of me! 

It was pretty bad, but one thing saved me!  Manuka Honey!  If you haven't heard of it check it out.  One of my bootcampers told me about it and it is amazing.  I always have it in my house now just in case I get sick.  My bootcamper told me that she actually takes it once a day as a preventative and I can't remember the last time she missed bootcamp due to illness.  I think I may start doing that myself :)

I like to mix a teaspoon in some hot water and lemon - very soothing.  You can also just take a teaspoon of it on it's own.  Finally!  A delicious medicine that works, has no chemicals added to it and has no adverse side affects.   

Monday, January 23, 2012

Great Balls of Energy!

Healthy eating is so important - many people don't even realize how important it is!

Today a friend of mine asked if I had any recipes for energy bars or balls.  She wanted a natural alternative to the sometimes not so good protein bars that are on the market.  This particular friend does triathlons and is currently in training so she really knows the importance of healthy eating.  She needs to eat properly for energy without taking in a bunch of low quality calories - every calorie counts when you're in training so each calorie should be of the highest quality. 

When I got home I started looking through some old recipes and came across a few great ones!  The one I'm posting is a delicious high energy, high quality snack that's not only good to eat if you're in training, but is also a great healthy snack for anyone who has decided to start eating healthy to lose weight.  So whether it's weight loss or training hard that's on your mind here's a convenient snack to get you on your way!

Date Nut Ball Recipe

½ cup pitted dates
½ cup soaked walnuts (soak for 8 hours)
¾ cup oats
3 tablespoons unpasteurized or raw honey
¾ cups shredded coconut unsweetened
¼ cup raisins
¼ cup dried cranberries unsweetened
2-3 tablespoons greens powder
Extra coconut for rolling balls or sprinkling over the top of the bars (optional)

Grind oats into a meal texture in a coffee grinder. Add the rest of the ingredients, and process into a dough type mixture.For bars, press the dough into an 8x8 pan and sprinkle with coconut. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours before cutting into bars.To make energy balls, roll dough into 16 to 24 balls and roll each ball in coconut. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

Recipe inspired by Kim Wilson's book Everyday Wholesome Eating…In the Raw.

Get more great recipes, fitness tips and much more by signing up (top right of this blog) or go to http://www.wholeyfit.ca/Home_Page.php

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Fat Blasting Smoothie!

This time of year I think a lot of us have our weight on our mind.  We don't want to starve ourselves!  And we don't want to work out for hours a day!  We want to learn how to eat to lose weight and how to workout without it becoming an all consuming obsession.

The good news is it's really quite easy.  You can lose weight and you can even keep weight off just by making some small and easy lifestyle changes.  When wanting to lose weight you first have to realize it's going to take time - and it should take time.  The last thing you want to do is overhaul your entire lifestyle and drop pounds rapidly.  Sure you may lose the weight, but it'll only be temporary if you made changes you can't live with and chances are, if you've lost weight rapidly you've done it in an unhealthy way that can't be maintained without damaging your health and driving yourself crazy - believe me I know what that's all about!

When trying to switch over to a healthy lifestyle the best thing to do is try one or two very small changes that you're pretty sure you can live with.  This might be adding a half hour walk to your day, or signing up for some online personal training that you can do at your own pace, or simply trying out a healthy recipe.

I actually have a great one to share with you!  I don't know about you, but I love to watch Dr. Oz - he is so wise :)  I was watching the other day and he had a guest who shared a very interesting looking Fat Blasting Smoothie.  I want to share that with you so you can try something new and healthy right now!  Here it is:

1 Cup Swiss Chard
1 Cup Green Tea (cooled)
1/2 Cup Blueberries
2 Brazil Nuts 
1 Tbsp. Flax Seeds (whole seeds - they get ground up in the blender)

Throw all this in a blender, blend for 30 seconds or so and you've got yourself a quick snack that's packed full of healthy nutrients and the healthy fats your body needs! 

I tried it and it's delicious!!  Hint: If you like it a bit sweeter add more blueberries ;)

So there you have it!  Go enjoy your smoothie and notice how great you feel :)

Saturday, January 07, 2012

Online Personal Training!

It's here!  For just pennies a day you can have a customized workout (and nutrition plan if you like) sent to you for you to do when you want to do it!

This time of year a lot of people are thinking about their health and fitness.  It's this time of year that the gyms are packed and sometimes a trip to the gym just ends up being more frustrating than productive. 

A great way to avoid this is to workout at home, but not everyone knows what to do - that's where I come in :) 

When you join my online personal training program you let me know exactly where you want to workout, how long you want to workout for and what equipment you have access to - if you don't have equipment that's okay!  I'll send you workouts that you can do at home or maybe at the park if you like and when the New Years rush clears out of the gyms I can design a workout to do at your favourite gym. 

The best thing is that you can do the workout when it fits in your day.  We can't all commit to the same days at the same times because sometimes life just gets in the way.  We can all put a bit of time aside to workout but it might be a different time each day and the time you have to spend may be longer or shorter depending on the day. 

Your online personal training program will be exactly what you want/need it to be.  There's even accountability because I can check up on you anytime I like!  Just knowing that I may be checking your progress at any time will keep you motivated to keep up your program!

The programs end up costing anywhere from $5.25 per week to $6.75 per week - about the cost of a super fancy coffee that will have no benefit on your body in the long run ;)

Go here http://www.wholeyfit.ca/Online_Personal_Training.html and sign up today!

Or go here http://www.wholeyfit.ca/Home_Page.php  - there's a really quick workout you can do right now if you feel the need to get your sweat on!

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