Joke - You Are What You Eat!

Here's a joke to get you through the rest of the week!


Stay Healthy!
Andrea :)

6 Reason's Christmas is Good For You!

Hello!

Yesterday we talked about why we gain weight over the holidays and that seems to be all we talk about this time of year when it comes to health and fitness. So today I want to talk about why Christmas time is good for you! Here is an article that I found online that I've added to!

6 Reasons Why Christmas is Good for You

http://www.virgin.com/lifestyle/news/five-reasons-why-christmas-is-good-for-your-health

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Christmas is renowned as a season of goodwill - but bad health habits. For many people, the good work done health-wise in the previous 12 months can disappear in a combination of rich food, loafing in the lounge and copious amounts of alcohol.

Nevertheless, there are many ways to turn the Christmas period into a time when your health can flourish, especially with the help of a personal trainer! With the party circuit in full swing, here is why December doesn’t have to be a season of stress and strain.

6. Time Spent With Family & Friends

Through out the year we are all very busy people with careers, family, obligations and hobbies that we rarely make time to spend with our family and friends. So Christmas time provides the perfect excuse to make the time! By spending time together with the people you care about you relax, unwind and reconnect which recharges your batteries for another year.

5. Christmas TV is so bad you'll want to get active

It may be tempting to plump yourself in front of the TV for days on end watching endless repeats of Mary Poppins, Top of the Pops and the Queen's Speech (this is obviously a British article). This year's line-up of TV trash is more desperate than ever, so get outdoors, enjoy the fresh winter air and get some exercise.

4. Lots of vegetables with Christmas dinner
Sprouts get neglected for the rest of the year, but at Christmas everyone can benefit from their nutritional goodness. That's not mentioning the mountains of carrots, potatoes, peas and the rest. Five a day? Try ten an hour at Christmas dinnertime. Just ease off on the gravy.

3. Time to relax
With long weekends away from work in the offing at Christmas and New Year, Christmas 2012 is sure to be a great chance to unwind. Getting all those little tasks at home out of the way and taking time out to do whatever you want, or just absolutely nothing, is a brilliant way to de-stress ready for the challenges of 2013.

2. Long walks in the snow
As the weather worsens, it is tempting to stay indoors appreciating central heating systems. But taking a walk - especially when snow is falling - can be invigorating as well as good exercise. Even the least scenic routes can be turned into winter wonderlands with snow and Christmas lights, while the most beautiful journeys are given an extra edge.

1. Motivation to join a gym
Despite the possible body and mind benefits December has to offer, the temptations to indulge in less than healthy activities often prevails. Never fear though, as January offers the opportunity to put it all behind you and join a gym, providing plenty of incentives for people eager to get back into shape after Xmas excess.

Stay Healthy!

Andrea :)

Why We Gain Weight Over the Holidays

Why We Gain During the Holidays

1. The year-end mindset

You must be so tired and stressed by now from your work and other obligations.  It’s common for people to have the year end mindset of rewarding oneself with too much rest, vacation, shopping and food for a good year. But your health and fitness goals might be at risk if you always have this  thinking year by year, since there’s a greater tendency to avoid physical activities and to treat oneself to high-calorie foods which can lead to weight gain over time and sabotage healthy and fitness goals.

Sign up for fitness events or  races for next year so you can still continue training and burning calories during the holidays.  It is even better to train outdoors in December because of the cool weather and the limited amount of time you  can devote to exercising. Also, try to stick to your healthy eating and exercise regime as much as possible through the holiday season so its easy to get right back on track in January.

2. Giving and receiving food as presents

Aside from money, the most practical and easiest gifts to give nowadays are food.  If you receive food items like  ham or pastries, even if you try to avoid to eating these items, if you keep everything at home,  you might still end up finishing everything.

As early as now, buy fitness gifts like workout clothes, fitness and nutrition books, fitness service gift cards, or fitness equipment for your family and friends.  And as a rule, don’t give any gifts related to food. You can give the gifts ahead of time so people will become motivated to start a healthier lifestyle and even give you wellness gifts  instead of their usual sweet food treats.

3. Becoming too dependent on programmed exercises

Most exercisers become very dependent on gym facilities like exercise cardio machines and their favourite classes so when vacation comes, they find it difficult to engage in physical activity because they are used to doing it inside a gym or under the supervision of a personal trainer our instructor.

Focus on the exercises that you can do at home or even while on vacation.  As early as now, start learning how to run, jog or do brisk walking properly outdoors so whenever you’re on a vacation, you can still work out.  Buy hand exercise equipment that you can use at home or wherever you may be, like an exercise band, a lightweight body weight trainer, skipping rope, and doable exercise videos that you can always follow.

4. No planning and preparation

You can always say to yourself that you will not gain this holiday season, but studies show that lack of planning and preparation can sabotage your weight management efforts. Strength of will is not enough to survive this challenging time of the year, even the healthiest and fittest people have a hard time during holidays.

Set your goals, make a plan, and write everything down. If you want to maintain your weight, then identify the events that you might be at risk for this month.  If you have a Christmas party to attend, list down your strategies: Eat a filling snack before the dinner party,  drink only one to two glasses of wine, avoid deep-fried foods, and have just have a small piece of dessert.

At home, you should always make sure you have food with quality calories like fruits, vegetables, lean meat, seafoods, low-fat milk, brown rice, whole-grain breads and pasta for when you get hungry.

Be avoiding these common health pitfalls of the holiday season you can stay on track this season and still enjoy every minute of it!

Stay Healthy!
Andrea :)

20 Mindless Portion Control Tips

Hello and happy Thursday!

I found a great article on Fitbe.com today on 20 different ways to watch your portion sizes and how changing up little things, like the size of your plates or even the scent of your centrepiece can make huge differences in your diet.

Have a read through these great tips and see what you think!


http://fitbie.ca.msn.com/slideshow/20-mindless-portion-control-tips

Stay Healthy!
Andrea :)

25 Ways to Cut 50 Calories

Happy Hump Day!

Today I found a good article on fitbe.com about 25 different ways you can cut down on calories at every meal. 50 calories may not sound like much but its the little things you do everyday that will get you to your goals... and its pain free!

Give these 25 things a try and see how little a difference there is in taste and how huge a difference it will make to you!

http://fitbie.ca.msn.com/slideshow/25-easy-ways-cut-50-or-more-calories-every-meal

Stay Healthy!
Andrea :)

Picture of the Day:

Fail. lol

Monday Motivation!

Happy Monday!

Here is my favourite motivational poster. I even have a print out of it in my cubby at work and it always helps me get through the day or workout or whatever I'm struggling through that day!



Stay Healthy!

Andrea :)

Homemade Healthy Pizza

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend. I got a great recipe from Trevor (the nutritionist) and I wanted to share it with you. Its easy, nutritious and if your feeling adventurous I've got some new flavours for you to try... and if your not feeling adventurous the old favourites work great too!

Ingredients:
1 Focaccia loaf (Love the ones from Farm Boy!)
1 Jar of Pizza Sauce (Also love this from Farm Boy)
1 package of Goat Cheddar (Farm Boy... surprise, surprise lol)
1 Large cooking onion
1 Cup Sliced Mushrooms
Turkey pepperoni

How To:
Caramelize the onions and mushrooms and while your doing that slice the focaccia bread in half and lay both pieces cut side up on a baking sheet. Spread with pizza sauce.

Put pepperoni on the pizza followed be the caramelized veggies and then the goat cheese.

Bake in the oven at 350* until the bread is toasted and the cheese is melted - about 20minutes.

Sprinkle with red pepper flakes or hot sauce to taste and enjoy!

The goat cheese adds great flavour and (luckily) the hard cheddar type is no where near as strong tasting as the soft type. But if your not ready to try it then regular mozarella works just as well. And you can make this recipe with all of your favourite toppings. For example I made pizza for Zach tonight as well but instead of the turkey pepperoni he had cooked natural bacon. I also cut the bread so his was much thicker... as you can see in the picture below :)

My Pizza is on the left.

 

 

Give it a try and see what you think!

 

Stay Healthy!

Andrea :)

PS I added a picture to the slideshow. Its the outfit I just made for our Christmas party,