Fitness Fanatic Finds

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog on Health Foodie Finds at Costco. As a follow-up, I wanted to do a post on fitness equipment that one should keep around the house or use at the gym. For my birthday this year, a very special someone bought me a ton of awesome fitness equipment to use in my apartment (He swore it was all for my own personal benefit….). Based on this gift, here are some things I recommend.

1.     Skipping Rope- Remember how much fun it was to skip when you were a kid? Turns out this activity is a great cardio, calorie-busting exercise. If you find regular skipping too easy, invest in a good quality, weighted skipping rope for a higher intensity burn.

2.     Bosu Ball or Stability Board- Either one of these items are great for balance exercises and increasing the difficulty of any exercise. Find squats too easy? Try doing them on a balance board! Bosu balls are also great for abs work, this video gives a good demo http://www.prevention.com/fitness/fitness-tips/ab-exercises-how-use-bosu-ball

3.     Resistance bands- resistance bands are great because they are small and light weight. I usually pack my skipping rope and resistance bands when I am traveling. They can be used to tone almost any part of your body. Test out the resistance in the store ahead of time as different types and colours will vary in the resistance they give you. If you search the Internet, there are tons of websites that demonstrate good exercises using resistance bands.

4.     A Medicine Ball- I love using medicine balls. They are great for partner workouts (think medicine ball throws back and forth while doing crunches) and are easy to hold. Again, try out different weights at the fitness store and have the staff help you pick an appropriate one.

5.     A good yoga mat- this is NOT an item to skimp on. You want a good quality, anti-microbial thick mat, that will be comfortable and last you a long time. Yoga mats are great for stretching, Pilates, yoga and abs work. Best of all, they roll up when you’re done so they don’t take up very much space.

6.     A Swiss Ball- the exercises you can do with a Swiss Ball are endless! Buy a ball that isn’t too small or too big for your size (again, a staff member should be able to help you with this) and make sure it’s well pumped up at all times. This website demonstrates numerous good exercises http://www.ball-exercises.com/exercises/index.html

Enjoy! 

Portion Distortion

My parents decided to go on a little getaway to Chicago for the week. Since I visited that fabulous city last winter, they asked me for my restaurant recommendations (I told them Pizzeria Uno and Quartino's if you're wondering). It also brought up vivid memories of some serious portion distortion south of the border. Sorry to pick on the Americans who read this post, but most of the portion sizes you get at restaurants are aboslutely out of control! I like this image because it shows how portion sizes have changed.

This next image is further proof that we are often served portions that are WAY to big and contain way too many calories to consume at one meal, unless your Michael Phelps or something...

Portion control is EXTREMELY important. It's very easy to finish an entire bag of chips while watching television or eat a huge entree at a restaurant even though you were full half way through. This following image can help you eyeball portion sizes at home

It's a rough estimate but a good guide to keep in mind when cooking and serving your food. Ideally I always aim for the 1/4 starch, 1/4 lean protein and 1/2 vegetables breakdown on my plate.

 This rule applies to lunch and dinner, because even I don't eat vegetables for breakfast, sorry to disappoint you.

Here are some other tips for portion control:
1. Use smaller plates and taller glasses. I know this sounds ridiculous, but it honestly works! You can trick your brain into thinking it's more food.

2. When eating out, remember that portions are bigger than what you will serve yourself at home. Split an entree with a friend or ask for a doggy bag when halfway through your meal. 

3. Pour your food into a bowl instead of eating it straight from a bag. This goes back to the "I accidentally ate the whole bag of chips during Bachelorette Season Finale" comment. It's a lot easier to stop eating when your small bowl is empty than when you have the entire bag sitting in front of you.

Health Foodie Finds!

I know what you’re thinking...since when is Costco a health food store? While Costco is full of some horrendous junk that is a poor excuse for food, there are also some amazing products available. Whenever my mom comes to visit, we do the legendary “Costco run”, and last time we hit the jackpot with some amazing and healthy finds at the Costco here in London. While I don’t have the bill so I can’t remember the exact price of everything, it was definitely cheaper than buying these items as single units in your local grocery or health food store.

Here are some of my top picks

Almond Breeze Original Unsweetened: I bought a six pack of the UNSWEETENED, original at Costco. Almond breeze is a nutritious milk alternative that is great in cereal, tea, coffee, smoothies and more! Since its sold in a tetra pack, the unopened product has a long shelf life. 

Frozen Fruit: I buy big packs of frozen mixed fruit, frozen mango chunks, frozen berries and even frozen cherries. They are great in smoothies, baked into muffins, and way cheaper than buying the fresh stuff come wintertime. 

I buy a large variety pack of unsweetened applesauce. The difference combinations taste great in muffins, banana bread, pancakes, and also taste good slightly frozen. You can substitute the butter or oil in lots of baked goods with applesauce

Larabars are AT LEAST $2 each in your local health food store. I bought a 12 pack of bars at Costco and they are such a yummy and quick treat. I have also had great success making my own homemade larabars using the link I posted in a previous blog, but these pre-wrapped bars are better for travel.

This is the best natural almond butter I have ever tasted, it comes in a huge jar, but still doesn't seem to last very long in my fridge! I believe they also make a peanut butter

Extremely addictive and tasty, Mary's cracker are an awesome gluten free cracker made with simple, wholesome ingredients. These are WAY cheaper to buy at Costco than Loblaws, so I suggest stocking up on packs of these when you shop.

Perrier water is a healthy alternative to soft drinks and diet coke. Served with fresh lime wedges and ice, and you won't even miss your afternoon DC anymore. If you suffer from IBS, open and let the perrier become a little stale, as carbonated drinks can irritate the stomach

Craving spaghetti but can't handle gluten? Tru Roots organic quinoa spaghetti is a great high protein and fibre alternative. You can also buy big bags of Tru Roots organic quinoa at Costco.

Taste of Nature is another high fibre, nutrient rich, gluten free granola bar you can buy in bulk at costco. I prefer larabars (because they have less ingredients), but these bars are good and pack well.

Not "exactly" a health food, but you have to live a little! 4U roasted vegetable pizza is made with all natural ingredients, uses a gluten free crust (a little low in fibre for my liking) and makes all other frozen pizzas a thing of the past. It uses hard cheeses like mozzarella which have virtually no lactose, but I believe they also sell gluten-free dairy free pizzas.

Get Shopping!!! 

But I thought fat made you fat???

All your life, you’ve probably been told that eating too much fat will make you fat. This statement is only partially true. YES, eating too much fat will make you fat, in the same way eating too many carbohydrates or protein will also make you fat.

I feel bad for fat because it gets such a bad rep. Everyone feels the need to cut the fat out of foods, but this doesn’t always make it healthier. A lack of fat in your diet can wreck havoc on your body and leave you feeling hungry all the time. Below are three food items that I think are way healthier in their natural, full fat form.

Reduced Fat Peanut Butter

NEVER EVER buy this item. This is the worst of the worst when it comes to reduced-fat foods. When companies take the fat out of peanut butter (which is full of healthy fats) they replace it with things like corn syrup, excess sugar, and maltodextrin. A better bet is to buy natural peanut butter with no added oils, sugars or salt. Look for 100% dry roasted peanuts and nothing else on the ingredient list to know you made the right choice. I also love natural almond butter for a change and is a paleo friendly option.

Fat Free Salad Dressing

This is another culprit.  Cutting the fat in salad dressings means replacing it with sugar to increase the flavor. The problem is that many of the nutrients in salads need fat for the body to absorb them. A better bet is to make your own vinaigrettes at home using vinegar and olive oil, or look for regular vinaigrettes with 30-60 calories per tablespoon.

Fat free packaged snacks

This applies to a whole lot of different snacks (reduced fat Oreos, fruit snacks, jelly beans, candy, twizzlers etc) People think they are a guilt free treat because they are fat free. Coca Cola doesn’t have any fat in it, but I wouldn’t exactly call if a healthy beverage options? The best thing to do is READ your labels. If a snack sounds too good to be true it probably is; make sure sugar/corn syrup/glucose isn’t one of the first ingredients on the list. 

Get your ZZZ's

SLEEP. Everyone needs it, but most people don’t get enough of it. 

As a student, I'm well aware of what it feels like to be time-crunched during exams and believe pulling an all-nighter is the only way to pass an exam. Sleep depreivation however, will only worsen your mental performance and make it difficult for focus. A lack of sleep has been linked to a number of negative effects including weight gain, increased cortisol levels (aka stress), weakened immune system, high blood pressure and more!

I am a sleep queen, and need at least 8 hours of sleep at night or I can’t function the next day. (Crabby would be the best word to describe me...)

 Here are a couple tips for getting a good nights rest 

1.     leave the technology out of the bedroom. Don’t bring your iphone, ipad, itouch, Macbook or other digital devices to bed, you need to unplug at night and clear your mind. A number of studies have also shown that looking at blue light-emitting electronics before bed suppresses melatonin levels, which can keep you awake

2.     keep your room temperature cool, this will make sleeping much more pleasant

3.     Maintain a consistent sleep schedule. Going out to the bar until 2:30 on weekends then not waking up until 1 the next day will wreck havoc on your body and make Monday morning a nightmare. Go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day, yes even on weekends when your body is screaming at you to stay in bed.

4.     avoid caffeine or intense exercise at night, both can leave you feeling “wired” and make it difficult to settle down

5.     aim for at least 7 hours of sleep at night, some people may need more, others less, but this is a realistic number to aim for

Are you a gym-o-phobic?

Any girls out there who feel too fat/not skinny enough/good enough/not pretty enough to work out at their local fitness centre? 

I know a lot of girls who are don’t like working out in gyms because they feel insecure about their bodies and believe that others are watching/ judging them. However, this shouldn’t stop you from working out, feeling refreshed and reaching your personal fitness goals.

Take the mirrors at a gym for instance, people don’t use them to watch you, they are using them to watch themselves! Either they are making sure their form is correct (the intended purpose for having mirrors) or they are watching themselves workout (simply to envision how good they are going to look in that "shirt I wear as a dress" ensemble at JBR’s). Focus on you and forget about everyone else, being healthy is something you must DO for yourself. If you still prefer working out without others around, here are a few tips

-       Go in the morning. The gym is always less busy, and the true hard core gym rats are the only ones there at 7am. They don’t give a crap about what you look like or what you are doing unless you’re using a piece of equipment they want (I would fit this description)

-       A lot of gyms have women’s only sections or hours, go there if you don’t want any guys around

-       At the western gym, some cardio equipment is placed in random spots and corners. Whether or not they did this on purpose, this provides a great way to escape from the crowds and not feel like you’re being watched

I also know a lot of people who HATE gyms, they feel like the hamster in a cage on a wheel type thing. If this is you, try to live a healthy active lifestyle throughout the day instead. Walk or bikes places, go for runs outside, do push-ups and sit-ups in your home and try to avoid sitting for long periods of time. It's way better on your body to be moderately active for most of the day, then do a one hour boot camp and be a total couch potato during the rest of your waking hours. 

If the Shoe Fits

Recently, I was experiencing a lot of anterior knee pain while running outside. Since my distance/intensity hadn’t change, I knew it was time. Time to put my faithful Mizuno running shoes to rest. A commonly asked question is “how often should I replace my running shoes?”

My old shoes, time to say goodbye!

After doing some research on the web, the consensus shows a new pair every 300-500 miles. Since I use my running shoes almost everyday, I replace my shoes every 6 months, which times perfectly with Christmas and my birthday!

When it comes to buying running shoes, its definitely not one size fits all. Everyone’s different, so don’t buy a pair of shoes because your housemate swears by them or you like the colour. Here are some general tips I can provide to make the shopping process easier.

1.     Don’t look at the price. No seriously, running shoes are the one shoe I don’t buy on sale or care about the dollar sign. I see running shoes as an investment in my health, whatever shoe works best for me is the price I will pay. Generally, I end up spending around $150 for a good pair of shoes.

2.     Go to a running store. There is a reason the Running Room is a successful chain. They have a huge range of shoes, very knowledgeable staff and reasonable prices. This doesn’t mean you have to shop at a Running Room, just don’t shop at a general shoe store where the staff are on commission and don’t care about your gait or stability needs. **Bring your old shoes so that the sales person has an idea of what you like and what you currently use.

3.     Try on LOTS of shoes- Running shoes are my favorite thing to shop for. I suggest trying on several pairs of shoes to compare different brands and styles, and get a feel for what you like. Walk around, take a short jog, do some squats and so on.

4.     Don’t get too attached to one brand -I used to wear Mizuno and was devastated when they stopped making my favorite style. I found the newer models way too wide for my feet and ended up switching back to a pair of Asics. Shoe companies change, your feet grow, so don’t worry about the brand or style, go with what fits.

My beautiful new shoes!!