CanFitPro conference

This weekend, I was hanging with personal trainers, fitness instructors, big beefy weightlifters, lean stringy yogis, and other fitness and health people at the CanFitPro conference.  I joined CanFitPro this year as a general member (because sadly, they no longer have the MindBody Specialist certification) because a) Yoga Fit Canada gives awesome discounts on awesome trainings to CanFit members, and I'm hoping to take a couple of certifications with them, and b) I got a discount on the conference :D!

I'm currently still teaching only Moksha Yoga, which follows a set series of postures with only a bit of wiggle room for "creativity" in between, however I'm looking to branch out from the series and start teaching hatha yoga.  That means that I'd be in charge of figuring out my own series.  I'm also planning to teach a couple of workshops this fall, and needed to get a refresher course and a better understanding of some of the issues that commonly arise in certain populations, such as in diabetics, seniors, and hardcore athletes.  Enter the CanFitPro conference, where I've been taking an array of workshops and learned some fun things to add to my classes to enrich my students' experience that much more.

In addition to being an amazing conference, the CanFit conference also has a trade show open to the public. Fitness professionals and general people alike can experiment with new equipment and fitness styles, get demonstrations of fitness plans from highly experienced people, eat free samples of various protein bars/other goodies, and get lectures from industry leaders.  There were loads of presentations and demos going on for all kinds of activities, including Zumba classes, TRX and CrossFit challenges, and TONS of stuff available for sale, including apparel, equipment, supplements and nutrition products, books, DVDs, etc etc etc...  You can even get your photo taken with such cool people as:

Super cool Olympic triathlete Simon Whitfield!

The Last 10 Pounds Bootcamp and Bulging Brides trainer Tommy Europe!

And many more!  Trish Stratus was also around (former wrestler and current yoga studio owner), but I didn't have enough time to wait in line to see her.  I did get a sweet (free) Tshirt though :D

Long story short, the conference was fantastic, and if you are a fitness professional in Canada and haven't made it to a conference yet, I highly recommend it.  Or, if you're a regular person who is interested in fitness and health, and happen to be in the Toronto area in mid-August, check out the trade show for a great way to spend the afternoon and fill your head with awesomesauce.

Vegetable of the Month

I know, the suspense has been building for almost three weeks now!  What will it be???

Ta daaaaa....

Zucchini!

Since I'm growing it on my balcony, I might as well post about the amazingness of this tasty veggie.  Check out this photo of my very first harvest!

So what's so special about zucchini?  Get this -- according to the Canadian Nutrient File, one medium zucchini (about 196g) will give you...

• only 33 calories!!!
• 2 grams of fibre!
• 2 grams of protein
• not even one gram of fat!
• 11% of your daily folate needs
• 11% of your daily potassium needs
• 47% of your Vitamin C needs
• also contains high levels of lutein and other phytochemicals

What a little powerhouse!!!

Tell me more!

Zucchini and their other squash cousins (like yellow summer squash, pattypan squash, spaghetti squash, acorn squash, etc) are available year round, but are in peak season in the spring and summer.  When choosing zucchini, remember that the small-to-medium sized ones will contain more flavour than the larger varieties, which will hold more water.  Avoid the ones with squishy or wrinkly spots, but superficial scratches or little bruises are ok and perfectly edible.

How do I prepare it?

Cool!!!

You can eat zucchini raw or cooked.  I like my raw zucchini dipped in something, like hummus or bean dips to add a protein punch.  This veggie can be cooked in many different ways, like grilling and roasting (yummmmm!), sauteeing or including in stir fries, boiled (such as in soups or sauces).  A relatively novel way of preparing zucchini is making zucchini pasta, using a Spiralizer (or even just using a vegetable peeler if you're cheap like me!).  It basically makes a pasta that doesn't require cooking, you just blanch it to heat it through (place in boiling water for about 30 seconds).

Enough already, give me a recipe!

Another fun way to cook zucchini - baking.  As in, making a zucchini loaf!  There are many variations on zucchini loaf, including chocolate zucchini loafs, but this is one that I've made before and had it turn out really really tasty.  The website also happens to show a number of other tasty zucchini-containing recipes on the sidebar, such as vegetarian lasagna, pasta with grilled veggies, and grilled zucchini ribbons.

Click here! http://www.canadianliving.com/food/zucchini_loaf.php

Best advice - experiment with your zucchini!  It's  a very versatile ingredient that can be added to just about anything that you would normally put other veggies in (spaghetti sauce, stir fry, roasted veggie sandwich?).  And hey, for only 33 calories for a WHOLE ZUCCHINI, you can't lose :)

Fail

Wow, so that "I'll be posting regularly about my training" business totally didn't happen, huh?  I've been in summer school up until Saturday, and was run down with assignments, exams, and general business/craziness/AAAAAH!  But, I've still been good with training (though, admittedly, I haven't been following the plan to a T because of the busy/crazy/etc-ness)

Here's what's going down.

Running:  Still happening, though training has been slow (read on for everything else going on instead...).  My last run was about a week ago, but so far, I've done well in tackling hills and getting my cardio endurance up.  Now that summer school is (FINALLY!) over, I have much more time to go for longer runs, and the weather has cooled enough to allow me to be out in the afternoons (often the only time I have available, and this summer was just WAY too hot!).

Cross Training: Lots!  And really, doing cross training can only help to improve my running, since my issue seems to be mostly cardio endurance, not so much muscle endurance/stiffness/tiredness.  Boyfriend and I signed up for a Groupon at a local gym that focuses on bootcamp-style workouts.  They also have something called "personal co-training", which is basically like having a personal trainer, but the cost is split between many people.  Our Groupon gives us 60 days worth of bootcamp and 12 personal co-trainings.  We just activated it this week, and have already gone twice - one bootcamp, one personal co-training.  And so far, we love it :)  It's a massive butt-kick, but feels amazing (well, except for all that soreness a few hours later :P).  The sessions give us a really good mix of upper and lower body work, core strengthening, and cardio, and your heart rate is elevated for the majority of the 1 hour class.  I'm actually really looking forward to seeing how this affects my running, since the last time I did a boot camp, suddenly long runs were way easier!

Other cross training: I've decided to take up swimming again.  When I was younger, I swam constantly and loved it to bits.  I even competed for a while.  But by the time I was a teenager, somehow I just ended up stopping, but I always liked to swim when I got the opportunity.  I've decided to get back into it on a somewhat regular schedule.  There are a couple of community centres nearby that have indoor pools and cheap adult lane swim time, so I will be going on weekends to get some nice low-impact-high-cardio activity.

So I promise that I will get back in touch sooner than later to let you all know how it's going!

Meanwhile, a vegetable of the month is coming.  It's a veggie of the mid-month now :)