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...

For all of you chocolate lovers, here are some things that have satiated my cravings! Chocolate Avocado Pudding: 1 avocado 1 Tbsp Coconut Milk Cocoa to taste Honey to taste Serve with bananas, strawberries, on toast, crepes, etc mmmmmmmm Hot Cocoa: 1+ Tbsp cocoa  1 + Tbsp coconut milk Honey to taste Eat chocolate with nuts! Try semi sweet chocolate chips mixed with raisins, cashews, walnuts, almonds, pecans, or sesame snacks. The protein will satiate your appetite and reduce your craving. The flavors are delicious!

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...

My new favorite ingredient is coconut milk powder. I mix 1/4 cup of powder to 1 cup of warm water and blend it. It is an excellent milk substitute that is vegan/lactose free. It is creamy and tastes great with cereal, in coffee, and in smoothies. I have been enjoying this vegan smoothie lately: 1 cup coconut milk (from powder) 1/2 cup orange juice 1/2 cup almond milk 2 frozen bananas 1 avocado 6-8 cubes frozen pineapple 1 Tbsp Coconut oil 1 scoop of hemp protein powder It's tropical, delicious and vegan! Lactose free always makes for improved digestion I think :) Try it and enjoy!

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.

Pumpkin Soup Recipe:   My workout buddy LOVED this so apparently it IS as delicious as I thought and easy easy easy. I made it up :) Clean Pumpkin meat and steam, sprinkled with 1:2 nutmeg:curry powder, a little salt + a little onion salt.  Pan fry 1 celery stalk + onion in coconut oil until browned. Add pumpkin + celery/onion mix to the steam water and simmer on low.  Add 1 tomato, 1/2 can coconut milk, 3 dates and simmer 1 hour.  Cool and puree in blender Reheat and garnish with roasted pumpkin seeds 

On Saturday I went to my friend's place for dinner with the kids. He made a seafood feast with lobster pasta, crab and beautiful veggies. It was photo worthy and warranted some blog props. While I did not eat any of this handsome little fellow, the lobster pasta was to-die-for. Here is his recipe, c/p'ed from his FB page :) Cooked the shells for an hour with some chicken stock. Strained the shells. Reduced the liquid until it started to stick to the pan. De glazed it with a quarter of a cup of white wine. Added a cup of cream and simmered until thick. Served with chopped lobster bits on top of some penne. Steamed green beans tossed in garlic butter.   Thanks again, Ben!

I could live on soup. Seriously- it is an infusion of goodness full of electrolytes and soluble nutrition. It is hard to f*%$ up soup :) It's a go-to healthy choice. A small serving is very filling. It can be topped with bread, shredded cheese, sour cream or yogurt. It is a 2:00 reheat and great for a fast meal at home. It is a great "healthier" restaurant choice. I order soup all the time! It is delicious :) Ben made this amazing asparagus and broccoli soup. He brought me 2 containers which = 4 servings for me. I have 2 left for the weekend. It is a jam packing 300 calorie infusion- perfect fuel for training and a healthy food plan. Here is his recipe: Four cups of each potato, asparagus carrot and broccoli 1 bag of milk 2 cups chicken stock. I think he blended it. Serve with greek yogurt. After adding the cheese I thought it was a bit salty so perhaps 1 cup of stock could be replaced by 1 cup of water? Regardless, this is a simple and delicious healthy recipe t...

I have never been a fan of eating in my car. It always struck me as unfashionable and sloppy somehow. Perhaps this is because I most often see people eating fast food in their cars. I spend a lot of time driving between clients and am pretty busy every day. One of my resolutions this year has been to stabilize my blood sugar levels more consistently, and to this end I have started eating in my car. It is difficult to manage eating otherwise when I am gone from 7:45AM until 5PM each day, without a structured/regular "lunch break". Each day is different for me so lunch in my car is my strategy. I struggle with appetite and am a picky taster. I like a very broad range of flavors but only certain ones at certain times. I tend to get into cycles. My go-to in the car right now is a peanut butter and jam sandwich on my delicious homemade bread. I cut it into quarters and can graze on it between a couple of clients. Once I get bored with it I will switch to something else for a ...

Yesterday was a write off. I seemed to get behind the 8 ball early somehow,  and although I was mostly on time I seemed to be scrambling the entire day. I drove by an accident where a teen had been hit by a car at 8:15AM in my neighborhood. She was in the "recovery position" with 6 or 7 people assisting; the ambulance was on its way. I stopped my car to see if I could help but the situation was under control with a CPR person already attending. The poor girl looked really hurt. As I wasn't a witness I left the scene and tried to shake it off. By the end of the day clients needed particularly extensive notes and I actually had to cancel a PM session as an investment in getting my paperwork done- sorry Will! I am trying to get a solid 6-8 hours of sleep each nigh- these 2AM days are killing me! Yesterday I logged +600 trainer reps with 3 clients- full body as well as deep core work. Those add up! Today I am on track with the ladies tearing it up, logging 1100 reps b...

Here is the workout I mapped out for myself yesterday. I had every intention of banging it out, no problem. However, as the day got on I noticed a little twinge in my left hip flexor/groin area which reminded me that I had felt the same thing the night before, with my feet on the inverted BOSU core set. A bit later I felt it on my right side also- nothing severe, just a twinge that made my hip joint feel a bit "off". That's enough of a reason to take a rest day in my opinion. It is a lesson. Although it's hard to be motivated and it is disappointing to skip a workout you are planning, it is devastating to be injured. The workout can wait; the way I see it "just give me a good enough reason to rest" hehe. I have been doing a lot of unilateral BOSU work as well as added more stability challenge to my core sets by placing my feet on the inverted BOSU. These are new and advanced (for me) positions I have worked up to, so it is reasonable that I am feeling ...

Happy New Year! I am coining 2013 the year of "Digging Deep" as we pursue our loftiest goals and ambitions in all areas of our health and wellness. Goal setting is 101 in our strategies for success. Consider these aspects of your well being when planning for 2013: 1.) Exercise- Build towards 3-5x week and steadily increase workout frequency to that goal. 2.) Nutrition- KISS. Simplicity is key. Avoid empty calories. Make healthy choices. No fast food. Eat fresh. Every color is a nutrient. Portions are palm sized. Refined sugar is bad. Choose nutrient dense calories. These are simple rules for success. 3.) Work- We all have to do it. Find balance in the hours you have every day. Remember that over achieving is counter-productive. Balance is key. 4.) Personal- Do not overlook your social, mental and emotional health in your pursuit of balance. Check out once in awhile. Leave your cell phone at home. Spend time with your kids. Walk your dog. Have ...

Here is a Challenge I put on Facebook: OK Folks.... It is THAT time of year again. Halloween is upon us. 'Tis the season of wee chocolate bars and wee bags of chips, wee bags of cheezies, candy, and more chocolate. Some of us have already dug into Halloween stash and have had to buy more- this year I bought none and therefore have eaten NONE. You know I am all about my strategies! After Sunday there will not only be leftovers, but also piles of loot from our kids who rarely notice when it goes missing, little by little :) It's time to get strategic with this CHALLENGE! I am leading a NO sugar for 7 days challenge, beginning tomorrow. The only sweeteners allowed are honey, maple syrup, agave, etc and natural sugars in fresh food. No added sugar in coffee, no bon bons, ice cream, chocolate, donuts, cake, pie....... c'mon it's only 7 days! WHO IS WITH ME? Join us on Facebook for support!

This week I have not used the weight machine much as my wrists have been sore and recovering. I did a small set with the guys to do some "grip testing" in an attempt to adjust the set up of the machine for better form. The problem with the Universal is the way the machine adjusts- seat height and position are simply notches - the adjustments are bell-curve incremental. I can't refine it to the perfect position which will give me perfect form. Dang machines. What is interesting (although a bit demoralizing) is that with better position/form I am only benching 30lbs, not the 60 I thought I was up to. It never ceases to amaze me how much "better" you can perform with crap form (but not for long before injury takes you down!) Whenever I  reign in my runners' form they invariably slow down and then complain about how much faster they run "their" way. You may run a 1:35 Half, but how will your performance stand the test of time? Poor form over thousa...

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...

This week has been all about making a push! With workouts in high gear post race, we are hitting the gym a lot and paying attention to the nutrition supporting these workouts. Here is a snapshot of how we are eating, high in protein for weight training on the Universal machine. We are building muscles baby! <--- Oatmeal breaded chicken strips with seamed potato, steamed beets, quinoa rice, steamed greens, apple slices w/homemade apple sauce/butter, cucumber, snow peas, sour cream.  Homemade perogies. Heart shaped :) --->;  Potato & Cheese with homemade pasta wrap. <---- We bought these beautiful steaks at The Apple Factory last weekend. It was served with asparagus stalks (a but tough but we steam them extra long and enjoy the high dose of fibre- pragmatism over aesthetics lol), steamed beets, homemade apple sauce/butter, snow peas, tomatoes, dandelion root stir fry & homemade pasta. We are certainly focusing on high protein meals. Today w...

It is 1 week since I ran the Mississauga Half Marathon in 1:55:29. It was hands down my best race ever and I have been digesting it all week. I have wanted to blog about it but was too busy, and now there's so much more to blog about! I'm going to back it up from here: Congruent with my strategic approach to motivation I booked this weekend "off" to study for a course exam- I have been procrastinating. By blocking off the time I looked forward to having a "college girl" weekend of books rewarded with good food and beer. This is what I have been munching on today (I warn you this post will be food picture heavy, but you guys always ask me what I eat!). Last night we hit the Apple Factory in Brampton where the produce was not only A+ but also inexpensive. We bought these beautiful sprouts, cranberry goat cheese, blackberry syrup and so much more! The hummus is a homemade refried bean/chick pea dip with tahini, lemon and no garlic- I do like it plain. This ...