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Health

Fitness

Yoga Love

Posted on August 31, 2015

As summer winds down, I am going full-force into yoga again. It’s much harder to stay motivated to work out in the dog days of summer, but as fall approaches, I get excited about getting to practice yoga, as the warmth of the yoga studio at GoodLife Fitness is a nice contrast to the cooler weather of fall months, and makes it easier to be back indoors.

Yoga is one of my favourite ways to workout. If you’ve ever tried P90x a lot of the moves are very similar to yoga moves, but with a faster pace. P90x is considered one of the hardest workouts you can do, so I feel like practicing yoga is pretty badass. Aside from being a total body, dripping sweat workout, the best part of yoga is that it’s not just good for your body. Yoga has a soothing effect on your mind you just don’t get at the end of other workouts.

Breath in, breath out, repeat.

I live for that calm period at the end of the class where I just lay there listening to myself breath, chest rising and falling, and for a moment that is all I am focused on. I always immediately fall asleep, for a minute or two, which is why I think it is the perfect workout. I normally take forever to fall sleep. My mind just doesn’t stop. I think about my day, I think about my past, about the future, and all of the unknowns, the coulda-woulda-shoulda moments, my grocery list, and work to-dos, and I am unable to shut off my mind at all. I sometimes end up dreaming about those things! It feels like my brain never truly ever gets a break. The fact that I can pass out blissfully, and immediately, at the end of my yoga practice to me is an indication of how beneficial it is to do yoga. I am all for it, and highly recommend it to anyone that has trouble clearing their minds.

Give a yoga class at a local GoodLife Fitness a try. Let me know how it goes!

Check back in with Lovelyisms next month for a new fitness post!

This post is written in partnership with GoodLife Fitness as part of the GoodLife Fitness Ambassador Program, however all opinions expressed are my own.

Lemon Water Refresher

Posted on July 31, 2015

If you’re like me, especially after a workout in the summer, the heat makes you want to chug water all day. I like to add lemon to mine to give it a little flavour. I’ve heard that drinking lemon water also helps to cleanse your system. I’m all for a light detoxing when it’s so easy.

All you have to do is get a nice lemon or two (I prefer the Meyer lemon variety. They are a really nice golden yellow colour and are rounder and sweeter than regular lemons), and then slice the lemons into thin rings. You can either put them in a jug and add ice water, or add a few slices directly into your water glass. I prefer the single serving approach using a mason jar glass. Doesn’t it look cute?

Keep in mind that the lemon rinds can make the water a little bitter if you leave them in the jug for too long. You can avoid the bitter effect by squeezing the lemon juice into the water, rather than adding full lemon slices, if you prefer.

Not only is lemon water pretty, but it’s a refreshing way to keep hydrated. Lately, I’ve gotten into the habit of making a few glasses of lemon water after my workouts at GoodLife Fitness and then I drink it for the rest of the day. It looks so pretty in my fridge, I just want to keep grabbing another glass. Try it after your next workout!

Check back next month for another fitness post!

This post is written in partnership with GoodLife Fitness as part of the GoodLife Fitness Ambassador Program, however all opinions expressed are my own.

Fitness Recipes

Peach Mango Tango Smoothie

Posted on June 1, 2015

I’ve been on a huge smoothie kick lately. I think it might be because I use a lot of frozen fruit, so they kind of taste like sorbet to me! Maybe that’s why I like them so much!

My favourite thing about smoothies is that I can get a bunch of different fruit into one easy to drink meal, and I can make one for a fast breakfast, take one with me on the way to work, or on the way to the gym with me when I go to GoodLife Fitness. I also like that smoothies are pretty filling, and since I use a small blender, they are almost mess-free.

As part of my obsession this month, I’ve been swapping my usual lunches for smoothies. In this post, I’m sharing my current favourite smoothie of the moment, what I’m calling the Peach Mango Tango. Here’s the list of what you’ll need to make it…

Ingredients:

2 cups of frozen fruit mix (I used a mix of peach, mango, strawberry)
1 banana
3 tablespoons of french vanilla yogurt
1 teaspoon honey

To make this smoothie, start by adding your ingredients into your blender, starting with the banana.

Next add the frozen fruit. I like to blend everything right out the freezer so it keeps a nice frosty consistency and gives it that sorbet texture.

I like to add the yogurt and honey last so that part hits the blades first and helps to keep everything moving as it blends.

Now, mix everything together! I use the Nutribullet since I love making a single serving size and it’s really easy to clean afterwards.

Here’s the final drink!

I love to make smoothies as snacks as well, as a way to get more vitamins into my diet rather than junk food. I try to use fresh fruit as often as possible, but frozen fruit is also a great alternative, and can stay in the freezer a lot longer than the fresh stuff. I’ve gotten into the habit of buying a bunch of different frozen fruit bags and now I have a full freezer of fruit so that I can mix and match them for new smoothie flavours. It also makes it really convenient when I am in a rush and I don’t have to wash or cut up fruit because it’s already done!

As part of this next month’s fitness goal, I’m hoping to get to the gym at Goodlife Fitness more often, possibly on my lunch breaks, so I have an energy boost mid-day, but we’ll see if my schedule allows for it! Come back next month to see how that goes and get another healthy recipe!

This post is written in partnership with GoodLife Fitness as part of the GoodLife Fitness Ambassador Program, however all opinions expressed are my own.

Fitness Recipes

Eating Colourfully

Posted on January 31, 2015

I’ve been working late almost every day the past few weeks, so after hitting the gym at GoodLife Fitness, by the time I get home, I am in no mood to cook. To stick to my health and fitness goals, rather than skip healthy options for something like pizza, I’ve been making one of my go-to favourites – Mango Avocado Salsa. It’s so easy to make – you just need a couple of ingredients.

Ingredients:

1 ripe yellow mango

1 avocado (ripe but not too soft)

1 or 2 small roma tomatoes (or a red pepper if you prefer)

1 red onion

1 lemon

What You’ll Need:

Sharp Knife

Cutting Board

Lemon Juicer

1 Large Bowl

Directions:

Wash the mango and cut it into cubes. Do the same with the avocado. Wash and dry the roma tomatoes and dice them into small chunks. Toss everything into the bowl together. Dice as much red onion as you like and add it to the bowl. (The flavour of red onion can pack a punch so you might want to add a little bit at a time). Finish the recipe off with a squeeze of lemon juice. The lemon juice really brings out all of the flavours of all the ingredients. Gently mix everything together with a large spoon. This salsa recipe is a tad on the sweeter side, but the onion cuts it and gives it a little kick, while the avocado adds a savoury element. You can serve this salsa with tortilla chips, but it would also taste great with chicken or fish tacos. It’s a pretty versatile recipe so you can experiment with it. Switch up the recipe by substituting roma tomatoes for a red pepper, as they both and a touch of sweetness and juice to the recipe.

The past few months, I’ve really stuck to my goal to eat colourfully. I decided that next month I am setting a new fitness goal- check back next month to find out what it is!

This post is written in partnership with GoodLife Fitness as part of the GoodLife Fitness Ambassador Program, however all opinions expressed are my own.

Fitness

Greenhouse Juice Co.

Posted on December 31, 2014

Last month in my Do The Bright Thing post wrote about how I was trying to incorporate more colourful foods into my diet and that I wanted to try juicing. I figured rather than investing in a juicer, I would try it out first to see if it was for me. I’d been hearing a lot of buzz about cold-pressed juice lately, so I looked into juice spots in Toronto and discovered Greenhouse Juice Co.

After a workout at GoodLife Fitness this week, since it wasn’t too far away from my gym, I popped into Greenhouse Juice Co. The moment I stepped into this adorable little shop, I became the girl with kaleidoscope eyes – so many colourful juices, and sealed into such cute little glass bottles -I couldn’t get enough!

^The lovely selection of juice at the Greenhouse Juice Co.^

All of the juices at Greenhouse Juice Co. are made of 100% organic, raw fruits and vegetables. Every juice is cold-pressed which means that the contents retain nearly all of their nutrients because they haven’t been heated during the juicing process.The juices are also packaged in glass which means no harmful leaching that can occur with other types of bottling processes.

^Looked up to spot this adorable design detail – greenhouse light cages.^

I sampled some of the flavours and chose several juices that fit my ‘eating colourfully’ requirement. The juices were the perfect thing to sip on after a run – so refreshing! I felt great knowing that my body was enjoying the benefits of vitamin-rich, bright and colourful juice! Yay to getting my colourful food goal checked off my list!

Here are all the juices I brought home with me:

Even though I am kind of skeptical of drinking kale juice, (I’m not a fan of the stuff!) I figured if I’m going to do this, I should go all the way and green is definitely a colour I should be eating more of! Here’s the kale juice I got:

I’m going to be reviewing the juices over the next few days and adding to this post. Wish me luck with the kale juice :I Still feeling skeptical about that one. Make sure you visit again next month – I’ll be sharing a bright and beautiful, colour-rich recipe!

This post is written in partnership with GoodLife Fitness as part of the GoodLife Fitness Ambassador Program, however all opinions expressed are my own.