Monthly Archives: July 2012

Commitment. It’s a full time requirement to a better life.

Posted on July 30, 2012 | 2 Comments

It’s Monday, the beginning of a fresh new week and with that the potential of what you can accomplish is limitless and you have so much control over that!!
During the summer months, so many people eat and drink with reckless abandon. That reckless abandon adds up, weekend after weekend. You might not be recording every missed workout but your body sure does. You probably turn a blind eye to your choices and try to ignore it but your body holds on to every lasting moment just to remind you about what you did.

I know it is hard to find time to exercise, I know that work is crazy, I know that the kids schedule is busy….but I also know that if you don’t stop and regroup you will be battling this weight issue forever. If you continue to make excuses and not find the time for your health that you will always be upset with how you look and feel. Guaranteed.

Compared to everything else you have been through, eating right and exercising is easy.


I promise that if you get yourself back on the health and fitness wagon you will get an instant boost of happiness and self-confidence. The time for changes in your life need to start now….these are necessary changes and changes that you can do, you just have to be willing to do them.

“It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you are not”
Who are you? When people refer to you, what do they say?
I remember that I had an aunt who would always say “Carrie, you have a nice face and have a good head on your shoulders but it is surrounded by all of that fat”  Harsh, but it was the truth.

As a mom, I want to be healthy and I want to live a long life. I want my kids to grow up with a healthy body image and I never, ever, EVER want them to have to suffer/struggle with the pain of being overweight like I was. I am a role model to them in more ways than just what all parents should be. I want them to understand that yes, you have to carve some time out of your day to take care of yourself, even if there is laundry to do.

You can wish all you want for a fit body, but you know that you can wish until the cows come home.  You actually have to work for it. You work for the body that you have…..if you are eating what you want, and drinking alcohol.  It shows and you know it.
Have a healthy and happy day. Be amazing and be strong!

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Posted in Inspiration

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All hail, Kale!

Posted on July 24, 2012 | 2 Comments

Kale has been getting more and more attention these days as a food powerhouse…you might say kale is the new black on the salad shelves.

All hail Kale!

Kale gets 3 gold stars from me because it is jam packed with nutrients, vitamins and antioxidants.  Make sure to read right to the end for some awesome recipes.

The deets on kale:

Kale is super low in calories (one cup = 35 calories) .  It’s a good source of fibre, Vitamin K (which helps with bone growth & regulating blood clotting), Vitamin A, which helps tissue repair, vision, red blood cell production and is a great source of Beta Carotene and Calcium.

Kale has cholesterol-lowering benefits if you cook it by steaming. The fiber-related components in kale do a better job of binding together with bile acids in your digestive tract when they’ve been steamed.

It is showing promise in lowering the risk of cancers including cancer of the bladder, breast, colon, ovary, and prostate.

Kale is also great to help detoxify your body systems at both the cellular level and whole organs. (Blood, kidney’s, liver, bowels).

What the hale do you do with kale???

Kale can be added to salads or made into a salad all it’s own(recipe below).  You can add kale to your boot camp protein shake (recipe below) or make up a batch of kale chips.  Kale is an easy add on to your grocery list, give it a try, be adventurous!! Sneak it into a boot camp smoothie and your family will never know!!

How to buy Kale

Kale should be firm, deep colouring to the leaves (green is the most well known) and moist strong stems.  Avoid any that is not stored with your super markets other green leaf produce, chilled, spritzed with water, stems lower.  Smaller leaves will be more tender and have a more mild flavor than the bigger leaves.

Kale chips

  • 1 bunch of kale
  • 1tbsp olive oil
  • ¼tsp salt

Directions: Preheat oven to 350°F  Remove kale leaves from the middle stem and tear leaves into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry the leaves.  In a mixing bowl toss the leaves with the olive oil and salt.  Place the kale out on baking sheets and bake until the chips get crispy, careful not to let them burn (about 10-15 minutes.)

Mediterranean kale salad

1 cup dry quinoa (quinoa is the only whole grain that is a complete protein)

  • 1 bunch of kale
  • 1.5 – 2 cups chopped tomato
  • 1.5 – 2 cups chopped cucumber
  • ½ cup Kalamata olives (about 20)
  • fresh mint, parsley and chopped garlic (to taste)
  • lemon juice (to taste)
  • 3tbsp olive oil

Directions: Prepare 1 cup of quinoa as directed and toss with the juice of 1/2 a lemon.  Add chopped mint, parsley and garlic to taste creating a tabouli flavour. Chop the kale and add to your quinoa mixture with additional lemon juice and 3tbsp of olive oil. Toss the salad until the leaves are coated. Add chopped tomato, cucumber and Kalamata olives. Enjoy!

Kale boot camp smoothie

  • 2-3 leaves of kale
  • 1/2 frozen banana
  • 1 cup blueberries or any fruit of your choice
  • 1 cup water or unsweetened almond milk
  • ice (optional)
  • 1 scoop vanilla boot camp protein powder

Blend and enjoy

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Posted in Nutrition

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Friday Fitness Funny Time

Posted on July 20, 2012 | Leave a comment

Goals…they need to be real

And supermodels would eat

Planking or sleeping?

Well, Kardashian got it to move to her butt, maybe there’s hope.

There’s people that would still think that’s too expensive for their health.

I don’t even know where to begin….

Don’t worry, some people are trying to re-create Vatican City in their bodies

But the clean up is so easy right?

Dear Doctors….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Stop sabotaging your goals

Posted on July 11, 2012 | 3 Comments

I absolutely applaud anyone who decides that they are going to take control of their health and change their bad habits to meet their goals.

It doesn’t matter if you are trying to maintain your weight, lose weight or gain weight (yes there are people who do that on purpose), all your best efforts are for nothing if you sabotage yourself.

Here’s what I mean.

You have set you goal to lose twenty pounds.  You figure out that to do that you need to commit to an exercise program so that you can increase your calorie use. (Key to weight loss, burn more calories than you take in (remember that)).

You go to the gym, do some weights, run on a treadmill, spin on a bicycle, take a yoga class, go to boot camp, do more weights, meditate.  You get the picture.  You are committed to your new routine of calorie burn and feel great!

At the same time you EAT LIKE CRAP! You suddenly think, “Oh, I’m burning all these calories, I can afford to eat the same as I did.” True enough, if you are burning more calories than you are taking in, you will eventually lose weight.

It’s OK, I’m exercising!

But why slow down the process? Why prolong achieving your goals?

I can’t understand how people justify eating crap to themselves.  Wake up call…you didn’t get overweight because you ate healthy and exercised.  You got overweight because you made bad choices.

I’ve seen this cycle hundreds of times.  Your “commitment” to your exercise program falls off.  Skip a day here, cut short a work out there, dinner with friends, working late, weekend away and pretty soon you just stop.

But what didn’t stop was you eating.  You continued to eat garbage, fast food, processed foods. You know, the foods that are convenient to your busy life style.  The restaurant meals that are “super yummy”.  There’s a reason they are yummy…they are cooked in gobs of fat, brushed with butter, loaded with salt.  You don’t even get to taste the food.

So you really want or need to lose weight.  Here’s how.  Stop opening your mouth to fill it with crap or to whine about how fat you feel and open it for great food, nutritious meals and the calories you NEED to support your lifestyle, not to support your weight.

Don’t drive the wrong way to fitness

When you eat right, the exercise will be easier and more efficient.

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Being healthy is crazy…(“haters gonna hate”)

Posted on July 6, 2012 | 16 Comments

H-E-L-L-O summer!!!!!

Personally, I am loving the heat we have had all week! For those of you that know me, you know I cannot stand the winter, so I love that we are having real summer temperatures!

Wednesday night was a hot one in Georgetown and our team, like every night stilled continued on with boot camp – (it has to be pretty bad for boot camp to be cancelled)
Everyone made sure they had lots of water and I brought extra water and ice to make sure everyone stayed cool.

We had several stations set up, one being a run up and down a hill. I was running with Vicki and Toni and as we were coming up the hill a lady driving by slowed down and gave us the international sign for crazy.

You so CRAZY!

I was shaking my head….then I got mad (hence this blog post)
Vicki said..”did you see that?”
Did I see the lady who was extremely overweight (edited as not to offend), driving by and giving us a dirty look followed by the crazy sign? Yeah, I saw it and I’m glad that I did.

Why is it this woman thought it was crazy that we worked out??
Why is it crazy that we have our health as a priority??
Yes it was hot.  Yes we took precautions to make sure our workout was safe.
Every sport in town still happened.  Kids played soccer, football, ball hockey, etc, so why is it crazy that we still stayed on track with our fitness?

So why is it acceptable for people to criticize others for being healthy? Why do people think it is ok to talk smack to others because they do things that they are not willing to do????

Would it be ok for me to walk into through a mall food court (gagging on the gross smells) and point to overweight people and give them the international sign for crazy while they chow down on fried chicken, burgers, fries and god only knows what???????????

Or would it be ok for me to give the sign for crazy while I was out and saw someone eating ice cream??

Holy Hanna, I think people would drop their fried chicken and ice cream and want to chase me down (not that they could because their hearts are covered in saturated fat)

Chase me down, HA! What was I thinking, that would never happen, they would probably just keep eating thinking that I’m the crazy one!So why is ok for people to talk trash or try to beat us down for being healthy??

We all have or have had people in our lives that want to keep us down.
Family or people at work that are fat food pushers.  ”Oh just have some, who cares about your diet?  You must be starving.” Blah, blah, blah

People who are unsupportive are jealous because they are too lazy to do the work that it takes.  So to feel better about themselves, they criticize those around them. (Hmmm, sounds a lot like what bullies do.)  It’s easier to eat that cupcake then to actually exercise.  It is easier to eat pizza and bitch and moan about clothes not fitting then to actually exercise and make healthy food.

Boot Campers, stay strong.  Don’t let the haters get you down.

I am so proud of each and every one of you FOR SHOWING UP.
If exercising despite the conditions is crazy—then call me crazy!!

If crazy is not looking for excuses -then call me crazy.

If crazy is caring about my health and wanting to be fit and strong, then call me crazy.

I need to do a remix of the Carly Rae Jepson song–instead of “call me maybe” my version will be “call me crazy”.

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Posted in Exercise, Inspiration

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Summertime is Sangria Time!

Posted on July 4, 2012 | Leave a comment

I love when friends, clients and strangers look for advice on losing weight, maintaining their success or reaching those last few milestones on their journey to better health.   One really overlooked, but essential tool to take your results to the next level or get your journey going right is simple.  Write it down!

To make your results happen just that much faster you need to journal your food intake daily.

Many of you know, that when you come to me and ask for help, I will tell you right away to start sending me your food journals.  When you write it down and see what you are putting in your mouth it makes you accountable.  Doing a food journal is not complicated. Write it down, start a spread sheet, email it to yourself, start a calendar and post it.
When your results aren’t happening or have stalled this is one tactic that will help you get to the next level.  The secret to the journal is being honest about what you are putting in your mouth.  It’s amazing how many people actually don’t realize how much, or in some cases, how little they are actually eating.
It can be eating too much, skipping meals, going too long in between meals, bad choices, not drinking water, skipping boot camp (had to throw that in) the list goes on.
Be accountable to yourself and actually look at what you are eating.

Write it, see it, adjust it

OK, here’s the reason I know you’re all reading this….The slightest chance that I would mention a forbidden beverage has piqued your curiosity, right?!

Well, here it is…..boot camp sangria (thank me later)
 -pitcher of water
-your favourite fruit chopped up
-another option is to add frozen fruit to your water
Place it in the fridge and let the fruit kick up that water……
**Shazam……boot camp sangria
Here are some other great combinations to try.
-strawberries and pineapple
-lime, mint (this is my mojito water)
-grapefruit
-cucumber, lemon, mint
-mixed citrus (orange, lemon, lime)
-mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries)
-cucumber / melon
 If you have any of your own great flavour flav combinations, post them in the comments section here.  AS LONG AS THEY ARE VIRGIN AND HEALTHY!!!
I know you don’t need me to keep telling you how important water is because I tell you all.the.time–so PLEASE believe me! Drink water!

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