Fun Finds in the USA

I went shopping with my girlfriends yesterday to Amherst, NY and we had a fantastic time! I love shopping in the States for a bunch of reasons. 1 - our dollar. It's affordable now with the dollar always being so close to par. 2 - the options! Especially for food! I'm able to find some great things that I just can't get here in Canada. 3 - I love shopping! It's great to find new things and be excited about your purchases.

Here are the highlights from various stores:

Target

• Smartones 4/$8 in fun flavors that we don't have in Canada including some of the Fruit Sensations line and a bunch of desserts


• Yoga Booty Ballet - Kit including two DVD's with 5 workouts, food info and Beachbody Squishy Ball to add resistance for some exercises. The kit was $29.99 and I kicked myself in the butt for not grabbing it last time, and luckily they still had it! I've heard great things about these DVD's so I'm really looking forward to trying them out.


• Various 100 calorie snacks including Hershey pretzel bars and Chips Ahoy and Oreo Candy Bites

Weight Watchers Center

I have to say that the service providers at the center on Niagara Falls Blvd. are always so nice to me and let me shop to my heart's content. It's fantastic!!

• Weight Watchers Easy Measure Serving Spoons - Some of you may be familiar with the Easy Rite Measuring spoons we have in the meeting rooms. These are a version of those but made from Stainless steel. They are shiny and beautiful and I can't wait to use them. In the set you get a 1 cup and 1/2 cup spoon and a 1/4 cup ladle


• Smoothies - French Vanilla and Chocolate


• 1 point bars - Peanut Butter Crunch and Oatmeal flavored (sadly they were out of the dark chocolate raspberry that I fell in love with last time)


• 2 point bars - mint chocolate. I love this flavor combination so I'm really curious as to how it will taste

Wegmans

• Kellog's Special K Cinnamon Pecan - New flavor, very yummy


• Weight Watchers Muffins - in blueberry and berry creme


• Weight Watchers yogurts


• Weight Watchers rye bread


• Fiber One muffin mix


• House Foods Tofu Shirataki Noodles - I've been reading about these in my daily emails from Hungry Girl and I've been curious to try them. They're weird and come in a bag of water but I'm going to give it a go.


• Boca Burgers


• Kashi waffles


• Fat free hot chocolate

In addition to all the food, I bought some great shoes, awesome Liz Clairborne boots for $15, a great Nine West suit among other things. It was a fantastic trip and I had a super day. I'll be sure to report back on my food finds, the use of my new spoons and Yoga Booty Ballet!

Belly Dancing Update

I've now attended 5 belly dancing classes and I can't tell you how much I enjoy it!

Last night I attended a make-up class with a teacher I've never studied with. It was fantastic!! There were only 4 of us there and Abby was an amazing teacher. We warmed up and did some isolations and then followed that up with 20 minutes of choreography. It was fun to move to the different moods in the music and put everything together. I actually felt like I was dancing rather than just doing the motions and isolating different areas of my body.

I also worked with a veil for the first time last night. It's basically a large piece of fabric used to frame the body and create stunning pictures for the audience. It was really neat to work with a prop for the first time and I was happy with how quickly I picked up the different movements.

I feel exhilarated when I finish class. It's a fun workout, sometimes more sweaty than others, I work on my posture and my core and the time really just flies by. I feel beautiful executing the movements and I'm really feeling more graceful and confident as the weeks go by. I'm going to continue my studies because it's been such a positive experience and I really look forward to improving my skills over the next few months.

I highly recommend Hannan's studio. I've had classes with two different teachers and both have been fantastic. They have three studios in the GTA. I think belly dancing could be a really fun experience for many women and a really interesting, unique way to be active!

Quotes Part Deux

The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don't define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.

Denis Watley

We can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough.

Helen Keller

Perseverance is failing nineteen times and succeeding the twentieth.

Julie Andrews

Things I've Learned about Softball

I played in my second official softball game last night. We're now 1-1, with a 20-19 win last night. I'm very proud of how I've played thusfar. I mean I'm not ready for the Jays or anything even close, but I feel like I'm holding my own. Last night I was 3/3 at bat and I was 3/4 last game. Last night I even picked up a couple ground balls and threw back into the infield with some pretty solid throws.

Here are some things I've learned:

1. There really is no "I" in team - softball is a team sport and there's always someone there to back you up, support you or coach you. I always know there's someone else there to help me out on a play or someone who is going to be on the recieving end of the ball.


2. Positive self talk goes a long way - especially when convincing yourself "the ball is my friend", "I will catch that ball", "I will hit", "I will run fast"


3. A solid single is a good thing - there's really no need to go nuts out there. Go ahead and move in for me when you see that I'm a girl and I don't hold the bat like a slugger. That doesn't mean that my single isn't going to be important to the team's progress. A solid single is a lot better than a pop fly that is caught by a skilled outfielder.


4. Sometimes softball is a contact sport - just suck it up and don't cry and explain nicely to your fiance later that you only snapped at him because the ball had just hit you between your shoulder blades while heading to third base


5. Run like hell - because you might have a crazy batter behind you and you need to get your butt to the next base because he's not allowed to lap you. A good sprint never hurt anyone.

Pesto Burgers

Very yummy burgers from Rose Reisman's book "Secrets for Permanant Weightloss" or on her website


Cook Time:15 - 20 mins
Servings:5 Burgers

1 lb extra lean ground beef
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped green onions, whole onion
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 cup pesto sauce (see below) or store-bought
1 large egg
1 tsp minced garlic

1. Mix the beef, bread crumbs, green onion, basil, ¼ cup of pesto, egg and garlic byhand and shape into 5 burgers. Grill or sauté until done, about 7 minutes per side.Serve the burgers with the remaining ¼ cup of pesto.
Nutrition:Per Burger
Calories 206
Protein 21 g
Net carbohydrates 4.5 g
Fat 11 g
Saturated Fat 4 g
Cholesterol 77 mg
Sodium 244 mg
Fibre 0.9 g

Homemade Pesto
1 cup well-packed basil leaves (250 mL)
2 tbsp toasted pine nuts (25 mL)
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese (25 mL)
2 tbsp olive oil (25 mL)
1 tsp minced garlic (5 mL)
3 tbsp light cream cheese
2 tsp lemon juice

1. Put basil, pine nuts, Parmesan, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic in food processor; process until finely chopped, scraping sides of bowl down once. Add cream cheese and process until smooth.