Baby, I've got moves you've never seen...

Lately, I've been feeling like I could just Scorpion all day long. Lift my leg up, twist over, fall into a perfect position, then pull under and do it all over again. Let me explain... I'm talking about moving my body in the most fun and creative way: Like an Animal.

A friend of mine posted a video of Ido Portal on my Facebook page (which I've inserted below) and there was an immediate attraction. It wasn't to Ido himself, but what he was doing. After watching the video all I wanted to do was move. I wanted to move my body just like him. It was as if I had punished my body for so long and this was going to free it. And that statement is a pretty harsh reality seeing as how I do an hour of weight aerobics 4-5 days per week; sometimes looking very similar to Eric Prydz's "Call on me" video - minus the sultry faces and thongs.

I pride myself on activating all muscle groups in a workout... but sadly I was proven wrong. 

I mastered the Beast, practiced my Crab walking, and fell in love with Scorpion. It's just so much fun! You only need to move around for a few minutes before you start to feel it. After 5 minutes, your heart is racing, and after 10 minutes I feel like I've done a workout. The best part: even after I was done, I craved to do it again another day.

The reason being is that I've actually worked out muscles that I don't regularly engage. It was so uplifting and sooo bubbly-making! Here's a preview but don't be discouraged by the first 20 seconds, when you break down each animal move, you realize that you can do this anywhere that you have space. I mean, I even do it for a few minutes in my kitchen while I'm waiting for dinner to cook. 

 

There's something about moving your body around that is just so rewarding. I never knew such a workout existed or that it would be so effective. But the best part is that it doesn't even have to be a workout! Seriously, just give your body a reward every so often and do a couple moves when you can. Like when you're really stiff from sitting on the couch or at your desk for long periods of time. 

"Fitness is a small, small, small world within the universe of movement... a polluted world" - Ido Portal

I'm getting a little tired of fitness gimmicks that trick people into thinking they are a magical solution to losing weight and getting fit. Yes, a healthy diet and exercise will make you feel better and look better, and I would be happy if more people would do anything that was active. But the take home point is not to have unrealistic goals. Just move.  Move and have control over those movements. Move and you will feel amazing.

"If you cannot move your body and control it ... then what business do you have moving other objects outside of yourself?" - Ido Portal.

Ido Portal on Paleo Diet and Movement

Personally, I just go onto YouTube and search Animal Flow for videos and copy what they do, but if you're interested in looking further into the official program, check out this link: http://www.globalbodyweighttraining.com/the-animal-flow-workout-fitness-video/

The other reason why I'm so in love with Animal Flow is simply because it is controlled movement and we forget about that when we're working out. The goal is not to do something as quickly as possible to get through the routine; it's to go slow and have control over your body. If you're lifting weights, lift with control and purpose. Don't let gravity or your weights take control of you, you need to control them. For example, if you're doing a bicep curl, you should be the one to tell that weight when it can be lowered and at what rate, don't let gravity move you.

You also don't want to use weights that are too heavy for you. The third part of why Animal Flow is incredible - YOU DON'T NEED ANY EQUIPMENT OTHER THAN YOUR BODY! Talk about a cost-effective workout!

Now go move!

Let's talk about Boobies

As of this weekend, our spring vacation is booked and we're jetting off to Florida for a week. In a typical Sarah fashion (which is a foreshadowing pun), I glanced in my closet, excited to pack away all my summer clothes for beach time.

But it wasn't always this easy for me. I actually get excited for bathing suit shopping now, where in the past I used to cry with every mall trip - no jokes. But it was the same with bra shopping. No one carried a 38DD bra or bikini size or higher than that. And if they did, my choices were limited and it was still depressing each time I had to try something on.

Me in late high school. My "before" picture

Yes, that's right, I used to be a DD/E.

And I wonder how many of you actually think there was something wrong with that. I want to tell my story because high school was so brutal for me, and many girls like myself will go through body image issues, so it's important that we talk about things like this. Plus, sometimes it's just nice to get things off of your chest (haha... man, I'm on a roll today).

Starting in grade 10 the girls grew an entire cup size every single year until I was a DD/E. You'd think this would be every girl's dream, but for me it was a nightmare. I was labeled as a huge pair of boobs and nothing else. I would walk home from school, and middle-aged men would be hanging halfway out their driver's side window, honking their car horn at me and whistling at me, to the point where I dreaded every moment that I saw a car approaching me.

Least to say, it was my "identifier" in high school. I would walk down the hallway at school - and I remember this one moment were the hallway was empty except for a group of about 3-4 guys sitting on the floor. As I walked passed them (literally feet away from them), one of them yelled out "Those were the biggest jugs I've ever seen!!!" To which I turned toward them and shot them a dirty look - but it didn't phase them at all. They weren't looking at my face. I felt pretty worthless.

Granted it's nice to get noticed. And I liked the attention for about 2 seconds until I realized just how negative the attention was. The small boosts of self-esteem didn't last long and I realized I wasn't getting noticed for me, just for a body part. And really, who wants to be liked just for their boobs?

It took me a couple years to realize just how ashamed I was of my body. I didn't even want to show them to guys I was dating because I thought my boobs where hideous and was afraid they would have their "hypnotic" effects, making me (or at least my face) relatively invisible again.

When I was 20 I decided I'd had enough. It was hard enough dressing myself - because really, they don't make clothes for regular girls with giant chests - and working out was a joke. No sports bra in the world could have made me feel comfortable while running.

So I saw a surgeon who was able to give me a reduction (thanks to the government's amazing funding... I think it's the only good thing the government has actually done for me), and I was able to start a "new life". Everything was completely different for me and I've never regretted the decision even for a second. I was able to get myself back in shape, and for the first time, I actually felt normal.

Puerto Rico, 2012

Boat Cruise vacation, 2012

 I'm a B cup (if you're curious) and I've never been happier with my body. Bikini and bra shopping are actually fun now. I don't have to scramble through the store looking to see if they even carry DD or larger sizes (sidenote: at the time Jacob didn't carry anything bigger than a C cup - I gave the woman who worked there the most panicked and disgusted look when she said this).

But I think it's really important for our younger generation to realize how we treat others. Just because someone may seem really confident on the outside, doesn't mean they feel that confidence on the inside. There were a lot of times I had to put on a show (so to speak) and act like I was fine with everything, but at the end of the day, when I was home, I was so unhappy.

Treat women like human beings, not like a pair of breasts. And if you're truly unhappy with your body, then talk to someone! My parents were extremely understanding of my decision and supported me the entire way.

Top 10 Words of Wisdomosity by Sarie

I feel like there is a trend right now to write very philosophical quotes on facebook. Like my friends have this new deep intuition about the universe and how to create happiness in life.... or they just copy and re-post each others' facebook posts.

It's kinda funny seeing as how most of the people I run into are usually tired, stressed, broke.

The CCNM student is pretty ironic. I mean, we advocate healthy living and spiritual understanding - the whole mind-body connection and we all want positivity in our lives. Yet here I am, with 3 exams this week, a paper due on Monday, a group assignment due next week, and I might be taking another course over the weekend... freaking out because there's never enough time, and stressing about wanting to balance healthy living with studying and paper-writing. Gah!

So in my typical way of procrastinating (because my pediatrics notes just look so unappealing right now), here I present "Words of Wisdomosity, by Sarie":
Prepare yourself for the deep and philosophical nature of the procrastinating student
 

1) If you want to be happy, just smile. Angry people don't smile... unless they're being sarcastic.

2) Life is a circle. Everything you put into it will come back to you. It's the law of circumference. If it wasn't a perfect circle, it would be an oval ... or an elliptical. I don't think life is an elliptical... At least not according to The Lion King

3) Rainbows, sunshine and kittens. ... and usually Morgan Freeman. That is all.

4) If the road ahead seems stormy ... well, it's probably because there is a storm up ahead. You have two choices: Go inside or Put on your gouaches and your raincoat and stand in the rain. Or I suppose you could get into your car and drive away... but that's counter productive unless you actually need to go somewhere.

5) Although I do believe that the universe guides us through our lives, "Destiny" is nothing but a really bad stripper name.

6) Just because a person is incredibly strong, doesn't mean they're not sensitive. I'm sure George St. Pierre is just like a little teddy bear inside. If you ever get to see him, you should give him a hug. The same goes for grizzly bears (no, I'm kidding about this one. Please don't hug a grizzly bear. You will get eaten.)

7) Relationships are like spider webs. They can be intricate, strong, and beautiful, but can be taken down overnight. That's all I got for that one.

8) Humans are like sea turtles ... except we're really not. The sea turtle can navigate entire oceans without Google maps and GPS. I got lost yesterday getting off the DVP at Bloor/Bayview. Seriously, that shit is so confusing. There are like 10 different ramps going in all different directions. It's like London's underground except you're in your car with no engineer... oh, and my GPS couldn't keep up. Thanks Google. Oh I guess my point is - You know the world is the amazing and incredible place when sea turtles can navigate better than a satellite system over Toronto.

9) Get some sleep. The world is a better place when people aren't grumpy and irritated.

10) Bad things don't just happen to you, they happen to everyone. You're not special in that fact... but I guess you're special in every other way because that's how the universe and our experiences shape us. And Darwin... I'm sure he had a hand in all of this... all of those damn finches. I swear something weird happened on that island that day. Maybe it had to do with dinosaurs... I really wish I could see a real dinosaur.

Bonus (because life is also filled with bonuses): Life is mysterious. But who doesn't like a good mystery?

I'm pretty sure the saying is "Champions eat breakfast"

When did everyone stop eating breakfast? Seriously.

I mean, I remember being a teenage girl and would feel kinda nauseous at the thought of food in the morning, but I was 15. I remember my dad (when he found out about this and that being the reason I wasn't eating breakfast) telling me that he would get me ANYTHING I wanted for breakfast, as long as I ate something. He even offered to bring me a box of doughnuts from Tim Hortons if I would eat it... Which is disgusting, but I love my dad and I appreciated his concern and thoughtfulness more than he'll ever know.

I had this intuition though that I needed to eat something. I mean, I couldn't go my entire life without eating something first thing in the morning. Otherwise my body wouldn't be able to function properly - or at least, that was my understanding. And at 15, this was very philosophical of me.

So I did my best. I tried different things and eventually fell in love with Special K and skim milk. Both of which would make me sick now being Gluten-free/dairy-free, but that was my breakfast food and I loved it every single morning for about 5 years.

The word "breakfast" literally means to "break fast" - as in, we fast our bodies all night while we sleep, which is good and healthy, but as soon as we wake, our bodies need fuel. When we're "fasting" we're resting, but when you get up and go you're now using up energies that you haven't given your body yet. And really, I work incredibly hard to build and maintain my muscle mass, so why on earth would I want to deprive my body and tell it to start breaking down my muscles for fuel? Granted, this only occurs after longer periods of fasting, but it seems incredibly counter productive, and there's no way I want to stress out my body like that. 

Food is magic. I truly believe it's the most amazing thing for our bodies (exercise comes in a close second... or it might be a tie... oh man, it's so hard to decide which one I love more!). What you put into your body can completely change you: your mood, your energy, your body composition, your mental capabilities. So if there's a chance that eating breakfast will give you more energy and make you feel happier, why aren't we all doing it? Why is it such a chore to force ourselves to eat something in the morning, and yet we're all happy to scarf down a huge meals late in the evening when our body needs it the least?

If you're not eating breakfast right now, I want you to experiment. For 2-4 weeks, eat breakfast everyday and see the difference for yourself. Worried about time constraints and actually making something? Here's a list of some of my favourite things to eat for breakfast, though there are so many other dishes you could also choose from:

• Eggs!
•  If you're not intolerant, there is sooo much you can do with eggs. Frittata takes 10 minutes. Just scramble raw eggs in a bowl, throw into a heated skillet with coconut oil, top with whatever veggies or met you like, then cover on very low heat for 10 minutes until the eggs have completely cooked.
• Scramble them, they're delicious. Top with fresh dill or your favourite herbs/spices.
• Make them over-easy and eat with toast. Food For Life makes my favourite brown rice (GF) bread. 
• Hard boil them and take them to go!
• Soft boil them and dip pieces of toast in the nice soft yolk - which is something my mom would do for me as a little kid.

• Gluten-free toast - really, if you're not intolerant you can have real wheat toast, but I always recommend GF over wheat because the gluten is not friendly to all of our GI tracts. 
• Smear some nut butter over it - almond butter is my fav! But sunflower butter is equally amazing. 
• Skip the Smuckers and opt for a sugar-free jam like Crofter's. Again, I'm happy if you eat anything in the morning, but if you're looking for healthier options, always read your labels and choose products without all the extra sugar. I mean, fruit is made of frutose, so why do we need to add even more sugar to it? It just doesn't make any sense people.
• Heat coconut oil in a pan, slice a banana, and place it in the pan on medium heat until the banana pieces soften and get slightly brown and crispy on the outside. Then put that on your toast. It's the most incredible banana creation where it's crispy on the outside, but soft and mushy on the inside. You could even combine it on toast with almond butter and bacon to make an Elvis.

• Left overs!
• Stews, soups, anything hearty that you had the night before, eat it for breakfast! That truly is a breakfast of champions - as long as it doesn't consist of fries or pizza. Though I don't know anyone who keeps fries as leftovers... they get all soggy and gross in the fridge. 

• Cereals - my mom swears by Quinoa flakes with honey and berries
• Smoothies - the best part about smoothies is that you can mix anything together and it will taste good.
• Blend almond milk with some water/ice, frozen fruit and a protein powder
• Fav protein powders: Sunwarrior (vegan), Provitalex by Cytomatrix (whey - but lactose free), Arbonne protein/meal replacement powder.
• Add 1/2 banana to make it even thicker and creamier.

• Ground pork sausage patties - HOMEMADE. Pick up some ground pork from you butcher so you know it comes from healthier and happier pigs. Put it in a large bowl and add seasonings like garlic, cayenne, chili powder, anything you like! Make them into small patties and just fry them (in a tiny bit of coconut oil) in a skillet. Eat them with avocado slices for an incredible breakfast!

Really, nothing here that I've mentioned will take more than 15-20 minutes to make. If you're worried about time (like with the pork patties), prepare everything the night before and just cook it in the morning. And if nothing above appeals to you, just grab a piece of fruit to eat on your way to work/school. Bananas are amazing because they come in their own packaging :)

Remember: Food is Fuel! What you put into your body will determine how it runs. If you have a Ferrari, you want to drive it around - which requires fuel. You also wouldn't fill it up with mud because Ferrari wouldn't like that and wouldn't work properly. Treat your body like a Ferrari.

The Birthing Right

I was fortunate enough to be with my sister during the delivery of both her babies, and was able to help coach her through the pushing of her second. I will never forget that moment for the rest of my life - mostly because she's such a tiny girl and I didn't know how it would physically possible for her to push out an actual infant. I thought about her first baby's head crowing and then the doctor's saying "hmm... yeah, sorry folks, but that's as far as she's gonna go."

Me holding my niece Lyla, 2007
The day we brought her home from the hospital

But my sister did an amazing job, and she has two beautiful babies to show for it (who are now 4 and 6), but I will never forget those days, and what it was like to be around the hospital staff. I don't know how some women do it - just show up at the hospital and let them run the show. I would be terrified! Some of the nurses are just so amazing and kind, and others (like in any profession) are demanding and angry and have no empathy.

They see a young girl in the hospital and automatically assume that girl is incompetent; when breastfeeding is difficult the first or second time around, they shove formula at her (or send her home with it later). I'm sure it's some marketing scheme by Nestle or Similac (I can't remember which one we were sent home with) to give hospitals free cans of formula and push them on new mothers who are going through so much already. (Plus, who doesn't like getting free stuff?).

It's extremely frustrating for me to see. It's as if we're expected to put all of our trust in our medical system. I think that's the scariest thing I've ever written. Our whole medical system is so backwards to begin with: We have the government funding symptom palliation instead of prevention and health awareness; covering prescription drugs and not supplements. It's terrifying to think of women being vulnerable (I don't know many women who can deliver their own baby) and need support, and medical doctors and nurses act like they're the most knowledgeable and powerful people in the world.

Why not educate these women and present them with choices instead of just forcing them into a decision they're unsure of (for example, getting an epidural). That's the one thing I really picked up on at the hospital with my sister - I felt like we were always judged, or when my sister asked a question, it was like they were scolding parents, treating her like a child.

The Birth House by Ami McKay has become one of my favourite novels. It's so interesting how women gave birth before the medical system snaked it's way in with stirrups and Twilight Sleep; And also how they were able to convince women of their methods, meanwhile, completely removing women from their own birthing experience.

So I have decided to start my journey in Doula training, so that I can offer that support to women and help talk about the choices that they get to make regarding their birth. My training will begin in late March and I'm expected to attend 3 births as part of the certification. I think it will be an amazing opportunity to empower women, to offer support and to witness the joy childbirth.

Recipe Book Review: Paleo Slow Cooking

I've been considering going back to being 100% paleo for a little while now, and to get myself back into it, I bought a new cookbook. My dad bought me a slow-cooker for Christmas and I've been putting it to good use! I was really hoping this book would give me new "slow-cooking" inspiration.

I'm also very serious about cookbooks and recipes, so I'm going through this book and am giving my honest feedback. Checkout my website www.thehealthyfox.ca for my already approved cookbook list, and we'll see if this one makes the cut.

The book is Paleo Slow Cooking by Chrissy Gower. I've already tried a few recipes, with mixed results, but I can't judge a book based on only a handful of recipes. So tomorrow I'll be heading to McMaster's Meats in Georgetown to stock up on some free range chicken, grass-fed beef and gluten-free sausage and trying out 3-4 more recipes.

This book has been really hit-or-miss so far. The apple almond cereal was one of the worst things I've ever made. But I've never been a fan of cream-of-wheat (which is what the author compares it to) to begin with. Who would have thought?! You have apples, honey, almond flour, blueberries... it sounds delicious! Unfortunately, when you put it into a slow cooker for 6 hours, it comes out as slop that has burnt a nice layer of black sugar right onto the stoneware and tastes so bland that not even the berries could make it taste better. I ended up throwing the entire thing in the trash which is heartbreaking! I hate wasting food!

I also tried the Hot and Sour soup - you'll notice I have my mom's recipe listed on my website - so I thought that by having the chicken cooked slowly would just make this soup melt in your mouth. Again, I stand corrected. There was just way too much chicken for this recipe and not nearly enough chicken broth for it to be a soup. It turned out to be chicken mush. Like soggy shredded chicken. It was also severely lacking in the chili-garlic department.

But I have to give Chrissy credit, the Spaghetti Meat Sauce was amazing!

It's just unfortunate that many of her recipes contain spice mixes from Penzeys - a product that's not carried in Canada (to my knowledge) and there are sticky rules to having it shipped here. So I have to improvise.

My goal for the next week is to make these recipes (which depends on what's available from my butcher tomorrow):

Jalapeno Sausage Hash - a breakfast dish made with sweet potatoes
Chipotle Chicken Stew
Minestrone Soup - we'll see how this one stacks up to my recipe (keeping in mind that my original recipe isn't quite Paleo)
Orange Maple Glazed Pork Chops

Backup recipes to try:
Slow Cooked Ham
Fire-Roasted Pork Loin

I'll be posting my completed review next week! Wish me luck in these new kitchen adventures!

I miss my girlfriends...

Now that me and the Ace Gang are all grown up, 2/5 of us are married, N is having a baby and we're not all living in the same small town anymore; So I really don't get to see them all that often. But N's baby shower brought a few of us together this weekend and in a ridiculous fashion, we were the rowdy ones - as per usual.

A classic L moment while sitting and watching N open presents; With each present opened, one of the lady's next to N asked the gift-giver a question:

N opens a present, Lady asks: What is the best way to burp a baby?
L: a surrogate!
Us: *in shock* did you just say a surrogate?!
L: I thought she said the best way to birth a baby!

Either way, it was hilarious and inappropriate at the same time. Classic L.