Kate Rita- Personal Trainer and Diastasis Expert

I had an opportunity to try a food delivery service called Hello Fresh. A lot of people have been talking about it and it is becoming a popular option for people who are too busy to shop and plan for meals. It is a much cheaper and healthier option to eating out.  Most meals cost approx $12 per person and the portions are generous. I am always nervous about subscription services, and in order to redeem the coupon I was gifted I had to signup with payment information. I reviewed the cancellation policy which seemed very uncomplicated. Further to, I can skip weeks as I choose, pausing my subscription. It seemed fair. My resident kitchen helper Ben volunteered to blog about the meal preparation. Ben is a fantastic creative cook and hobby chef. As we have prepared more Hello Fresh meals he has “beefed up” the ingredients to make extra portions from the same recipe, as well as kid friendly (plainer) versions. Here is Ben’s review of our first Hello Fresh Meal, a Pork Schnitzel...

Here is my go-to smoothie recipe for everyone who has asked me for it. I blend all the powders, oils and liquid before adding the fruit. Add water to thin to taste.  This is always very sweet and yummy and full of nutrient dense choices. I make a 9 cup batch each week and keep it refrigerated in the blender carafe. When I need a serving I throw it on the base and whip it; sometimes adding ice. I'm sure you could try any variation of this recipe, adding or omitting ingredients. I swear by this concoction; it keeps me feeling like a lean mean metabolic machine :) Smoothie  recipe: (my go to) 1/3 cup coconut milk powder (base) 1 cup water 1 cup almond milk (protein) 1 cup OJ (I use concentrate + 1 cup water) 2 frozen bananas (potassium + sweet) 2 scoops natural hemp powder or ancient grains powder (quinoa, millet etc) 1 Tbsp Coconut oil (energy) 1 Tbsp Flax oil (inflammation) 1 avocado (super food + healthy fat) 3/4 cup frozen fruit- I like pineapple, s...

Shake recipe, makes approx 9 cups: 1 cup milk (or substitute- almond milk, coconut milk (1/2 cup), soy milk (not my favorite) rice milk) 1 cup juice (sometimes I use a scoop pf frozen concentrate + 1 cup water)   1 cup yogurt 1-2 bananas ( I freeze brown ones for smoothies and microwave them for 30 secs to peel) 1/2 avocado (this cuts the sweetness of the protein powder and makes it creamy) 1 tablespoon coconut oil 2 scoops whey protein powder 1/2 cup frozen berries Blend well. Keep in fridge in blender. I give it a quick blend before serving each time. My kids also love it. You can mix it up from here. Today my smoothie has 4 kiwis, 1 banana, no milk, and raspberries. Use this as a basic guideline and get creative! *Use the protein powder as just a fortified ingredient, not a base.

This is an article I wrote for Mississauga Kids in August: It's good solid advice! Now that that your Mississauga Kids are back to school that means there's more time for moms and dads to focus on taking care of themselves.  The summers can be a busy time and often parents put their own fitness needs on the back burner while they are busy taking care of keeping the kids busy and healthy.  Here are 5 tips from Mississauga Personal Trainer Kate Rita to help you get back on track this fall. 1. Schedule It in! As you are mapping out your Fall routine be sure to include yourself in the list. Book “appointments” with yourself for workouts and value your time as much as you would anyone else’s. Don’t stand yourself up and be consistent. 2. Involve the Family. As schedules become more hectic during the week, plan for your quality family time to involve everyone in active fun! Get a quick swim in after school. Plan a hike for Sunday morning or go apple picking. I...

This is an article I recently wrote for Core Expectations : It is my fundamental goal to set you up for success. An individualized fitness program is customized to your life’s busy schedule so you will succeed over the long term! People think it’s crazy when I tell my clients that my goal is to set them up so they don’t need me. Am I on a mission to become unemployed? Hardly, but as a personal trainer I do have another mission in mind: 1. To inspire my clients to fall in love- not with working out necessarily, but with how it makes them feel! That is a significant motivator, especially as we age. 2. To incorporate fitness into the healthy picture of a balanced life; for both stress management and physical, mental, emotional and social health benefits. I sincerely believe that we will not reach our full potential without learning to incorporate exercise in to our lives. The reality is that very few people can afford to hire a personal trainer ...

It's been a busy 10 days since I blogged and a lot of eatins been going on! I was given a beautiful BBQ last weekend by my friend Maria (thank you!) which inspired some sizzling meat menus to accompany our strength push in the gym. It all started with that big meat sale we scored at Sobey's last week :) ........... This is a load of chicken breasts & thighs that lasted us for days. We BBQ'ed in the garage after a workout on Sunday. It was fun :) ---> <--- BBQ Chicken, steamed greens, steamed potatoes, tomatoes & cucumbers with homemade dressing. Mmmm. This was the official BBQ celebration feast post workout. Perfect fuel for replenishing!  We had lots leftover that then served to accompany several days worth of meals:  <---Chicken with 3 delicious salads that were shared with me by my friend & client Sue. Let's see if I can remember- a chick pea salad, Mediterranean spinach with feta, and a Quinoa vegetable salad, served with homemade...

Go-To Bean Salad This side dish is full of flavour and fibre.  The slow digestion rate and low glycemic index means that it won't spike your blood sugar, and the fibre helps prevent  hunger between meals. Add to that the bonus that it only takes about 10 minutes to prepare and will keep refrigerated for about a week. Add 1/2 cup of this yummy nutritious salad to any meal or snack- look at my post workout meal entry from yesterday to see it on my plate! Garnish with variety and enjoy all week long! It makes a great lunch item for weekdays at work! Ingredients: 1 can of mixed beans containing chick peas 500ml 1 can of sweet/peaches corn 341ml 2 medium carrots peeled and shredded 1 medium zucchini halved and sliced thinly 1 thumb sized piece of finely grated ginger 1 tbsp of fresh cilantro (aka coriander) 2 tbsp of sesame oil 2 tbsp of  toasted sesame seeds Garnishes/Options Add sunflower seeds, raisins, 1tbsp brown sugar and a bit of your favorite v...

It is Spring and I am making a push. I know from experience that slow steady training is my model for success- both in results and sustainability. I am back to the 12-20:00 model. Without discounting the importance of rest, my program is now a daily prescription of 12-20 minutes of exercise. Strategically, HIITworkouts (high intensity interval training) are shorter, straight sets and cardio cross training are longer. My workouts target muscle groups and intensity relatively, allowing for needed rest even on "active" rest days. This approach ensures that my activity levels have consistency and equally importantly that stretching is an every day discipline. Here is yesterdays workout, a 20:00 mid-high intensity session. I love the whiteboard or notebook workout logs- they quantify my efforts. Workout 20:00 + warm up & cool down, active rest speed bag Triple Kicks 3 x 20/side L/R = 60/set= 360 Dive Bomber Push Up Mods 10 x 2 + 5 full = 25 Hip Circle Knee Raise Chall...

Recently I have taken on 2 new activities that are a direct result of my daughter's pursuit of fitness. She was interested in rock climbing so we went and not surprisingly I love it too! We go 2x week now, and although I can't always climb (I have the baby on my own a lot of the time) I have learned to tie the follow figure eight knot:      and I am planning a belay lesson. I am loving it! On my search for a facility I found myself at the Oakville YMCA . Wow what a great place! To try out the pool I went swimming lanes one evening and I have rekindled my love of length swimming that I had in my youth. This has helped to inspire me to train for a Summer Try-a-Tri .  I am so excited to have new interests that involve my entire family!

Family fitness is an exercise in wellness. It is an investment in the overall health of your family which includes many aspects of wellness such as physical, emotional and social. I always find that it takes incredible mental effort to get the entire family involved in my workouts. To run with the stroller I have to dress the baby for weather, pack supplies, deal with a helmet, and stop to deal with fussiness. Add to that a dog alongside, navigating a leash, picking up poo, slowing down for pees and sniffs, reigning in to pass other pedestrians (especially those with dogs). Going swimming with the kids is a comparable ordeal of planning, packing and executing. Bike rides are slow and involve playground or library pitstops. It certainly is tremendously more difficult than getting dressed, grabbing my own gear and heading quickly out the door on my own workout schedule. The interruptions involved with family fitness deter the intensity you can achieve with solo training. I certainly can...

Here are some more nutritional and simple foods that are quick to cook. These are regular staples around here:   Grilled Salmon <20:00 to cook from frozen. A great first meat for babies, and a delicious nutritious food for family members of all ages!Just be VERY careful of little bones!   Pan Fried/Blackened Tofu. <10:00 to pan fry. A great source of protein and a baby/toddler friendly finger food!    Beautiful Steamed Sweet Potato cubes & Green Beans. Again, excellent nutritious baby/toddler finger friendly food. Approx 15:00 to steam.

It can be a difficult age when your baby has a few teeth and insists on feeding him/herself. There is a limited variety of fresh fruits that are suitable to be chopped and fed to a baby. Apples, pears, peaches, nectarines- these fruits can be too hard, even when steamed. My solution? Shred it! Shredded fruits and vegetables are easy finger foods for your baby. Carrots, cucumber, zucchini, apples, pears, beets.... you can add to the variety of fresh foods you can offer your baby. Consider it my tip of the day.

I have been discussing family meal preparation with a client and I thought I would offer another example of how I prepare a single meal in various ways to meet the needs of my family members. Here is the first example I offered. I think this one is even simpler. Tonight's dinner took about 20 minutes to prepare in 3 different manners. I prepared: - chopped raw vegetables - brown rice - pan fried shrimp - steamed broccoli and spinach - a can of corn (cold) I prepare everything separately and then serve it up accordingly. Here are some of the prepped foods.  I cook everything very dry. We add sauce when we serve up, if at all.   Here is Seth's version (Age 11 months): I added some cold sweet potato I had steamed yesterday and kept in the fridge. I add things to his tray accordingly. Tonight he only ate 2 pieces of shrimp, and refused the spinach and the cucumber mostly. This waste is secondary- I keep offering the foods to define his palette. I gave him sh...

  When you prepare meals to be served to meet individual preferences, leftovers are yummy and a  breeze! Here'a chana masala with quinoa and brown rice, leftover. The quinoa & rice can easily be reheated with soy milk, banana, berries, and topped with yogurt for a yummy hot cereal, ready in under 2 minutes. Or it an be eaten with the reheated masala, tossed into a cold salad with chopped vegetables and shrimp, or fried with meat & vegetables. How easy is that, with so many options in such quick time!  Here's a tip: When you cook make a little extra to have leftovers. Focus on the pasta/grain portion which can be used in a variety of cold salads, cereals and quick mixes. Be sure to store things separately. It's like pre-cooking or meal prep done with absolutely NO extra work!

Today I was supposed to run at 9AM with my Sunday morning running buddy . With the daylight savings change I even gained an hour of rest yet still woke up at 7AM feeling out of sorts and slightly "off". I had a long day yesterday with an early 8AM training session and then a Core Expectations training team dinner. I didn't see my kids much and I just couldn't get into bustling around this morning, getting ready, waking my husband to watch the baby, hurry out, then work at 10AM. Sigh. So I messaged my running buddy and took a big fat day off. I played on the floor with my baby, put him back to bed, did a coffee run and woke my husband with a foot rub before heading out to work. Sometimes you just gotta' listen to your heart/gut and prioritize an emotional "workout". Turns out I am still sore anyway, so the 2 days of rest is not a bad thing :)

(subtitled "Making It Work") So here is my day and how I managed to "make" time for my workout. Does this sound familiar? I set the alarm for 6AM with ambitious plans for an AM run. I woke at 5:45AM, looked at the clock and thought "No way in hell", reset it for 7AM and went back to sleep. Wake 7:18AM- overslept. Get my daughter up, she leaves for school at 8:15AM. My amazing husband does her morning routine while I get the baby up and fed. 8:15AM the house is now empty, just the baby and me. While he plays I grab a few minutes on the computer and finish my coffee. 8:50AM Baby goes for nap. Yay. My house is a disaster. The kitchen is a wreck- breakfast mayhem piled on last night's remnants of dirty dishes and mess. *sigh* I veg/work for 30 minutes on the computer. 9:15AM School calls- my 7 year old is in the office. Dammit I might not get my workout in at all! Crisis is under management  and hopefully I don't have to rush  out to pick her up ...

I have been emailing with a client who is looking for inspiration regarding sources of protein for her (almost) 9 month old. I was giving her tips, tricks and my favorite recipes for cereals and I thought it was good information to post here. (It is an excerpt from emails, so that explains how it is written): "OK CEREAL, my favorite topic. I love to cook him hot cereal. Some grains I prepare: - whole bulgar wheat - 6 grain cereal - steel cut oats - brown rice - quinoa - amaranth (the last 2 are about 30% protein each!) I cook a small pot of hot cereal every 2-3 days and refrigerate leftovers for easy reheats. When preparing a serving mash in some banana, a tich of soy milk, a tablespoon of dessert tofu, applesauce, whatever. Dollop with yogurt and it's a great meal FULL of protein (several sources too) anytime of day. Your challenge will likely be the chunky consistency. Try blending it down with some water and formula or rice milk or whatever using a hand b...

I wrote this 3 weeks after delivering Seth: I have now been through 2 pregnancies- the first six and half years ago, and the second this year. It is difficult to compare experiences directly- there are inherent characteristics unique to each. "They say" with your second pregnancy you show sooner, carry lower, deliver faster, etc., but even considering those generalizations, I can draw some distinctive conclusive comparisons based on my degree of fitness, or lack thereof.... With my first pregnancy I made the over cautious and under educated decision to cease all exercise, based on my fear of compromising my condition. I had been a consistent 5-10 K runner for 3 years. With my 2nd pregnancy, now as a personal trainer, ceasing my exercise routine was simply not an option. I modified my routine accordingly and exercised right up until the day I delivered. I used an adaptive program incorporating cardio, flexibility and strength training. Here are some observations...

As a personal trainer and a mother, family fitness is important to me on many levels. Firstly, it is a necessity in my attempts to stay active while juggling my family, my work and other obligations. For my children I am proud to be a healthy model of fitness and nutrition. With my dog it is time economics and quality of life, enjoying each others company. Being active together has great social advantages for my family, and it also has its own challenges. Pacing: Whether you are running with your dog, your child, a friend or a client, you must adjust your pace accordingly to accommodate your company's fitness level.My 11 year old dog likes a 7:30/km while I run a comfortable 5:30/km- we compromise somewhere in the middle. I also have to make time for sniffing and peeing as required. Further to that, he can't run much more than 5K comfortably anymore and that impacts my distances. We compromise and I often add walking distance to our 5K. He motivates me to add a nice long coo...

When Jenny was a baby I kept everything KISS. I think as a first time parent I lacked a little confidence to mix stuff up; I stuck with what worked, especially when it came to food. I breastfed exclusively for 4.5 months, never pumped, and nursed with solid food until 14 months.  With Seth I have nursed him since birth; I also pumped and stored milk from 8 weeks- 6 months. Now at 8 months he nurses 2-4x, takes approx 4 oz of formula, 4 oz of EBM (thawed breastmilk), and eats 3-4 small to medium meals of solids per day. He loves to feed himself and fingers of toast are his favorite thing! It is interesting to me that I feel so much less pressure feeding him and really appreciate the different sources of nutrition that are available to him. Fortunately he's not a fussy guy at all, and (touch wood) hasn't really refused anything yet! Our newest food additions are asparagus and lentils. I am especially excited about being able to increase his variety of protein. I am also switc...