Another thing to occupy my mind has been the annual fall vacation planning. Because of the move and the new jobs, we didn't have a winter break this year. So, the summer break should be memorable and involve some beach time.
Last year, I was doing vacation planning exactly a month earlier. I began getting worried that all the cheap flights would be sold out.
[As a side note, have a look at my mental state on May 12, 2012: I was down in the gutters searching how to improve my life. What a difference a year makes! I am so grateful how things have turned out.]
I am so grateful to my mother Irene for her kindness, wisdom and care, and - above all - for giving me all the right tools to be who I am today. Thank you ❤ ❤ ❤
Another set of special wishes goes to Karine, my friend, a wonderful person, dedicated yogi and a source of inspiration. Happy Birthday! I hope that we get to continue our thought-provoking conversations for many years to come.
Yesterday I had one of the best afternoons on recent memory. Since Drake had his rabies vaccine this week (which means he can socialize freely with other species), we took a leap of faith and introduced him to the noisy and stressful subway to take a ride to Toronto's Harbourfront.
The city's Harbourfront is undergoing an extensive renovation and is emerging as a very pleasant stretch of lakeshore, in the shade of the imposing CN Tower and the nearby concrete jungle of gleaming condo hi-rises.
Apart from soaking in the sun by the water, I wanted to visit PawsWay - a mall/exhibition centre dedicated to pet lovers and entirely dog-friendly. It turned out to be pretty great. Drake met a horde of dogs, kids and adults - early socialization is a very important piece of developing a balanced dog psyche.
I absolutely love the photo, where he's drinking from a doggie fountain. Awh, what a cutie-pie!
Drake took the introductions to other dogs and humans quite well. He's nonchalant with other pups and prefers humans probably because he knows he may get a material benefit from them (food). While most interested people are good with him, some individuals' behaviour astounds me: what a foul habit to just randomly poke your hand in the dogs face without even asking!
This is all in doggie news, now to the healthy living stuff.
One bit of news is that I am seriously considering getting certified as a Goodlife group-ex instructor. Goodlife has recently acquired Extreme Fitness, which means that all the Extreme locations have become Goodlife (now, there's one on practically every street corner in Toronto), and they're on the look-out for new instructors.
It takes about 10 months to become fully certified, so I may as well pass an audition and indicate my interest; then take the training much later in the year. Now, for obvious reasons, it will be impossible.
I was very much encouraged when - again - a Pump instructor approached me recently and complimented me on my technique. Har har har!
Admittedly, I have lost some edge in the difficulty level of my work-outs: after the bad flu, my dad's visit, two trip to Montreal and Drake, it felt difficult to perform at the same intensity as before, plus I felt 'inflated', like I had gained weight (even though I didn't). That said, BodyPump 85 was released this week, as well as a new RPM. It feels good to pull my socks up and get to where I was before.
To get rid of the 'inflated' feeling, reducing carbs, especially sugar-heavy carbs works best for me. I have been trying to skip stuff like biscotti - with varying success - and scrutinize labels on breakfast cereals with extra vigilance.
Salt, Sugar, Fat documents the appalling practices of cereal manufacturers such as General Mills and Kellogg's. While I thought I was vigilant in my choices, it looks like I wasn't thorough enough. It is now time to rewrite the cereal chapter and kill the Kashi brands.
You probably already know that Kashi was bought by Kellogg's in 2000, which caused the company to quietly do away with their organic ingredients and replace the label with 'natural'. This I knew from the CBC documentary The New Green Giants, which I highly recommend.
Well. We eat masses of inorganic food anyway, so I was willing to overlook this aspect. What changed, in my opinion, is that in developing new cereals, Kashi products started resembling the conventional Kellogg's crap more and more. Just take this latest product - the "blueberry" flakes.
I got it on special just to try. It sucks. The only blueberry in this box is the picture. The flakes taste artificial, like I'm having a continental breakfast in a cheap hotel. The texture very much resembles Special K, which I hate with a passion, because it's so high in sugar and so deceiving for its supposedly slimming-inducing benefits.
So, screw Kashi. The problem is that this is a sweeping problem in all conventional brands - just read the label. I would pick up a dozen of boxes off a supermarket shelf, and there's added sugar everywhere, even in cereals that do not taste sweet, like bran flakes. I was flabbergasted! I love this stuff for breakfast. What to do?
Well, I bought this plain muesli from Germany - zero added sugar, but they're boring. Not crunchy at all. If I were to eat oats, I'd rather have porridge or granola.
Even brands that have traditionally carried cereals with little or no added sugar seem to be failing. Wheetabix adds syrup or brown sugar to its biscuits that used to be plain and tasted like shredded cardboard.
Even organic Nature's Path Ancient Grains has 4 g of sugar per the miniscule serving of 30g - that's one teaspoon!
Sad. It looks like the only solution for people like me is to switch to puffed varieties, like puffed rice, kamut or millet. They are not very exciting, but at least I won't be starting my day with sugar overload without even realizing it.
Speaking of sugar, I'd like to share some intel on bananas by Rachel, the nutritionist from FitFactory. [Click on the picture if the print is too small.]
Despite loving bananas, I used to shun them, as they are substantially higher in calories than other fruits. However, in the last year, I simply can't live without a banana for breakfast. Rachel's post confirmed that this is far from a bad habit.
Do you have favourite cereal brands that are wholegrain and low in sugar? I would love your tips!
Isn't it a beautiful day in Southern Ontario? (Shhh, don't scare it off!).
The other day, I was walking from the subway, when it suddenly started raining. Two little girls behind me: "NOOOOOO! These nasty clouds are spitting on us again! Whyyyyyy?!?!" Hehe.
While I realize this is a healthy living-ish blog, I feel compelled to squeeze in some more doggy matter, as Drake is currently completely dominating our lives.
One illustration to this is the fact that it was H.'s Birthday this week, and I don't have a single picture from the occasion. We went out to Amaya and relaxed completely. Still - not one photo? This is so unlike me.
It has now been a week since he arrived, and I'm assessing the progress.
My thoughts are with the people of Boston, the runners and their families.
I am back. I have returned from the Abyss of... the family visit. Some of you may remember that my father was due to visit us from Ukraine.
He arrived as planned, a couple of days after my last blog post, and from then it was a whirlwind of driving, talking, cooking, sightseeing, cooking, cleaning, baking, packing lunches, shopping, cooking, cleaning, packing lunches... I am sure you get the idea!
We had great fun showing father around and catching up on conversations about everything under the sun. Alongside full-time work, there was no time whatsoever for anything else, including blogging. I barely squeezed in a couple of quick work-outs not to get too rusty [I did get rusty anyway].
