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!

Happy belated Canada Day weekend to you all! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and took advantage of the very warm weather we have been having!

I personally love the hotter weather, but have to admit that working out in the heat can be quite a challenge. I went for two weekend runs and both were hot. The shorter one on Friday evening was a bit cooler than the Sunday run, but both definitely had me sweating. Throughout the 12 km run I did on Sunday I kept on wishing for a sprinkler I could run through The good news, though, is that on Sunday I started to get my running groove back. Yay! My legs didn’t quite as tired and heavy as they have been feeling.

I also managed to make it to a spinning class at Spynga on Saturday morning. I do like going to Spynga, but whenever I go there I feel like the new kid on the block. Everyone else seems to know one another/have friends with them and I feel a bit left out I did notice that they have started offering outdoor yoga classes which I think would be tons of fun.

After my Spynga class, B and I headed down to Kensington Market (my old ‘hood). We ended up wandering up Augusta and stopping in at El Trompo which has the best Mexican food. I love their pico de gallo and B loves their tacos el pastor. If you ever get a chance to go here I highly recommend it – don’t be put off by the decor! The food is amazing!

Sadly my weekend did not end on the best note. I woke up last night with the worst stomach cramps. Every few months I get these horrendous menstrual cramps and the pain can be quite agonizing/debilitating. My cramps do vary from month to month – sometimes they are bearable and sometimes the only thing I can do is lie down with a hot water bottle. Still trying to find the magical solution to ending these cramps! Any suggestions?

Every time I go to Spynga I contemplate buying the Jivamukti China Gel product they sell and I finally succumbed this past week. Jivamukti’s china gel is great for relieving muscle soreness and is also good for heating up the muscles at the beginning of your yoga practice. I first found out about this gel during a yoga class there. During the first sun salutation the teacher came around and rubbed the gel into our necks and it just felt lovely especially for someone like myself who is always stiff.

This product is also a great natural alternative to other products that are out there!

Best time to buy this:

Go buy this at Spynga on a Saturday morning and then check out Casey’s 10:30 a.m. class which was an awesome start to the weekend. Even better drag a friend you haven’t seen in a while with you and then catch up after the class at Urban Fare.

For years I have been reading about all these cool fusion workouts I could be doing if I lived in New York or L.A. Things like the Skinny Jeans Workout or Body Architect Xpress just don’t seem to be classes offered in the Toronto area. But I thought my luck may have changed when a friend mentioned this place called Spynga to me.

What is Spynga?

According to their website, Spynga is Toronto’s first spinning and cycling studio and is run by two childhood friends (why can’t I ever do something like this with my friends?). Their trademark class is a spinning/yoga combo called Spynga (spinning + yoga = spynga). You climb on a spinning bike for 25 minutes and then jump off the bike and start to do yoga for the next 25 minutes. This class was definitely appealing to me. I get to sweat and stretch at the same time. I also was convinced that this workout was as close to L.A. as I was going to get in the next 12 months. I had to try it.

So, one dark and dreary December night after work I made the trek to St.Clair West to try this out. Getting there was, to be honest, kind of scary. Not a big fan of walking down Bathurst in the dark. I arrived at the building and was a bit confused as I wasn’t sure I had the right address. There seemed to be a lot of offices in there dealing with unemployment and career placement. Turned out I was in the right building, so I made my way to the studio (Tip: Don’t try to walk up the stairs to the 3rd floor studio as you can’t seem to get past the 2nd floor. Just take the elevator).

If I didn’t know that I was in the right place I knew that I definitely was when I arrived at the 3rd floor. The music was pounding. Excellent. I love loud and fun music while taking an exercise class. Upon arrival, I signed up for the Spynga flow class. I don’t think I have ever been this excited before taking a class before.

Then the class began and my excitement levels dropped. I don’t know if it was just the class I was taking, but it just didn’t really work for me. Both the spinning and the yoga portions of the class were mediocre. I’ve had better elsewhere. I actually felt like the instructor didn’t really know how to explain yoga. Best part of the experience was the adjustment at the end with some aloe/lavender cream. The other reviews of this place have been great, but I think like me everyone is getting caught up in the novelty of this workout and not the actual specifics of it. I’d be curious to meet someone who is a regular there. To be fair I may have just gotten the wrong instructor.

Where to find Spynga: 1415 Bathurst Street (just south of St. Clair Ave) Suite 302 Toronto, Ontario M5R 3H8 Canada