Posts

Monday Morning Detox Juice

Image
Author: Coach Claudia Scali Monday mornings can be hectic and stressful as your try to get up early, rush out the door and fight your way through traffic to get to work on time.  Not to mention, dropping off the dry cleaning, preparing healthy meals for the week, driving your kids to their various activities and the list goes on! There are so many expectations we set for Mondays that they can be extremely overwhelming! We want to start the day early,  eat healthy , go to the gym, prepare a presentation at work, be super mom, and finish a million different tasks! We want it all but how do we achieve it without  burning ourselves out ? You need to take care of YOU first and foremost .  You are hardly accomplishing any task when you are tired, run down, stressed out and totally fried! To be your best, you need to  give your body the nourishment and fuel that it needs .  A good night’s rest is ideal (but not always possible) as well as staying hydrated, so be sure to get in those 8 glasses...
138 comments
Read more

CELLULITE... Be Gone the Natural Way!

Image
Summer short season is upon us... and lets not let the infamous cellulite bring us down!  Stay away from the store bought products claiming to rid the cellulite. They are full of toxic chemicals that our body will ingest. Our skin absorbs nutrients the same way we ingest foods. If you wouldn't eat it, why put it on your skin? There are three layers of fat under the skin, only the top layer is involved with cellulite. Changes in the connective tissue structure in this top layer of fat, caused by pregnancy, hormonal, structural, vascular changes, genetics and aging, trigger the formation of cellulite allowing fat to protrude deeply into the skin. This is what   causes the characteristic lumpy appearance of cellulite. Hormones secreted in response to stress, particularly cortisol. This encourages fat deposits in problem areas. Pregnenolone is the precursor hormone from which all other hormones are created. It is an important precursor for the body’s production of progesterone which bl...
2 comments
Read more

Pride Week: A Mother's Perspective

How I handled my daughter's "come-out" By: Geneviève Beausoleil I'm not a writer and I don't know how other people have dealt with this.  All I can do is tell you my story.  So I guess it would be good to explain how important my reaction was on hearing the news that my daughter is bi, for lack of a better word. When I asked her why she was lashing out at me so much, she responded with the news that she had a girlfriend. I was so confused. I had to ask what that had to do with how she was treating me.  To be honest, the look on her face was priceless and something I will never forget.  She had heard so many stories about "beating the gay out of you" or about kids getting kicked out of the house that she couldn't wrap her head around the fact that she could have been green and it wouldn’t matter to me.  I asked her if she was happy; and when she said yes, I told her "Hakuna Mattata".  She was so relieved that she burst out crying. I held her...
Post a Comment
Read more

Happy Pride with Laurine Kulczycky

Image
I’m a lesbian. Were words that I felt so terrified to say for most of my life. I remember the first time I felt attracted to another girl. I was around 10 years old and my sister, her friend and I were all playing house. Ironically I had the role of the dad. My sister’s friend and I were lying in my mother’s bed pretending to sleep. And I felt something weird and I knew something wasn’t right because I had the same feeling inside as if I liked a boy. Needless to say, it scared the crap out of me. As I grew up and went through high school. The feelings started getting stronger and stronger. I started to know what it meant but I was still VERY uncomfortable with it. I thought to myself.  How can I like boys and girls at the same time? I felt so confused and so alone because I couldn’t tell anyone in fear of losing all my friends and family. My friends would make gay jokes and say how gross it was and being catholic it was an automatic sin. I continued to hide my feelings and date only bo...
3 comments
Read more

12 Week Transformation Success:

Image
Name: Ashley  Age: 28 From: Brampton Weight loss: 16 lbs What steps did you have to do during your 12 week transformation to change your lifestyle ? A lot of planning ahead, meals to make sure I was always prepared & structuring my day to make sure I could get my exercise in. I found having a plan helped keep me on track. Also a lot of soul searching to help keep my motivation, always reminding myself why I am doing this. What was your goal for the transformation? To loose weight & inches as I have put on over 20lbs in the past year & to learn how to live a healthier lifestyle. How did you feel during the 3 phases? For the most part great, some days were a struggle to have the energy to want to exercise and to have the will power to keep to my eating plan. As the body difference started to come about and I was noticing I was feeling better and clothes were fitting nicer the motiviation came easier, almost like it was an addiction...couldn't wait to go pump som...
1 comment
Read more

Post Competition Interview: Kat Small Mejias

Image
Kathryne Small Medias  Age 35 Category SAF Open Bikini Placing: 1st 35 and over & 4th overall What steps did you have to do to your body ready for stage?  To get my body ready for stage, I did exactly what Jill told me to do. Follow my eating plan and do my workouts. It was challenging at times since I was traveling lots during my prep. I had to google the nearest grocery stores and always ask for an extra fridge in my hotel room. In April I was away from home 24 days of the month. My job kept me moving around the states and changing hotel rooms every 3 days. The most important thing that I had to do to get stage ready was stay dedicated and plan ahead. What was your goal for the competition?  My main goal for the competition was to be in the best shape of my life and prove to myself that no matter how much traveling and client dinners I had I could still stick to the plan. How did you feel during your prep for stage? The whole stage prep was an amazing journey that though...
Post a Comment
Read more

SUCCESS Beyond the Stage: Nikki McKnight

Image
You could say that it all started with a trip to Disney World in Florida a few years ago. The photos from that vacation made me face a very harsh reality: in my pursuit of career excellence I had neglected to take care of myself. I was overweight, tired, stressed, and woke every day with a sense of dread.  After entering and winning an online transformation challenge I decided to take it one step further and try competitive bodybuilding. With the love and support of Jill Bunny and my teammates, I tackled the bikini stage and competed in Toronto. It was a great experience and I was looking forward to doing another show when my body rebelled against me. Although I had challenged myself mentally and physically and felt a sense of triumph, I was still living a stressful and unfulfilling lifestyle. My body shut down, I was injured frequently, and I was constantly tired.   Too stressed out to even workout, my personal trainer introduced me to Fascial Stretch Therapy (FST) and for the fir...
21 comments
Read more