2 Great Events
March 31, 2009
Check out our two amazing upcoming events in April.
April 19 – Live Vitally Now! In support of National Volunteer week, proceeds to isisters.org
Update: we raised $500.00 for isisters.org! Read our full article here
April 24 – Celebration Pot Luck and Movie Night. Celebrate our one year anniversary at the stuido. Celebrate Earth Day. Celebrate our Members!
Anti-Oxidant Smoothie
March 19, 2009
Here is a delicious smoothie my husband whipped up for lunch today:
1 frozen banana
1 cup soy or almond milk (approximate amount)
1/2 cup frozen organic blueberries
1 spoonful organic peanut butter or almond butter
1 – 2 tbsp raw cacao powder
1 squirt of agave nectar
Blend and enjoy, add water to thin if you find it too thick
This smoothie is filled with anti-oxidants from the blueberries and cacao, and has a good boost of protein from the almond butter. To make this a raw recipe, use raw almond butter and homemade almond milk.
I was searching around online for a the blueberry picture you see above and came across some great gluten-free recipes on Gluten-Free Goddess, Check it out
Cleanse Day 1 – Green Smoothie
March 16, 2009
Today is day 1 of our 12-Day Clean Eating Challenge- affectionately know as the ‘Cleanse’. We follow a Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free, Coffee-Free, Vegan Diet, and every morning we start with a Green Smoothie.
I made my smoothie last night and stored it in the fridge, for me this works really well as I am out of the house at 5:25am to teach our amazing Powerful Woman Yoga Boot Camp classes, and after that Jeanette (my co-coach in the half-marathon class), Ali (artist extraordinaire), and I went for a long run – I needed that smoothie to be ready when I got back!!
Here’s the recipe – double tested by Jeanette who gave it 2 thumbs up! This made 2 servings.
Post Yoga and Run Elation Green Smoothie
- 8 medium-sized leaves of Romaine Lettuce, chopped
- 8 leaves Dinasoure Kale, chopped
- 1/2 cucumber, peeled and chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 cup frozen pineapple (maybe a bit less)
- 1/2 cup frozen mango
- 2 small bananas, chopped
- 1 tsp spirulina (a powdered green supplement)
- 2 tbsp hulled hemp seed
- 2 tbsp sprouted flax powder (got it at Rainbow Foods on Richmond Rd)
- 2 tbsp maple syrup or raw agave nectar (optional)
- Water to thin to desired consistency
Blend until very smooth, this makes a huge amount – enough for 2 hungry gals after yoga and a run!
ENJOY
Have a favourite Green Smoothie Recipe – feel free to share it!
You can follow Kerry’s Cleanse journey right here
Half-Marathon, fuel up!
March 6, 2009
We are into week 7 of our half-marathon class, aiming for the National Capital Race on May 24, and everyone is looking really strong. Last week we ran 10km, taking a break from our build-up in mileage over the previous weeks, this gave our muscles and our motivation a bit of recovery; it was a good week do a shorter run – it was cold and icy! This week promises sun and warm weather – perfect for our longest run yet – 15km!!
Here is our 10km route from last week 
Natural Fuel
It’s time for all of us to think seriously about our fuel for our long runs and our recovery. At MTH we stress a plant-based diet, with as little processed foods as possible, this will help keep your energy levels high, and aid in recovery. Here is a excerpt from an interview with Triathlete Brendan Brazier, author of the Thrive Diet with some good suggestions on gel alternatives for your long run:
“A really good snack during long races is just to have a date or even make an energy gel. I’m sure people — a lot of people are familiar with energy gels that you can take during a long run. And a lot of them, all the commercial ones as far as I know, are really highly processed and not so healthy, but it’s very easy to make your own and I have a recipe for those in the new book, the Thrive Diet. You just take agave nectar, a couple of dates, blend them together with a bit of lemon and lime juice, grate off lemon and lime, mix them with a little sea salt, and that’s a great gel. You just put that in a gel flask and that’s high energy that will keep you going strong throughout the race. It tastes good. It’s refreshing and it’s a really simple solution, of course, 100% raw and natural end process.”
I’ve made Brendan’s gels and they really work! You can get all the ingredients at the SuperStore here in Westboro, including Agave Nectar, check out the Natural Value Section.
As far as recovery food goes, within 15-30 minutes of your long endurance run you need to refuel with a combination of 1:4 protein to carbohydrate. Here is an easy recovery shake,
I call this my chocolate ‘milk’ shake:
1 cup unsweetened and fortified soy milk
1 frozen banana, if using un-frozen banana add ice cubes to your smoothie
2 soft dates, pitted
1 tbsp of cacao powder (available at Rainbow Foods on Richmond Rd)
Cacao is the ingredient that all chocolate is made from, this product is raw meaning it’s not subject to high temperatures and processing so all the super anti-oxidants that chocolate is famous for are readily available and easy to digest
Add water if you find it too thick. Blend and Enjoy!!!
Here is another good article by Brendan Brazier addressing common complaints from people when they first adopt a more plant-based diet
“I’m always hungry.”
“I don’t have any energy.”
“I’m scared I’ll get a stress fracture.”
Happy Running everyone and wish us luck on Saturday!
