FitFluential - 2/2 - fitknitchick

Bye-bye burpees, hello (just a little) sugar and a pretty package from Arbonne

February 1, 2012 by Tamara 6 Comments

January is my least favorite month of the year. Short days, too much rain and the financial aftermath of the holidays always make me long for February.

This year there are two extra reasons to be happy that January is finally over; no more burpees (at least for a little while) and the end of the no sugar challenge!

Although both challenges went well, I’m looking forward to a little slice of something sweet come dessert night (always Friday and Sunday in my house). And my group fitness classes are certainly looking forward to more variety in their plyometrics training! (I’ve promised them that the entire month of February will be burpee-less and I’m certain they will hold me to my word!).

I’ve been taking my new GNC vitamins religiously and although it’s probably too soon to tell, I do feel like they’re giving me more energy. In fact, after Monday morning’s Step and Weights class, several of my participants wanted to know if I’d had an extra shot of coffee that morning (I believe the exact words were ‘did you take something before class?’). I’ll write a review post once I’ve finished my month’s supply.

And all my Tweeting about vitamins and energy did not go unnoticed by my friend Lyndsy, who happens to be a sales consultant for Arbonne. She asked me if I’d be interested in trying some of their supplements. Now you will pardon my ignorance, but I had NO IDEA that Arbonne sold health products. I always associated them with skin care and makeup (I probably need some help in that department too, but I digress). Of course, I said YES, and just look at what Lyndsy dropped off in the weight room for me (thanks so much Lyndsy!);

Protein powder, fibre supplements, energy fizz tablets, vitamin packs, tea and kids chewable vitamins. I’m planning to try the chocolate protein after my morning workout (it’s legs day, today), but will hold off on the vitamins and energy tablets until my current vitamin experiment is finished (otherwise, I won’t know which product is responsible for what; science experiments 101). In the mean time, I’ve given my 7-year old one of the kid’s vita-chews to try. Here’s his review!

P.S. Still haunted by that age old question, cardio before or after weights? Check out my take on it over at Bite Size Wellness!

Did you take your vitamins today?

What do you love about February?

Disclaimer: GNC vitamins were purchased by me. Arbonne samples were a gift. All comments and opinions are my own (and those of my son!).

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Monday Motivation: What motivates you to exercise and eat well?

January 16, 2012 by Tamara 13 Comments

Perhaps one of the most common questions that I get asked by group fitness participants and personal training clients is about motivation.

Where do you find the motivation to get up every morning, pack your cooler and head to the gym?

When you didn’t sleep well the night before? When your husband is away for work? When your children are sick? When your legs are sore from yesterday’s workout? When your girlfriends invite you for coffee? When you’d rather go shoe shopping? When your workout clothes are all in the laundry?

When you just don’t feel like it?

Given the prevalence of challenges with motivation, I thought I’d start a weekly feature on the blog to help you all stay motivated with your exercise and healthy eating goals.

Welcome to the first instalment of Monday Motivation!

Each week, I’ll offer you a motivational tip. A photo, a quote, perhaps just a question for you to think about. A success story or a the results of a new study. There may be a recipe or a workout involved. And of course, I’d love to hear what motivates you! If you’d like to contribute a guest post, please contact me via Twitter (@fitknitchick_1) and we can set something up!

Now I know it may sound trite, but my primary motivation comes from my children.

My children motivate me to keep fit and fuel my body with healthy food. Why?

So I can keep up with them! I waited until I was in my 30′s to start a family. While that decision afforded me lots of time to travel and pursue my career, it meant that I would never be the youngest mom at the playground. My kids are active and I need to be active with them. Exercising gives me the energy to be a mom who moves!

To show them that exercise is a normal part of a healthy lifestyle. I don’t want my children to start exercising as adults. I don’t want them to think of it as a chore. I want them to revel in movement.

To ensure that they get the nourishment their growing muscles and brains need. Preparing healthy meals and snacks made primarily from whole foods teaches them that good nutrition doesn’t come out of a box. I want them to go off to university knowing how to feed themselves well and avoid the ‘freshman fifteen’.

Of course, my kids like treats too. But I avoid buying pre-packaged cookies and instead, make my own, from regular cookbooks, but subbing in healthier ingredients where possible.

Try these yummy sunflower seed butter and chocolate chip cookies. We did! (Recipe adapted from an old Canadian Living Desserts cookbook my grandmother gave me before I started to eat clean).

Sunbutter and chocolate chip cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sunflower butter (any unsweetened nut butter can be substituted; I use sunflower seed butter because we have a ‘no nuts’ policy at our school)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat bran
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips (the darker the better!)

Cream butters, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl.
Beat in dry ingredients.
Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop by tablespoon onto lightly greased or parchment lined cookie sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes (or just underdone looking) at 375 degrees.
Allow to cool for 5-10 min on cookie sheet before removing to wire cooling rack.

Although it slows down the process I invite my kids to bake with me as often as possible. It gives me the opportunity to talk to them about the ingredients we’re using and how those ingredients benefit their growing bodies!

Tell me what motivates you to maintain a healthy lifestyle?

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An early Xmas present; my new workout buddy!

December 21, 2011 by Tamara 9 Comments

Wow, this will be my second post today! That’s a first!

But I got something in the mail this morning that I just couldn’t wait to share. Join in my excitement and then head to the gym with me for a demo. Got your towel and water bottle?

Disclaimer: I have no official affiliation with the company that produced this product. I purchased it myself and the information (and enthusiasm) provided in this video comes from me, not them. If you’d like to order your own, please visit Muscle Up Canada.

P.S. The delivery man returned later in the day with this (more purple!);

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Guest post and FitFluential love

December 8, 2011 by Tamara Leave a Comment

Today’s post will be short. Just a re-direct to a guest post I’m doing over at MizFit and a quick intro to one of my favorite fellow FitFluential bloggers!

If you enjoy reading health and fitness blogs as much as I do, you really needed to visit Carla. She’s bright, insightful, engaging, motivating and ripped! I love her approaches to fitness (‘because fitness isn’t about fitting in’) and to parenting (‘you are your own superhero’).

A day without MizFit is like a day without exercise (I’d love to say sunshine, but I live in the Pacific Northwest, where sunshine is rare)!

Today, she’s the featured FitFluential Ambassador. Congratulations and well done Carla!

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New to fitness? Preparation is your key to success

December 2, 2011 by Tamara 8 Comments

Congratulations!

You’ve decided to start the journey towards health and wellness by beginning to exercise; a decision to invest in yourself and your future. Perhaps the most important decision you’ll make this year (or ever, for that matter). Even better, you’re not waiting until January 1st to start; this isn’t a resolution, it’s a lifelong commitment.

But where to begin? How often should you exercise? How hard? What type of exercise should you be doing? All good questions. And there are tons of great resources out there that can help you answer them.

Rather than focus on the logistics of your new exercise program, however, I’d like to talk about preparation. Psychological preparation. Preparation for success, of course, but for setbacks as well.

Understanding yourself, your strengths and weaknesses, your fears, motivations and expectations and most importantly, what ‘fitness’ means to you is a great way to ensure success. The more you know about yourself, the easier it will be to create a fitness program that you’ll stick with. A fitness program that will become a way of life.

Some things to think about before you set foot in the gym;

1) What does fitness mean to you? Is it about aesthetics? Strength? Endurance? Flexibility? Is it a particular number on the scale or your annual blood tests? Is it a feeling? Write out your definition of fitness. Doing so will help you clarify why you want to get fit and help to determine the types of exercise most likely to bring you closer to your goals.

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2) What types of activities do you enjoy? It may sound simple, but if you hate running, don’t buy a treadmill. If you can’t stand being in a weight room, don’t buy a year’s membership to one. If you don’t love (or at least like) what you’re doing, you won’t do it. Period. Save yourself the money and the inevitable feeling of failure. Make a list of activities you like. Think outside the box. Be unconventional (hula hooping, pole dancing). Most activities that require physical exertion can be turned into exercise if you increase the intensity.

3) Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Extroverts get energized by being in the company of others. Introverts need time on their own. Choose activities that fit your personality type. Group fitness classes are great for extroverts. Trail running and cycling can be done alone. If you’re an introvert who hates dancing, don’t sign up for Zumba; I can guarantee you won’t get through the session.

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4) What type of day is your energy highest? Lowest? When choosing an activity, think about when, during the day, you’ll be doing it. If you’re a morning person, take advantage of your early-in-the-day energy and schedule your exercise for then. Sometimes our preferred activity type conflicts with our daily energy level peak; sure, you’d love to get to that cardio kickboxing class, but it runs at 8:30 in the evening and you’re usually passed out on the couch by 9. Take a pass on it and find something that words with your early bird nature. Perhaps a 6 am spin class?

5) What will you do if you can’t do your scheduled workout? Plan for setbacks. No matter how diligent you are with your planning, at some point, something’s going to happen to make you miss your workout. Traffic, sick kids, cancelled class, power outage at the gym. Having a backup plan for those unexpected events will help keep you on track (as well as providing a bit of cross training). If you usually go to the gym or an aerobics class, make sure you have a set of weights and an exercise DVD at home for those days you just can’t get there. A little bit of exercise is better than none at all.

6) How quickly does your enthusiasm and motivation for new things wane? Know your own ‘reward schedule’; how often you need to be reminded of why you’re doing this, how frequently you need a pat on the back to keep going, at what interval you need a little external validation for all your hard work (for me, it’s a trip to Lululemon every 2 or 3 months for a cute new outfit). Daily motivational quotes and inspiration boards (like my Pinterest ‘Fitness Inpiration’ board) can serve as ‘pep talks’ to keep you moving forward towards your goals.

7) What type of support would you benefit from? Nobody can do this on their own. Everyone needs some sort of support to keep them accountable and on track. Try an on-line support group (Spark People or My Fitness Pal). Use Facebook to meet up with other like-minded individuals. Read fitness and nutrition blogs for inspiration (check out FitFluential Inc.’s Ambassadors for ideas). Enlist the help of a fitness friend. Hire a personal trainer.

Now that you’ve done the mental work, you’re well on your way to fitness success!

Need some suggestions for putting it all together? Feel free to comment below.

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Some ‘influential’ news!

November 30, 2011 by Tamara Leave a Comment

I have some exciting news to share with you.

I’ve been selected to be an Ambassador for FitFluential Inc! To quote directly from their website;

FitFluential is a growing family of fitness fanatics spreading a positive healthy message year-round. Fitfluential is Fitness Found.

I’ll be joining the illustrious ranks of some of my favorite fitness and healthy lifestyle bloggers, including MizFit, The Angry Trainer, Freaking Fitness, The Business of Losing Weight and Fit Chick In The City (I love her blog name; blogger ‘chicks’ rule), to name but a few. (It’s going to take me a week to properly explore each of the Ambassador’s websites; I’ll let you know who else you should be reading!).

Along with getting to meet a whole bunch of new blogger friends, my relationship with FitFluential will open the door for me to test, review, recommend and giveaway (to my readers, of course!) new brands of fitness equipment, books and possibly healthy foods.

No worries, though. I’m not planning on selling out. I won’t be plastering my website with ads for new cars, weight loss supplements or hair replacement therapies. I’ll continue to write about the things that matter to me (and to you too, it seems!). FitFluential’s goal is to help connect bloggers with brands that their readers are likely to be interested in. Brands that reflect the bloggers core beliefs and way of life.

Along with the potential of reaching a wider audience, bloggers who become FitFluential Ambassadors have the opportunity to contribute content to the FitFluential website. How exciting!

If you’re interested in being part of the FitFluential community (you don’t need to be a blogger, just trying to live a healthy life), ‘like’ them on Facebook and join in the discussion!

Finally, I’d like to thank you, my readers, for making this possible. It’s your daily visits to and comments on this blog that paved the way for this exciting development!

Tell me something great that’s happened in your life recently!

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