Recent Stories

• Chili Contest!

  Tomorrow I'm doing something I've never done before--I'm competing against 16 other people in a chili contest!  It's to fundraise for Team HOPE, which I'm a member of.  We're participating in the Scotiabank Toronto Harbourfont Charity Marathon, and I'm walking a half marathon--first time for that too!  Pretty exciting! I figured if I were going to participate in a cook-off, I was going to COMPETE and try for first place.  So I've made chili from scratch, and we're talking scratch here--from the beef bones!  Then I spent a lot of yesterday creating and then simmering the chili, AND making toppings: * Shredded 5-year-old white cheddar (spent a fair bit on that, but my chili doesn't have any meat, so I'm still saving money lol) * Really spicy fresh chili sauce for people who like melt-your-face-off-hot chili (from scratch) * Coleslaw (seemed weird, but a chef friend suggested it) (from scratch) * Cornbread croutons (which I've never made before, but they turned out DELISH--also from scratch) I have pictures, but I'll wait and post them with the results after the contest.  I'll even share the crouton recipe.:) The other competitors are GOING DOWN.  Yay for fundraising! THEY'RE GOING DOWN.

  21 hours ago | By amacuba

• Ha! Did it!

  NO alcohol for me!

  1 day ago | By masterson

• THEY FIT!!!

  yay another goal reached!!

  1 day ago | By corainlayton96

• Stressed to say the least

  Holy stressed-out drive-thru sabatoge!

  2 days ago | By melopz

• Clean Weekend?

  Anyone?

  2 days ago | By masterson

• Thursday

   Well it is three o'clock and I wish I had done more today.  I guess I  dont know what to do with myself.  Did some laundry, gardening, made my appointment for MRI, yay !. Finally got the go ahead from ins . Grr !  Say no more. Made camping reservations for yearly fishing trip. Our first ever camping trip without our daughter.  About thirteen years.  Boo hoo !  That will be very strange !  Husband will be upset because I would still bring along s'mores fixings for her and he naturally benefitted by  that. Lol !  My nieces will take care if him and they use Reese's peanut butter cups. Yum and yuck all at the same time.  We plan for some good eats.  Stuffed peppers, soups, chili, bison burger minis, all comfort foods. It gets chilly up ther at night.  Looking forward to it. It is a very large campground on Lake Ontario.  Lots and lots of walking and bike riding.  Love it !   As for today's food I have been on track.  Wanting to start cooler one but have to use up food items before beginning. Some fruits, hummus, sprouted bread.  My husband will not be able to eat it all and I don't want it to go to waste.  Will start when items are gone and continue until we leave for camping.  Basically my day is not too far from cooler but want to shock the body again and drop whatever will drop off.  Mmm, beef stew is in the crock.  Smells yummy !  Simple !  Ready to eat after walk !    Carrot, celery, potato, onion, green pepper, garlic, mushrooms, spices  and a bit organic low sodium broth.    Decided to track my day on  My Fitness Pal.  I stopped doing this as I became obsessed.  I will post stats later for review.  Cholesterol is a bit over.That  being from 1 whole egg, 1 hard boiled egg, roasted chicken and the stew meat.  Is this a concern ???  There is such mixed thoughts with that.  Calories are at about 1300.   Have a good day all and it is great to see old KTers returning.  Gets us all going...

  3 days ago | By Lovecleaneating

• Meeting Tosca (again) at the Olympia, Las Vegas

   It’s been less than 48 hours since I got back to Boston from the Olympia in Las Vegas.  I had such an amazing experience but man am I exhausted!   A few months ago I was invited to work the booth at Vitacost.com.  Obviously I had to say yes!  I got to hangout with my best friend, represent the Get In Shape Girl and meet lots of the fitness pros and models I’ve been following for years.   We arrived Wednesday evening to set up the booth.  I cannot even begin to tell you how many boxes of Dymatize samples we unloaded.  See Vitacost.com sells everything from protein supplements to Bob’s Red Mill almond meal to Seventh Generation cleaning supplies.  Obviously we focused on giving away sports nutrition samples from other companies as well as their in-house Aro line.   By the end of Thursday we turned this… Into this… Over the course of the two days of the actual show, I met and chatted with new fitness friends as well as those I’ve known for a while such as…   Amanda Adams Renaldo Gairy Kelsey Byers Crystal Honeycutt from Train Dirty Fitness Danny J from the Sweaty Betties King Kahn Robert Irvine Libby DiBiase Little B Dianna Dahlgren And the Queen, Tosca Reno One thing Tosca said to me really stuck with me and I think it’s important for all of you to hear as well.  First of all, before I get into that, her skin was glowing.  Same as last time I met her.  She literally glows.  (I think you know why.)  In the last year she has lost her husband to cancer, took over his position as CEO only to file bankruptcy three months later.  She is 53 years young, and she has been put through the ringer.  She will openly admit it too.  I commended her on how open and honest she has been about the whole thing and wanted her to know that we all love and support her.  Here is what she told me that really stuck.. She said had her healthy habits not been instilled in her, it could have gotten really ugly.   And that is the thing!  You guys email me and tell me about your stresses and how you handle them.  When you eat clean for long enough, it becomes second nature.  Your body is less likely to reach for comfort food in times of stress.  When you exercise often that is what you do to release!   I love Tosca Reno because she is so honest.  She told me straight up that it’s been really hard for her but that she feels confident now that she, her family and her businesses will prevail.  I swear this is the highlight of my trip!   Tosca and I also chatted about how the bodybuilding and supplement industry can get really carried away.  There’s a pre-workout, an intra-workout, a post-workout, a powder to take before bed, one to take on an empty stomach, a pill to take to get smaller, get bigger, the list goes on.  Some of these things may help, but at the end of the day if you aren’t eating clean, sleeping enough, drinking a ton of water or doing the right workouts none of these things are going to help.   And this brings me to why I chose to work the booth with Vitacost.com.  I didn’t go with them because I love bodybuilding.  As a matter of fact, the entire weekend made me even more secure and happy that I compete in a performance based sport.  But I went with them because they aren’t just magic pills.  Yes, if supplements are what you are into, then they have those.  But Vitacost.com is so much more than that.  They have so many healthy foods like apple cider vinegar, coconut oil and almond butter.   The relationship between the two companies (Vitacost and The Get In Shape Girl) just works.  I have followers who have run marathons, competed in figure, are powerlifters and some of which don’t do any of those things but just want to lose a little body fat and be happy and healthy.  And that’s why I partnered withVitacost because they have what it takes to support all of those goals, not just building muscle or getting ripped.   Now it’s your turn… Do you use any supplements? If so, which ones? If not, have you ever tried any and gotten nothing out of them? Leave a comment below!   Kyra, The Get In Shape Girl   P.S. Get $10 off your first order at Vitacost.com with my code - https://www.vitacostrewards.com//referrals/webReferralUpdate.pg?EmailId=659000185709&ReferralId=659000185697

  4 days ago | By thegetinshapegirl