My Blog

Running injuries oh my!

04/16/2012 19:59:00

I am so proud of you ladies who are training for our glorious race on May 13th! The shirts have been ordered and we are a few short weeks away from our goal! However now that most of you are running more I have had more questions about injuries! There are 4 common running injuries according to IMPACT magazine (the link is below so you can check it out!) and I now officially have clients suffering from every single one of these injuries!

Now when I say injury these are NOT serious or debilitating if treated properly, you are able to exercise and do every activity you normally do so life is not over just yet! I will not go into too much detail as this article will cover details. However I will list the injuries for you!

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS) = Knee pain after running caused by the knee cap not sitting properly on the femur. Often called "Runners knee"

Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS) = Knee pain on the outside of your knee

Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome (Shin Splints) = Shin pain caused by the tibialis posterior ripping away from its attachment on the shin bone (sounds great!..)

Plantar Fasciitis = Inflammation of the tissue that spans from your heel to your toes caused by increased stress from stretching or twisting.

The good thing is you don't need to stop doing physical activity if you have any of these conditions, however you should consult a physician if the pain persists or intensifies. Not so surprisingly the treatment for all of these injuries is strengthening surrounding muscles.

Have a read, enjoy and if you have an questions just ask!

.http://www.impactmagazine.ca/sport-medicine/news-and-articles/understanding-injury.html

February already!

02/09/2012 16:11:00

First session in 2012 is coming to an end with one more week to go! FREE Sunday had beautiful weather and a great turn out with a whopping 7 participants! What a great way to start the day! I wanted to add some more recipes to keep you all on track and excited. This one is a Rice Pudding recipe. I have it for breakfast since it has a great balance of protein and carbs that will keep you full of energy!

RICE PUDDING

2 cups cooked rice

2 cups milk 1% or skim

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp sugar or splenda

2 tsp cinnamon

raisons are optional!

mix together in casserole dish, preheat oven to 350 degrees

place casserole dish in a water bath (another shallow pan filled with water)

full cook time is between 30-40mins.

for the first 20 mins stir twice, this is so the rice does not settle on bottom.

This is a great recipe if you have a lot of left over rice!

New Years revisited

01/27/2012 20:38:00

So ladies we are half way through the session and it is almost February already! I wanted to make a comment about New Years resolutions and I promise I will not speak of it again.. Until Next year! So I believe the gods of New Years have been setting us up for failure.. Lets think about it.. January, right after Christmas, typically the coldest month of the year and statistically the month with the highest depression rates. We have more debt (due to christmas) and cannot get outside for some vitamin D because it is -45, and your kids are puking because they have some weird flu that will not go away. So I say boo to January resolutions and hello to February! We are on the mend and ready to get active and healthy with friends and family! I am giving you all permition to leave January guilt behind and start fresh in February. After all it is a phenomenal month, HELL I was born in this great month! So pat yourselves on the back and lets make February a great month!

Recipe!

01/15/2012 17:07:00

Butternut Squash with Sage Soup

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion chopped

1 medium butternut squash chopped in cubes

2 Granny Smith apples chopped in cubes

ADD ALL TO PAN AND COOK UNTIL SQUAH IS SLIGHTLY TENDER

THEN ADD:

1tbsp sugar

1 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

3 cups vegetable broth

1/2 tbsp sage

MIX ALL TOGETHER

move to pot and boil until all ingredients are tender

let cool then put half into the blender to puree

then puree other half

DONE!

So good for a cold day like today!

Enjoy

Cold is better then HOT!

01/10/2012 14:00:00

Ok ladies I hope you are all enjoying the new session so far, and I hope that some of you are sore (in a good way!). So my question is: When you feel those sore/tight muscles do you head to a bath to relax those tight muscles? IF you answered yes you are NOT doing yourself any favours! A hot bath is the worse thing you can do. If you have inflamed muscles they will only become more inflamed and cause you even more pain afterwards. Not to mention the fact that you are just laying there not using those muscles. What you should do is apply a cold compress to the area and move around a lot! The more you use that muscle the better. Try it you will see!

New Years resolutions

01/07/2012 14:09:00

So I was visiting with Shannon on Thursday night (my amazing instructor in the NW) and she had a brilliant way to look at New Years resolutions. So we all stress about what we eat the month of DECEMBER (Christmas, New Years and all the parties). So instead of focusing on what we eat for one month of the year, why are we not stressing about what we are eating the other 11 months of the year! I ran into Tara at the Zoo and she told me she ate what she wanted all through Christmas, and enjoyed it! Why the hell not! Good for you Tara, enjoy Christmas and don't feel guilty for once in your life! We should all be focusing on what we are eating the other days of the year, forming good habits and healthy lifestyles. We need to enjoy ourselves sometimes, and sometimes we need to leave the guilt since that is what will make us over eat in the future!

I look forward to next week, new session new start!

Day 3 of the New Year

01/03/2012 08:45:00

Well ladies it is day three of the New Year, how is everyone doing? It has been so warm outside these last few weeks it hardly feels like January so we should all be getting out with our crazy house bound children and enjoying this freakish weather. Tobogganing, skating, or even going for a walk, I like to take the kids to fish creek and go for little hikes. Of course it usually ends in me pulling or carrying them near the end... Which is good exercise for mom anyways!

Here is another menu idea you may enjoy! I hope to start my nutrition specialization this Sunday, so no more bad eating excuses for me.

Pita or Tortilla Pizza

Instead of making a thick crust pizza (which is tasty but so many calories) use a whole wheat pita or tortilla instead.

Take your crust and spread tomato paste on it then add your own spices (oregano, basil etc).

By using tomato paste you can avoid all the oil that is in those pizza sauces you can buy, if you read the labels you'll know what I mean!

Then MEASURE your cheese, really do it! I always add 3x the amount of cheese I need so as my New Years resolution I now leave my scale on the counter and have to weight all my beautiful cheese. mmmmm, cheese..

2-3 oz. of cheese is all you need for your pizza, fill the rest with the veggies you love!

Spinach, broccoli, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes or sun dried tomatoes, my husband adds corn (sounds strange but it adds a sweet twist to your pizza)

Try it, even Arda loves it so your kids might like it too!

recipes?

12/30/2011 19:20:00

So just to make it clear I am NOT a nutritionist so take these recipes as they are! I did however grow up in the ultimate Weight Watchers house with one if not all of my relatives going to meetings trying to beat the bulge. Due to this constant bombardment of calories/point counting I have learned a lot of great ideas and recipes that are tasty and light. Hopefully some may help in your weight loss/management challenge.

SO everyone loves ceaser salad but the restaurant dressing is a total killer! Here is a light alternative to a ceased dressing you may like!

1 tsp olive oil

1 tbsp light mayo

1 clove of garlic

juice of half a lemon

1.5 tsp grainy mustard (the one I buy is the old style MAILLE mustard)

2 tsp fish sauce

pepper to taste

(if too thick thin with a tiny bit of white vinegar)

You can also sprinkle some fresh parmesan cheese over the top! mmm cheese...

recipe make 2 large bowls

You can have a big ceased salad for dinner with a nice grainy bread, delicious!

New Year New Goals

12/29/2011 19:21:00

New Years resolutions are on the way ladies and now is the time to get on the same band wagon as every other women in Calgary. Keep you're eyes peeled for all the weight loss infomercials along with the shakes that promise those quick results we still long to believe actually work.. I myself am certainly going to need "work" done in the New year, new personal and fitness goals are a must! I've already had countless women contact me begging for a butt kicking in the New Year, and I plan on doing just that! Ladies lets set some goals for 2012 but unlike the majority of other women this year lets actually succeed in keeping them for more then 3 months. Be ready for a new year with a positive healthy out look on exercise and food! I look forward to seeing you all in the NEW YEAR!