Workout Locations: Anywhere!!!

Hello!
I am missing my daily blogging so much but June is just the busiest month for our family! We were in Tofino and then off to Vancouver to look for a place to reside for five months (we found a cute lil' character house), and are leaving tomorrow for Winnipeg to visit with our family! So it's been busy to say the very least! So I've mainly been blogging in my dreams but thought that I would take the last bit of Noah's nap to write about my love and appreciation for ME time!!! For me, that's having a great, sweaty workout!!! I have learned since having Noah that you have to take advantage of those 'me' moments whenever they present themselves! You have to create opportunities to workout and a workout doesn't have to take place at the gym; in fact, I would say that 99% of my workouts now occur in my home or on the roads or trails! I have mentioned before my love for running and I run a lot to relieve stress, think, and reach my personal goals! I have found the best 'secret' trails and seen the most beautiful nature and scenery while exploring the neighborhoods or new areas. I am running as part of a team in the upcoming Manitoba Marathon which will be so exciting! Even though I was born there and have been back several times for visits, I still don't feel confident in finding my way around Manitoba. Running part of it will be a new and exciting way to explore a new province! I dream of running in Hawaii or other beautiful destinations. To run and travel would be combining two of my passions into one beautiful package!
Anyways, for those that can't relate to my love for running, I thought that I would share a few other favorites of mine. Ally has been visiting me and we took Noah for the first time to 2 drop-in gymnastics classes at Falcon Gymnastics! They have drop-in gymnastics for toddlers/pre-school children on Tuesday and Thursdays (unfortunately they won't have this again until September), but we thought that we would check it out! I have always dreamed of being a gymnast but I have ZERO experience in gymnastics!!! I am proud to say that I can do a mean cartwheel and somersault but that's the extent of my gymnast abilities! I used to listen to my good friend Jessica tell me about her warm-ups and gymnast routines and long to have had that experience as a child! It sounded like so much fun! Little did I know how AMAZING this drop-in class would be! It's basically an hour of FUN for everyone! Parents are encouraged to get down and dirty and test their tricks and abilities with the kids! Of course Noah was super shy at first and unsure of the giant foam pit but before long, Ally, Noah and I were running up ramps and jumping into this huge foam pit (don't ever wear your socks...you'll lose them for sure)!!!! I couldn't believe how much fun we were having! There was this long trampoline and we would run and jump onto this big mat and somersault away! Oh, how fun! The balance beam was cool too! Of course Noah is only 22 months so he has a long time to enjoy the fun of gymnastics if he chooses! He loves it so much so far and I thought that it would be great for his fine and gross motor skills development. I know that they have gymnastics for adults and beginners so that's something to look into if you're interested!
Another way to have fun while being fit is to go to your neighborhood playground with your child or friends and monkey-around!!!
While in Tofino (we do this whenever we're at any park really), Ally, Dan, Noah and I hit the park there and we had a BLAST! We climbed the monkey bars and went backwards around the entire thing, ziplined, swung from bar to bar, performed dips and ran around tons! We were working our core muscles, triceps, biceps, back and legs while having a blast! We were also showing Noah that a playground really is for kids of all ages and sizes and not just sitting on the sidelines. We got down and dirty, made some mean 'sand stir-frys' using our imaginations and just had TONS of good ol' fashioned family FUN!

Another great activity to do if you are feeling adventurous and have a passion and appreciation for the water is to try surfing! If you've never been before, it's a good idea to take a lesson or two or go with someone who is willing to take the time to show you, teach you proper etiquette and will be close in the water in case you need them!

Ally went for her first time while we were in Tofino and we had a blast! I'm sure she has a much deeper appreciation for the ocean after being in those powerful waves! We had a great time and MAN is it a great workout! You are having so much fun though and focusing so much you don't really think about it or feel it until the next day! I love surfing so much! If you don't live near good surf, you can always just go for a paddle in the ocean (or lake)! I used to go out for paddles with my friend Jesse on his surfboards and we always had so much fun, surf or no surf! It's a great way to build your trapezoid muscles, along with your core, arms and help you with balance!
You can also have a great work-out ON the beach instead of IN the water! I love walking, running, lunging, and doing some yoga poses on the sand! You get great resistance training and breathtaking scenery to connect with your inner-self!

Lastly, I wanted to share with you yet another way to workout where you don't have to leave the comfort of your home! If I can't get away (like this afternoon while Dan and Ally were out and Noah was napping, I was feeling the urge to workout but had nowhere to go), I pop in a workout DVD (usually Jillian Michaels), and get my ass kicked in my own living room! I used to think that workout DVDs would never deliver but MAN was I wrong! I first tried the Jillian Michaels' DVDs after Noah was born and I couldn't believe how sweaty I was afterwards and how sore I felt! I now incorporate her workout DVDs into my routine whenever it's rainy or I just can't get away and I always relieve stress and feel results from them! She has several different DVDs and my all-time favorite if I'm in need of a great sweat and burn is her Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism. I've also tried and love her No More Trouble Zones because it uses light weights and you really do a lot of super-sets with light weights and an increased heart-rate. If you don't have a lot of time there is her 30 Day Shred which has 3 twenty minute levels (easy-moderate-advanced).

My bf Erin gave me an old MTV Pilates DVD too and if I'm feeling like stretching but also want a little extra oomph to my stretch, I'll put in that and I'm always enlightened and happy afterwards!

I would love to hear what your favorite fitness routines are and anything else you would like to share! I am always inspired by any comments that are written and just love sharing my joys with you! xo

Being Vegan in Tofino

So as you know, I was in Tofino last week! I wanted to share with you how I found being a vegan in Tofino! First off, we stayed at a cabin which had a full kitchen so I brought up a few prepared meals! The night before we left, I made an AMAZING quinoa salad (by cooking 1 cup of quinoa, adding 1 tbsp. of olive oil, 1 tsp of lemon juice, a handful of dried cranberries, raw pumpkin seeds, walnuts, corn, sliced cucumber, grated carrots, grated zucchini and grated sweet potato), marinated tofu sesame snacks (to cook in Tofino), pre-made these amazing brown rice and veggie burger patties (separating the dry ingredients and the wet to prevent them from becoming soggy), and washed a bunch of berries, cherries, sliced cucumber to snack on throughout our journey!!! This was the first time I bought and prepared food before heading up and let me tell you this: at first it seemed like extra work but it was SO SO WORTH IT!!!! When we were in Tofino I didn't have to worry once about what we were going to eat. Everything was already prepared so making the meals was so fast and easy but we weren't compromising our health or taste-buds!!! The first night we arrived in Tofino I baked the tofu sesame snacks and steamed some green beans. We ate the tofu sesame snacks over the quinoa salad along with the green beans!


The second night I baked the vegan burger patties and yam fries!

The third night we went to Shelter Restaurant and it was AMAZING! I was able to get their warmed greens salad which usually has goat cheese vegan and the service was amazing! Our server was totally accommodating about me being a vegan and even added pear to my salad! I also had the sweet chili edamame beans which were DELICIOUS! Seriously, I have to say that the meal I had was the BEST dinner at a restaurant I have ever had!!! Yes, it's true!!! It was the kind of dinner where I felt that every bite I had was completely savored and I couldn't help but say "MMM" way too many times!!!! Ally ordered the same two dishes and we kept staring across the table at one another with this look which read "I KNOW!!! This is CRAZY GOOD"!!!
The delicious meals from Shelter in Tofino! Check it out!


Like I have mentioned before, I am a total beach girl! I love everything about the beach! I love surfing, I love the sand, the sun, playing or just chilling!!! Tofino has such a cool vibe and people seem to be pretty health conscious. They are definitely active that's for sure! Surfing, biking, running, skateboarding, walking, hiking...there is so much to do! That being said, I was pretty surprised by the LACK of vegan-friendly treats that I found! We all went to SOHO for lunch (okay we went THREE times during our vacation but seriously, it's THAT good), and although they didn't have any vegan-friendly options, they were very accommodating and made a miso soup with water and miso (instead of fish stalk), and they took mayo out of their tofu pockets.

Ally and I also ordered these pinto bean burritos and ate them without the cheese (which was DELICIOUS but sadly on the last day, we ordered our food to go and realized once on the road that they put cheese into our burritos :( SO SAD)...
Maybe it was the salty air or the vacation-mode but I was craving a serious vegan chocolate brownie or ANYTHING treaty that was vegan and I didn't find it in Tofino :( ...it clearly just wasn't meant to be but I think that their cool coffee shops could use a bakery/deli makeover vegan-style!!!! I am just so glad that I took the extra time to prepare myself and bring lots of food because we really ate it all and didn't waste anything!!!! Maggie came up with us too and it was wonderful how kind and animal-friendly people were!

Tofino Times!

It's been about a week since my last post and that's because we were in Tofino! Dan, Noah and I went up with Ally who is visiting us once again! It was her first time! We also brought along my mom and our dog Maggie! Tofino is my home-away-from-home/paradise and if you haven't been you just MUST GO! I am so excited to share my experience with you in greater deal along with some yummy foods that were made and enjoyed during our stay! I will post a long post with Ally tomorrow about our trip but I thought that I would let you know where I had disappeared too and share a few pics!
Sweet moments with my hunky hubby at Long Beach, Tofino, B.C.

Ally's first time surfing!!! She was so brave and just went for it!!!

Cuddles with Noah and hanging with Maggie before heading out for a sweet session!
Cartwheels on Long Beach! Clearly I love playing around and I like to let loose on the beach!!!

I love Tofino so much! There is so much beauty and nature and everyone is incredibly friendly and there are a lot of pet-friendly places!

I hope you all had a wonderful week! I'm off to catch-up on some much-needed sleep but I'll write tons tomorrow! xo

A Salad with Sprouts!!!

I'm pretty excited because my most beautiful sister-in-law (ALLY), is flying here tomorrow to stay with us for 12 days!!! We are going to take her to Tofino for her first time (my close-to-home paradise), and Vancouver! It will be a busy 12 days and then we are flying back to Winnipeg all together for a family-visit and I will run as part of a relay team in the Manitoba Marathon! Whoohoo! Anyways, with the summer approaching (really nice weather MUST be coming soon right?!!), I crave more and more SALADS! I feel awful because my close friend Delaney asked me awhile ago about where I find my sprouts and I didn't post an answer!!!! I told her though on one of our walks but I figured that I owed it to everyone to share my love for sprouts! I LOVE THEM! They are so delicious and there are so many varieties! I have been buying my sprouts lately from the Rootcellar but I also received a bag of organic sprout seeds so that I can literally sprout my own sprouts!!! I hear it's super easy but I've actually NEVER done it! Once the chaotic month of June has ended, I will try to do this! I'm excited! You can buy your own sprouting seeds at many places but I've seen them at Planet Organic lately. My mother-in-law sent me these as a gift!!! How nice is that?!!
I threw together the salad pictured above in a matter of minutes! I had leftover barley from the day before so I added that with spinach, cucumber, avocado, sprouts, tomato, and then I cooked some black beans, portabella mushrooms, garlic and green onions! I mixed it all together and drizzled my homemade maple-balsamic vinaigrette over it! MMM! I definitely recommend you give this salad a try and be creative! Add any of your favorite veggies!

BBC Series - LIFE

Life is beautiful.
Life is complicated.
Life is transformations.
Life is growth.
Life is survival.

My husband just introduced me to this new (to us) series by BBC called LIFE. If you haven't witnessed it for yourselves, do it! I've only seen the first episode but it's incredible, mind-boggling, fascinating and touching! How can you not respect our environment and the creatures that live on it after seeing these animals and plants and the ways they develop in order to survive their elements. David Attenborough narrates this series and his voice is just SO endearing and engaging! It took the crew over three years to film for this series and it's just AMAZING! A must-see! I'm not going to lie...I had my husband first watch it and then prepare me for any scenes that might make me cry!!! I know that animals die in nature and I understand and respect when it's done for survival but I just can't stand watching the animals when they look so scared and are trying desperately to survive and don't...it is so upsetting to me! It's a part of life and I get that...but I really and truly feel like the slaughter that humans do and the mis-treatment of animals is NOT part of life. It's cruel and completely unnecessary. Animals out in the wild kill only when they need too and it's for survival. A very very VERY long time ago it was necessary for us as humans to hunt and gather for survival but today most of us in this World could survive and even THRIVE on a vegetarian diet. When Indigenous people used to hunt animals a long time ago, they respected each animal and gave thanks and used every part of the animals, often burying their remains. They treated them with respect. Today, people abuse animals, take their young away from them, have them live in completely disgusting and cramped areas and deprive them of their natural habitat and family! It's awful. If a human treats another human that way, they are disgraced and penalized by the Law....how has the World come to this point where this has become a way of life?

Okay, I went OFF on a tangent!!!!
Clearly I am moved and passionate about this! I just love our environment and I LOVE animals! They need more voices out there that are not afraid to speak out and say this is NOT okay!
Aside from the animals, we could END world hunger by adapting a plant-based diet (spirulina and chlorella take up MUCH less space than the space used for livestock and are complete protein sources).

Okay, Okay! Back to BBC! Watch the LIFE series and you'll be mesmerized and encouraged to LOVE LIFE and share this world in peace with the plants and animals that were put on this earth with us!

Watch a clip on You Tube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBws4yj7W1A

Interesting Vegan Study!

I promise that I will write a much more detailed and exciting blog later on today but I am just running out the door with my dog!!! Like I said before, I LOVEEE the Care 2 Make a Difference website and today while I was reading my daily 'news' (it's my personal 'newspaper'), I stumbled upon this interesting article about a study which shows that vegans are more empathetic, neurologically speaking....I love the brain and how it works and I obviously love being a vegan and found this really interesting. Like the article, I'm definitely not thinking EVER that vegans are 'better' than non-vegans (I LOVE all creatures, big and small, vegan or not...except for those that are cruel of course!)...but I think it's definitely worth having a read and at the end it even includes some tips of helping to make the transition into becoming a vegan if that's something that interests you!

So check-out the article at http://www.care2.com/causes/animal-welfare/blog/study-shows-vegans-are-more-empathetic-neurologically-speaking/

I think this life is a journey for us all and although I have made the decision to make my personal journey one which includes me being a vegan, I understand that this can be a difficult choice for many. Instead of getting down and beating yourself up for not being something you dream of being, praise yourself for all that you are and all that you have done!!! For every small step you take, every small act of kindness, YOU are making a positive difference in this world and making this world a better, more inspiring place to live!

I am not perfect! Who is?!! I still buy clothes that aren't 'organic' and buy starbucks in to-go cups that even though I recycle at home are TERRIBLE on this environment...but I'm LEARNING and LIVING and TRYING! All you can do is TRY to make positive changes, to LEARN new things and be inspired enough to LIVE the best way that you can!

Have a great day and enjoy being YOU!
xo
Jayanna

Growing!

I dream of one day owning our own home and having a beautiful vegetable garden, fruit trees and having lots of rescued animals running happily around. I know that my dream will come true one day but until then, I decided to settle on having a few pots with herbs, and a few veggies in them!!! I thought that it would be so much fun to share this new gardening experience with my son Noah so we set outside one sunny evening and planted rosemary, chives, oregano, basil and zucchini! Of course he watched mostly but he helped me to collect rocks so that the water could properly drain at the bottom of each pot and then he watched and 'helped' me as I poured the soil in place. He helped me separate the roots and then gently push the plants into their new homes. I felt so happy to give these cute lil' plants a larger space to spread their roots in!
The weather has been so crumby lately but I'm excited to have Noah help me water these plants as summer weather makes it's appearance (better late than never)!!! While I've been cooking dishes, Dan has taken Noah outside to pick some herbs for our meals! Noah proudly presents his fistful of basil or oregano and we sprinkle it over our dish! It's a beautiful family affair and wonderful to share our passion of health with Noah as well as a deep respect for nature and the beauty that it offers!
So I thought that I would share our fun lil' adventure of gardening with you because even if you don't have space for a garden, a few pots is all you need! I'm sure the deer will eat our zucchini before we get a chance but we'll see!
My mother-in-law is an avid gardener and I can't wait to learn more about this new hobby of mine!
I have even become braver with bugs!!! Having a boy has forced me to toughen up a bit but I used to scream when I saw spiders...I have a severe allergy to wasps and hornets...but since becoming a vegan and being out there exploring bugs while seeing Noah's gentle demeanor, has made me so calm and realize that they all have their place! I still prefer bugs OUTSIDE my house but if they happen to wander in, although they still startle me, I've been bravely taking them in a cup back outside to live free again! We have developed an understanding!!!