Green Apple Pie Smoothie

This one's a goodie! I like to juice my greens and celery, but sometimes I just really want a thick and creamy green smoothie. I love blending in things like celery and kale, because I like having those little chewy bits as I'm drinking. Weird, I know... With those super-powered blenders, you'll get a much smoother liquid consistency, but I prefer to use a bullet blender to keep some of the pieces for texture.
The ingredients were a toss-together this morning when I was in a rush, but I'm extremely happy with the end result! It's not too sweet, it's on the decadent side, and has some amazing stuff in it.

Green Apple Pie Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 granny smith apple
• 4 small pitted dates (or 1 regular sized date, pitted)
• 3 leaves of kale (the smaller leaves near the center of the plant are the least bitter - these are best for use in smoothies!)
• 2 stalks of celery, bottoms and tops trimmed off
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp coconut sugar
• Enough water to cover all ingredients (I made this smoothie in two batches, as the bullet blender could only hold half of the ingredients at a time)

Method:

• Blend all, and enjoy! :)

Food for Thought

I'm starting to really get into this Fitness Nutrition book, and it's presenting a heavy focus on digestion, which I like... 

Random Fact:

Did you know that your liver weighs approximately 3-4 lbs? It’s your largest gland. Think: a football.

Also – your pancreas is pretty important too – its main function includes secreting juices that contain digestive enzymes.

It also helps produce:

• Insulin (regulates how fats and carbohydrates are metabolized in the body, helps muscles and fat tissue take in glucose from your blood. It also slows down the release of glucagon), and

• Glucagon (is released when blood glucose is too low – think “glucaGONE – so we’ll give you more glucose!” heehee… It does this by helping the liver turn glycogen into glucose)

Both of which are important for keeping your blood glucose levels in check. It’s a balanced system when working functionally, and each one is present to make sure the other one doesn’t go crazy on your system.

In short: Insulin is the glucose-downer, and glucagon is the glucose-upper.

Food for thought:

There was a study in Sweden to learn what helps with pancreatitis. Vegetables appeared to help in preventing the development of pancreatitis due to the high levels of antioxidants. Unfortunately, fruit doesn’t quite help as (it’s believed that) the fructose content is too high to be of benefit.

Interesting article that gives more info about the study, and worth a read:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/247273.php

 

Bethany Townsend and Crohn's Disease - The Bikini Colostomy Bag Picture

I'm sure you all know about the articles and pictures about: The Bethany Townsend Bikini Picture - Tanning with a Colostomy Bag

It's been everywhere, and the exposure that this has gained makes me very happy in more ways than I can express. 

Bethany, I don't know you, but from the bottom of my heart and with tears in my eyes: Thank You for putting that image out there. I respect you, and wish you the best. 

Crohn's Disease is a very serious condition, mostly caused by diet and stress - although there are other causes (genetics, various "bugs" that you catch that trigger it, etc.), and it impacts the bowels in a way that makes it near impossible to gather nutrients from food that are vital to the body.

My mum's life was ended due to Crohn's 15 years ago. It's so important to me now, because a scary statistic: People who have a first degree relative who have suffered from Crohn's have a 1 in 10 chance of developing it themselves. This is why I eat healthy now, and why I try my best to look after my digestive health. The knowledge of this disease wasn't great over a decade ago, and there were really two options:

1. Get part of your bowel removed and wear a bag for the rest of your life, or 
2. Suffer and pray that you go into remission and that when the flare-ups happen you don't die.

Unfortunately, there was such a big stigma with using a colostomy bag that many people who suffered from this refused to go through with that type of operation. My mum was one of them, and would suffer from regular flare ups, with the last one being her demise. 

The biggest issue was that there wasn't enough attention given to this disease. Not enough research, not enough public knowledge, and not enough hope for people suffering from it. 

Another big issue is that 15 years ago, a doctor was telling my mum to drink "Ensure", a meal replacement, during the times where her flare ups made it impossible for her to eat without spending hours in the washroom. Over these times, she lost so much weight that she was unrecognizable to everyone who knew her. Ensure contains dairy and chemicals, that's all. And each time she drank this "doctor recommended" meal replacement, she got worse. He told her to eat yogurt, which also caused more problems. But he insisted that it would help "protect" her stomach and intestines. Also - he would prescribe a new anti-biotic seemingly monthly, and would encourage her to NOT quit smoking as the stress on her body from nicotine withdrawals could trigger stress-related flare ups of the disease. He wouldn't look after her digestive health or suggest a pro-biotic to counteract the anti-biotic, and he wouldn't suggest a dietician for her to see so that she could get a handle on the disease. When I look back now, it seems as though the only thing he was interested in was pumping her full of pills. (I can't even remember the several different medications and pain-killers she was taking.)
Now, at least they know that dairy causes mucous to build up in the intestines and stomach, and is BAD for people who suffer from Crohn's Disease. It creates inflammation, and blocks even the slight amounts of nutrients that the bowel can still absorb from being absorbed.

My wish is that research of this disease continues so that the thousands of people who suffer from it don't go through the same fate as my mum. I'm not a fan of posting bikini pictures to get attention for a cause, but if this helps inspire others who suffer from the disease, and gains exposure for the disease so people take it more seriously and become more educated about it, then I am happy.

The Best Juice I've Ever Made

I'm not even joking. 

Most of my juice recipes have been quickly uploaded to Instagram (this will be too, of course...), but this particular juice was deserving of a blog post! I went out on a limb with this one, and oh. my. goodness.
Wow.
It almost tastes like a citrus cream pie, with a burst of spice... It's like the orange was beaten up by the other ingredients, and then they decided to all go into a swimming pool on a hot day.
I don't really know how to describe it, or what to name it, so here goes...

Punch in the Orange

Ingredients and Method: 

• 2 small oranges, or 1 large one, peeled
• 1 lemon, peeled
• 5 small-medium carrots (organic! They taste better, it's a fact!)
• 1 medium parsnip (trust me on this...)
• 3" long knob of turmeric (not too thin, not too thick. No jokes please... lol)
• 1" - 2" long knob of ginger (decently thick chunk, and adjust to how spicy you like things. Not too spicy though, because it will overpower the citrus flavours!)

Juice all of these ingredients in a high-powered juicer! Then, the best part... In a blender, add the juice and then blend in the following ingredients: 

• 1-2 frozen bananas
• 1/2 tbsp cinnamon (you can use less if you aren't a big cinnamon fan, but I recommend keeping it to this measurement)
• 6 small pitted dates (or 2 of the larger ones, pits removed)
• 1 tbsp of citrus flavoured Ascenta NutraVeg Omega 3 Oil. This stuff is vegan, and it's delicious, and a great way to get your vegan Omega 3s in each day! 

Now blend everything together! 

Then, pour into a glass. Sprinkle a little cinnamon on top, and you're good to drink down the deliciousness of that orange being knocked around by the other ingredients! (They mean well... They're just misunderstood.)

Some quick facts: 

• Parsnips are a great anti-inflammatory, they're high in fibre, they're considered an antioxidant, and they contain folic acid, iron, calcium, copper, potassium, manganese and phosphorus. Damn, son! These are good. 
• Turmeric is an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, prevents anemia (I never knew that!), and helps control bad cholesterol. I'm still new to using turmeric, so I'm still learning about it and how to incorporate it into my food in the fresh form (I used to just use powdered). 

Here's some pics of the juice. Because it's a beautiful, beautiful thing. 

The Juice - In All It's Orange Glory

Ascenta NutraVeg Omega 3 Oil

Some happy, happy ingredients - just waiting to be consumed <3

Ayurvedic Body Type

What is your Ayurvedic Body Type? 

Something Interesting - I did a quiz to see what my craving type was, and it concludes that I fit under the Pitta Dosha type. So I decided to check out what that type is all about... Very interesting!

Here's the info: Pitta Dosha

And here's a quiz: Cravings Quiz by Alex Jamieson

I've never read about this stuff before, so I think I'll look into it a little. It's very mind-body focused, which makes a lot of sense. Our minds are impacted by what we put into our bodies, and our bodies are impacted by what goes on in our mind. It really is a joint effort we have working for us here, eh!

I know a lot of these things are often generalized, and much like horoscopes - anyone can read the descriptions and say "oh, that's me to a T!", but it's still interesting. I personally find I relate a lot to the Pitta Dosha, and not as much to Kapha Dosha... But the Vata Dosha speaks to me as well. I guess I'm "Pitta Vata Dosha". Is there a term for that? Is it similar to being a Leo on the cusp of Cancer (me)?

So much interesting stuff to read about. The world has so many unique things to learn...

Yoga Glow

Yoga Glo. 

Have any of you readers out there tried it?

I haven't, but it looks like fun.

I really like going to classes, but I find that on any given day, I can find an excuse not to go.

For the gym - it's different. I have a gym downstairs in my building, PLUS the massive GoodLife location on Yonge St. just north of Sheppard. (Gotta love Toronto for all of the GoodLife locations!) There's literally NO excuse to skip workouts (even when I do, sigh... Lazy Nikki).

But with going to a Yoga Studio, or any types of classes with a set schedule, I find that it's easier for me to make excuses. I got lucky with Yoga Tree in that they have classes I can take right before or right after work, but that then extends my work-day by a couple of hours. It just doesn't work for me on a regular basis. Once in a while is fine, but not every day.

And then there's today. It's 2pm, and I want a nice relaxing Yoga Class. I don't want to leave home and rush to a studio, and I'm in the type of mood where I don't want to be around groups of people because I don't feel comfortable in my mind, body or practice today. So that's where this online streaming of classes comes in.

So I'm going to give it a try, and see how it goes! It's $18 per month which isn't steep at all, and the first 15 days are free to use. You can cancel at any time in those 15 days to not get charged for a first month. (No, I'm not advertising this hahaha...)

Yoga Lessons - Life Impacts Your Practice

Well, it's Tuesday July 1st. Happy Canada Day! :)

I've done Yoga once since my last post - and it was really difficult for me.
It was a Hatha class at Yoga Tree, and with a same teacher who I've taken a class with before. (Previously the Restorative Yoga class.)

I really like her teaching style, but for some reason the class wasn't working with me. It's nothing to do with her, she's great! It's not even Hatha - because I've always preferred Hatha classes among others (except Hot Yoga. All time fave!). I actually left the class feeling pretty bad, because I was struggling and stumbling, and couldn't wipe the frustrated look and emotion off of my face no matter what I tried.

It's because of my own mind.

I came to the mat feeling very frustrated and imbalanced in every aspect of my life.

Your practice is influenced by your day, your mood, and your state of mind. 

This couldn't be any more true.  I was in such a horrible mood, and even though I wanted to focus on the postures, and flow through them - I couldn't stand up straight; my shoulders were hunched, my eyebrows were tense, my legs were wobbly, light twists hurt my stomach and spine, chair pose made my legs feel like they were going to collapse, even corpse pose and child's pose wasn't working for me! (How can I screw up those last two?! Really...)

I was just completely off in all respects. I layer there in corpse pose and I almost started crying. Actually, full disclosure: I did cry a little bit. Everything felt so off balance, and I hate when I feel like that. I understand that there's an ebb and flow to life, and the worst times are there to make us appreciate the better times - but this was too much for me.

I've been feeling really drained in all aspects of my fitness regime. This is why I was getting back into Yoga - I felt that I needed to focus my mind and body, and get a good stretch and workout in the process. It's a win-win really.

This class taught me that I need to really re-evaluate the aspects of my life that are bothering me. I've become a push-over in some situations that I won't go into detail of on my blog... But I'm learning that instead of sitting and bottling it all up for the sake of saving face, I need to stand up for myself. I'm a person. I'm not a pushover. I'm not someone who can take shovels and shovels of garbage from people, nor is anyone else. We're all just people. No one is any better than anyone else, so for someone to have the misconception that they can treat me a certain way due to their status or whatever beliefs they have in their head is a sad thing. Sad for me - because I have allowed myself to have it impact my health (dear stress levels and anxiety - go away!), and I have allowed it to impact my sense of self. I've put myself down so many times in the past year or so - just when I was starting to build myself up, too. I've allowed myself to be treated as though I'm lower than others just because I was making a change and "starting at the bottom" again. Well, when you start at the bottom and are pushed to stay down at the bottom - something magical happens. You realize that the only place you can go is UP, and you realize that you're worth more than all of the negative that suffocates you.

This class helped me focus on a lot. Maybe I really did need this bad experience to open my eyes to what's around me. I am very grateful right now for what I've learned. That teacher will never know that she played such a pivotal role in my being right now.

Yoga Lessons - Never Enough Time

Well, yesterday I was supposed to go to the gym - but I didn't. 
Then, I thought I'd do some Yoga at home - but I didn't. I just felt overwhelmed... There's not enough time in my evenings... And somehow, no matter how thin I spread my time, it's just not enough. Somehow, this is my fault.

So... I sat on my butt, and read articles and reviews about the program I registered for (ISSA Specialist in Fitness Nutrition certification - I'll save that for another post!). Then I went to bed at a reasonable time, and slept in this morning.

I'm a little sad today. Or, maybe not sad... But pensive.
I don't want to get into specifics, but there never seems to be enough time for things.
I was taking on this 30-Day Yoga challenge for a personal growth exercise. I was feeling lost, unstable, unhappy, not sleeping properly, headaches and fatigue, depressed, and hopeless. I was having bouts of anxiety or panic attacks, and just felt crappy all around. I was even getting sick every other week, and started having issues with my stomach to the point where I couldn't keep food down on some days.

I took one of my lunch hours to consider why I was unhappy (I'm still not 100% sure...), and decided that I'd go to a place that I visited before when I felt this way: Yoga.
Not the same studios I've gone to in the past, but taking Yoga in general made me a happier person. It gave me "me time", and time to reflect on my thoughts. Then, it allowed me to push those thoughts aside and connect my body with my mind, and feel a sense of relief when I realized during each practice, that I'm more than just my problems. Life is more than the things we find to be unfortunate, and we need to find gratitude in all the good we experience. This helps us discover balance and a proper perspective of life. At least for me it does.

It's a happy place for me, my Yoga practice...

But when something negative comes into the situation, and pushes you from being able to do it when you need it most, the whole situation becomes a negative experience. I hope to turn it around, and make it positive again.

Yoga Lessons - Time Passes

Thursday June 19th ... Shhh...
Friday June 20th ... Leg day at the gym. I was in no shape for Yoga unfortunately, and wanted to make sure I was good for the morning of...
Saturday June 21st - OMTO 2014 at the Distillery District! I can't even express how amazing this event was. See below for more in-depth review of my experience!
Sunday June 22nd ... Recovering from leg day + yoga day... No Yoga.
Monday June 23rd ... Spent the day at home and then at the Toronto Islands... No Yoga.
Tuesday June 24th ... Back at work after the holiday weekend. No Yoga. :( Even though I probably needed it...
Wednesday June 25th - current day. Yoga has not been done YET, and I'm not sure if I'll get to do any today because it's Leg Day at the gym! I'll try to get in a solid 10-20 though.

So let me tell you about OMTO 2014!
What a stunningly beautiful way to bring in the Summer Solstice. 
It was a full day of yoga from 9am - 5pm. I had told myself I would at least go for the first class at 9am, which I did. I then stayed for the next two classes, and I'm so thankful I pushed myself to! The classes I took were:

• 9:15 - 9:55 - Hatha Flow with Amanda O'Malley from Yoga Tree
• 10:15 - 10:55 - Solar Flow Yoga with Jodi Fischtein from 889 Yoga
• 11:15 - 11:55 - Moksha Yoga with Megan Hoskins from Moksha Yoga 

Where to start... The teachers for these classes were nothing short of amazing. The one that I'm happy to have spoken to afterwards was Amanda from Yoga Tree. That's the studio I've been going to, so I knew I had to make it for that class. She was so nice, and her class had such a great flow! There isn't a single negative thing I can even say about this event, because it was filled with so many awesome people coming together to enjoy an awesome day.
I had wanted to stay for the whole day, but unfortunately this fair-skinned lady started to get sunburn and had too much sun... I had to head out shortly after the Moksha class finished, and went on a mini-adventure around the Distillery District (Soma Chocolate... goodness...), and then over to Tori's Bakeshop - just because. ;)
This day made me so happy.

Thoughts of Om
Class number 2 had a special moment for me. We did three Oms at the end - and the second one was "Om number 2 for those who you love".
As I was laying there, I felt myself starting to cry during that Om. It made me think about the people I have had in my life, and how a high majority of the people I love have passed away. I don't normally think about this stuff when doing Yoga, but this forced me to. I don't take it as a negative thing though, but it did give me a chance to reflect on a few things and on the people who are in my life today.

It also made me think about how short life is. Don't get me wrong, I've always known how short life is. The biggest lesson for me in how fragile life is was when my mum passed away. I was only 14, and she was 44.

I'm turning 30 next month, and to think that my mum was only 14 years older than I am now when she passed away just makes me realize how young she really was... I also acknowledge how fast the last decade has passed... Time is precious and always fleeting, life is short, and that Om really made me think about that as well. It made me think that if we don't take a moment to think about (and appreciate) those who we love, they could be gone and we'll be thinking about them as a memory rather than someone we can show appreciation to in the present day.

Yoga Lessons - Strength

Today was a Hot Yoga class at Yoga Tree Midtown, and it was great!
There's nothing like a good sweat and stretch at 6:30 in the morning! ;)

It was a challenge to get up early enough, but I managed - and I'm thankful I did. The teacher of this class was great, and I didn't realize she was teaching this class - but it was none other than Jennifer Nicol, who's quite the inspirational woman in terms of health and fitness! So it was an honour to have been to one of her classes. :) There was a high energy, challenging poses, intense heat in the room (which after a long winter, I'm loving!), and I left feeling great.

The thought for this class was "Strength", and was very fitting. It took strength to get up early, strength to go through the poses, and it's always important to have strength and not give up when you feel like you can't do something the "right" way. I found the mental and emotional strength to not get discouraged, and to not push my body past what was feeling right at that moment in time.

I've had those times where I try to push myself past the point that I can handle, and I've injured myself because of that. So today, I put in a strong effort, but kept my mind strong as well.

Everything in life is a learning process, and staying strong and persisting, while being kind to yourself - is a very important thing.Strength isn't just about the physical, but it's about the mental and spiritual as well. All three are connected. You can start any physical activity you want, but if you don't have the mental strength to stick to it and work through weaknesses, you won't get very far.

Speaking of strength...
After the class, I had some time before work, so I went to the gym. I gave myself some time to do some work on my back (and a bit of biceps, triceps, and shoulders).
Then, after a quick shower, I was off to start my day feeling refreshed and energized! What a great way to start the day...