The waiting game...

For those of you who have been checking in I apologize for not writing for sooooo....long.  I am waiting for my website to be launched which was supposed to happen months ago :( Unfortunately things got a little mixed up and it has taken longer than I expected but it should be up in the next month and it will be great :) So stay tuned for weekly posts with some great fitness, and nutrition ideas and information :) also get ready to follow me in my training and nutrition journey to compete in my 2nd fitness competition!!!! I look forward to hearing comments and interacting with all of you then!! See you soon :)

Focus of the week...Why should you take a multivitamin?

If there are no other supplements in your cubord but you are feeling like you are ready to get on board and begin a supplement routine for optimal health,  maybe your just not feeling quite like yourself or just feeling a little tired lately?  Well these could be great reasons to start a multivitamin.


Everyone out there should be taking a multi, even if you eat well.  Many foods out there are void of nutrients especially if your not eating certified organic foods or local foods.  Many vital nutrients in foods are lost when they take the journey of being shipped to us in order to eat them :)  So when you eat those foods because they are healthy many of the times they are still lacking some of the benefits they are said to have.


A good quality multivitamin will give you all of the essential vitamins and minerals that may be lacking in your diet as well as all of the trace mineral that we need to absorb the big guys!  It is key to buy a good quality multi (and any other supplement you may be taking) because if not you will not be getting the benefit of pure quality ingredients.  Many of the cheaper brands out there use a lot of fillers so they can put in a small amount of the vitamin/mineral and then fill up the rest of it with crappy stuff that in the end may make you feel worse especially if you may have an intolerance to some of it which you may not even know :(


The other important thing when it comes to taking a multi is that you want one in which you are taking it spread throughout the day.  Rather than taking 1 pill in the morning and that is it, you want to look for something that you take usually spread throughout the day with your meals.  So you may be taking 1 or 2 capsules with each meal 3 times a day.  That way your body has time to absorb each dose rather than being overwelemed and having to excrete the majority of it because it is to much at once.  So some of you may now understand...why is my pee yellow now that I started taking a mulitvitamin?!? Well much of the time if we have enough of a specific nutrient and the multi just tops it up then the rest may be excreted in our urine!! No need to worry this is totally normal, and sometimes a really cool color..LOL


So if your not currently taking a multivitamin why not try one and see how you feel?! Sometimes I don't notice how good I feel from my supplements until I am not taking them, so try a bottle and see how if goes!! Please feel free to leave a comment or question or send me an e-mail if you have any questions!!
bodykarmafit@gmail.com :) Stay tuned next week for another fun topic!!

Mocked for out healthy choices...Organic Food

It is always great to go back to our home towns, visit family, remember (or in some cases block out...LOL) our memories from growing up.  It is always amazing to see how far we have come and how much we ourselves have changed.  


Since I didn't always focus on healthy eating habits or trying to eat organic food, to some it may seem odd at how those things now matter to me in my life as well as the ways that I want to raise my beautiful baby when it comes to nutrition.  


We each have our own ideas about food and as a nutritionist I know the importance of eating organically.  The funny thing is that for the people who do not eat that way they seem to look down on you because you do.  I almost feel mocked by it sometimes...as people say things like "Oh..and we even got the free range one just for you..LOL" as they make a joke about it. People sometimes act as if it is a bad thing that I prefer not to eat meat that has injected with hormones and fed things that they do not normally eat, not to mention the ways these animals are treated therefor having that sadness and pain flow through to the food in the food.  


Once you notice the difference not only in taste from organic food but even the way it looks in the store, you may not want to eat the regular stuff!!  When it comes to our hair, we love that beautiful shine but not when it comes to our food :)  If you walk through the regular food section you will notice the shiny apples, pears and most of the other fruits as well.  That is usually many different chemicals sprayed on them in order to make them last longer.  Our fresh picked fruit and veggies are not supposed to look perfect all the time, they are also not supposed to be 3 times the size.  Did you ever notice those monster strawberries where they can only fit 4 or 5 in the box...that isn't how they are supposed to be. 


I will leave it there and say that for me it is important to eat the way they used to, fresh, whole food that is eaten the way it is picked as well as meat that is treated with love and that the animals eat what they are ment to eat and not injected with things to make them bigger so that the companies can make more money.  I don't push people to eat organic food and I only give my advice when asked so it would be great for others not to judge those of us who do choose to make the healthy food choices that keep us around longer in the end!! 

Always something unbelievable..

Ok moms, this one blows my mind. I am sitting here watching this crazy show called Toddler and Tiaras and it is so sad. I guess I just take it for granted at how much I love and adore Kaya and would never make her do anything that she doesn't want to do when it comes to fun activities as she gets older.  These pageant mothers have there kids dressed as if they are 20 when they are 1 &2.  The sad part is that some of them really don't want to be there and if they don't do perfectly on stage they parents show and sometimes vocalize their disappointment :( kids don't get to be kids with the love and affection that should just come naturally from parents sometimes.  I just can't imagine letting my child feel like they are not good enough ever let alone at 2 years old.   I can't believe this stuff really goes on. I would love to hear your thoughts mama's!!
The sad part with this show from what I can see is that the mothers are living through their little girls because they didn't become what they wanted to.  They let themselves go and the disappointment they have with themselves is projected onto their kids if they don't do as well as they want them to ;( It is up to us as our children grow to show them as much love and positive attention possible.  Our children are here for their own journey and we are here to teach them right and wrong, teach them how to be healthy, strong and independent.
Teaching your kids how to be healthy by getting them active from a young age as well as introducing the healthy foods and keeping it that way will give them the knowledge they need to succeed in the future with the choices of things they choose to do, not what we choose for them!!!

Early mornings for moms!

Ahhh, baby up at 5:45 today, that's a new one! As most of you moms know just when you think you have this great routine going all of a sudden something changes! But, what are we to do but smile and go with their every move!! They are figuring things out just as much as we are I guess :)

And I must say that morning is one of my favorite times of day with Kaya, she eats and then plays for at least 1-2 hours depending on the day! She is so smily and giggly that it makes all the tired thought in your head disappear and then 2 hours later when she goes down for a nap I can not seem to fall back to sleep!! The whole sleep when your baby sleeps isn't as easy as they make it sound right moms?! I would love to hear from you if you can relate to this!! Send me a comment :)

Good thing to be up early as I have to make some sweet treats for today. I am going to do a nutrition day at lulu lemon!! My first one, complementary consultations if people are feeling as if something is not quite right and to answer any questions they may have!

So on a nutrition note, you don't have to deprive yourself of the fun stuff in order to be healthy or loose the weight. It is important to enjoy the foods you eat otherwise your body will not digest them properly and that can lead to another host of problems. So check out my recipe favorites page for this great little recipe if you like something sweet that packs a nutrition punch to boot! I hope you enjoy this recipe and I would love to hear some of your favorites and post them for you, so I look forward to hearing form you soon!!

My Personal Story

I have been in the fitness and nutrition world for the last 4 years. I am a certified personal trainer and a Holistic Nutritionist. As I write this opening it still feels sureal to say this because I would have never in my wildest dreams growing up ever imagined that this would be the direction my life would follow!

I grew up in a small city in Saskatchewan and like many people I struggled with weight my entire life. I was always active but still always very heavy. I would try to tell myself it didn't bother me that much as most overweight people do and I would always make fun of it in order for it not to really matter, but the hard part was that others made fun of it as well and I never got comfortable with that. I never felt completely comfortable in my own skin and I never really felt excepted by other kids growing up. I played basketball and tried to participate in other sports, I would go to the gym but I always fell back to being heavy.

I remember the day that I decided to change my life. They say everyone has that "ah-ha" moment and I remember mine (I actually had 2!). I was at work doing someone's hair (oh yes, I am a hairstylist as well!!!) and I looked in the mirror and I just remember not being able to see my coller bone, I couldn't believe that I had gotten to that point and I never wanted to look in the mirror unless I had to after that. A few months later I saw a picture of myself and I just remember the feeling flooded with emotion, tears, anger, frustration, and worst of all I truley hated what I saw in that picture, what I had "let myself become" and I needed to make a change because I wouldn't let myself feel that way any longer.

That was about 8 years ago now and let me tell you it has been an interesting ride along the way :) For me, my changes began by exercising more often. I will be completly honest and tell you that I still wasn't eating very well at all up until I began school to become a Holistic Nutritionist, this completely changed my life!!!

Throughout the years as I began to make changes, I worked with a few trainers along the way but most of all I did the majority of it myself by going to the gym and different classes and each time I would fall back a little and gain some weight back I would know that I just can't be that person, and then when I would loose some weight I would love that feeling of being more comfortable and confident with myself! I also just began to relize how important my health was, I am thankful that I never got to a point where my health was jeporidized but I know I was probably close.

I was up to 250lbs at my heaviest and I know that is on the way to many health problems. I lost 90 lbs all together when I reached my smallest! It all started when I began training to be an amature boxer and I haven't looked back since. The weight began coming off more and more and then I had my first fight. It was so empowering and I wanted to do more. So I decided it was time to try competing in a Figure Fitness Competion. With 4 months of intense, extremely dedicated training and dieting I competed in my first one in 2008! I must say at the time it was the BEST day of my entire life, I have never felt so good about myself and my hard work! I kept up a healthy lifestyle and had 2 more boxing matches after that (and won them both!).

Then in may of 2009 I found out I was going to have a baby!!! Well of course I was so excited but in the back of my mind I was a little nervous about putting on so much weight. I soon reailzed that if you continue to maintain a healthy lifestyle (with some treats of course!!) you could maintain a healthy weight and afterward everything can go back to normal with some hard work. I now have the most beautiful baby girl named Kaya and honestly almost have my old body back and working toward an even better one!!

It has taken a long time and many struggles to get to the point in my life that I am at and I am so thankful for all my struggles because I really got to know my body and now know how to maintain and keep pushing forward to reach new levels. Every challenge I have had has made me stronger and more enlightened in many different ways. Everything in life happens for a reason and after all I have been through I can now relate to so many different people and help them to achieve their goals from weight loss or athletic sport specific training and now even how to stay healthy and active during pregnancy as well as getting back that pre baby figure!

I have learned to treat my body as a temple as we truely only get one chance this time around so I want to give my body the nurturing and respect it deserves! This is why I have named my business BODY KARMA because the better we treat our body, the better it will treat us in the future!!!

I leave in saying that if I had the strength and will power to change my life and acheive some of the goals that I have acheived, then believe me anyone can do it!! The biggest thing is that you do it for yourself and you know that you are truely ready to do whatever it takes because it is not an easy road, and it will never be completely smooth but believe me it can have a lot less bumps when you are happy and confident in your own skin!!