Category — Toronto Blogs

So, unfortunately the ankle I twisted during Saturday’s trail race is still slightly swollen and may not be fit for running. I can walk on it, but I just feel that the right thing to do is to not run on it for the next week or so.

The only issue with this is that I go completely bananas if I can’t do any form of physical activity. I’m a much nicer person at work because I get the majority of my stress/frustration out during my workouts. So, in an effort to still keep active while the ankle completely heals I have bought a 10 class pack to Spynga. I’m hoping that their spinning classes will do the trick! My first class will be tonight.

As I haven’t been able to workout as much as I like I have had more time to look at one of my other loves – cookbooks! I recently picked up Donna Hays’ Off the Shelf and it really is one of the more practical cookbooks I have bought. all the recipes I have tried so far have been clean, simple and delicious. The other night I made up her country style shrimp dish and it was on the table within 20 minutes.

I chose to serve it with a baguette and green salad. The bread was perfect for dipping into the sauce!

Other things on my radar:

Susheela Willis Nutrition & Wellness

A good friend of mine recently graduated from the Institute of Holistic nutrition and has become a Certified Nutritional Practitioner. Congratulations Susheela! She’s offering a lot of great services – one on one nutritional consulting, grocery store tours, kitchen pantry makeovers and much more. Best part? She’s offering a discount on her services until the end of October. I not only want to hire her to makeover my eating habits but I also want to hire her to makeover my website – her site is beautiful!

Operation Beautiful

I started reading Caitlin’s Healthy Tipping Point blog earlier this year and found out about her Operation Beautiful mission. The idea behind this mission is to post anonymous notes in public places for other woman to find. The main objective of doing this is to remind us all that we are BEAUTIFUL just the way we are. The Operation Beautiful blog has been so successful that it has now been published as a book. I got my copy yesterday and so far am loving it. In fact, I’m loving it so much that I picked up another copy at my local bookstore and want to give this copy away to one of you.

All you need to do to enter is to leave a comment below explaining why you would love to have a copy of this book! I’ll pick someone via a random number generator and announce the winner on August 16!

Just a few of the things I am loving right now…

Birds and Bees – Many years ago I was a student at a very English boarding school. While I can’t say I have the fondest memories of the actual place I do have great memories of all the lovely girls who were in my boarding house. One of these girls has just started the most fantastic online business – Birds & Bees. This site is all about promoting ethical, fair trade and eco-friendly products that will enhance your love life which is an important part of being healthy!

Core Studio is now offering a Cardio Pilates class that blends Pilates with kick boxing. I did this class last night and it is a workout! Lots of armwork and squats. My inner thighs are burning today! This class will be on their schedule starting this Saturday at 12:15.

I recently read A Kind Life by Alicia Silverstone. The book is all about “living your healthiest and happiest life to the fullest” while being environmentally aware. Surprisingly it was a really interesting read – I think I assumed that since she was an actress she wouldn’t have anything terribly insightful to say. I was wrong. Not only did I love the book, but I’ve decided to attempt a meat-free and dairy-free couple of weeks becauseof it. Alicia also keeps a blog going that complements the book which I have been enjoying! Thank you to Cook, Bake and Nibble and An Opera Singer in the Kitchen for inspiring me to buy the book!

I used to work for an organization called TakingITGlobal and during my time there I developed a love of organizations and people who support youth in the work that they do. I recently came across an initiative – thanks to Core Studio – in Toronto called Now 4 Youth which I think is a pretty interesting combination of helping support youth development and encouraging youth to be active.

In a nutshell what they do is provide funds to at-risk Toronto and GTA youth so that they can advance their education in the wellness sector. Their 2010 programming will fully fund selected at-risk youth to become certified yoga or pilates instructors. At the end of the programs the youth will be provided with a variety of support mechanisms to help them continue their journey.

Definitely check out their website to find out more about this program and if you are interested in helping support this initiative they have just published a coffee table book called Adaptation. This photobook contains artisitic adaptations of yoga and pilates poses. Could make a wonderful holiday gift for the fitness crazed in your life I think?

Thanks to Booty Camp Fitness I found out about Oh She Glows which is a great blog about one woman’s quest to open up a healthy bakery, as well as her quest for a healthy lifestyle. I particularly like her latest entry, My Fitness Bucket List. It definitely got me thinking about what I’d like to achieve before saying good-bye.

Run Eat Read is a fantastic combination of the author’s running tales, eats and reading picks. Love it and definitely want to make the breakfast pizza she recently wrote about.

The Little Honey Bee is full of some great tips and advice.

And although not technically, a local blog I have to say I am hearting Cranky Fitness these days…maybe because I’ve been a bit cranky myself this week?

Flickr: dev null

I think one of the biggest rules that all bloggers and users of social media should follow is returning the love that others show them. After all social media is all about connecting and conversing with one another. If you use Twitter you see that each Friday people use the hashtag #followfriday as their own method of giving back to others. In the blogosphere, leaving comments and subscribing to a blog’s feed is a way of showing some love.

So, today I wanted to give a shout out to some locally grown and produced blogs that I think you all may find of interest. They are all health, nutrition and fitness focused. So, look them up and give them some TLC!

1. Sift, Dust & Toss: An intersection of food, nutrition and love.
2. My Running Shorts: Brief stories about my life on the run
3. Joyous Health
4. Benchy’s blog
5. Secrets from your Sister blog

I am going to try and make this a regular feature, so if you know of any other Toronto area bloggers that should be featured here send them my way!