March Favourites
As I sit here writing this post, it is pitch black outside and snowing. Granted, it is 5:30 am but snow?! You would never think that tomorrow is April. Despite the weather, March was a busy and fun-filled month. I got to travel to New York twice, once to meet my new baby cousin and the other with Samsung Canada – an incredible opportunity that I can’t wait to share more about in another post. As I am getting busier with the blog and personal training/health coach clients, I am constantly trying to find my work flow and create a schedule that is efficient and effective. So far what I’ve learned is that I may not be as good at working from home as I thought. And I also learned that I am so messy – sorry DC. The more I work from home, the more of a disaster I create in our condo. And then the more I clean up and procrastinate. Not a good cycle. I think it might be time to start working from coffee shops. Anyways, enough of this rant, let’s get to the March favourites.
As always, the disclaimer: the pantry staple was the only gifted item (however I had been using the cacao powder for years before they sent me some) and nothing in this post is paid. All thoughts my own!
Favourite Pantry Staple:
Organic Traditions Cacao Powder
If you don’t already have this at home, cacao powder is a pantry item that needs to become a staple in your home. This is cacao…not cocoa. Cacao is raw and the purest form of chocolate derived from the cacao fruit tree. It is extremely high in antioxidants and therefore considered a superfood. Cocoa, on the other hand is produced by heating cacao which destroys a lot of the health benefits of the plant. Cacao has a rich, chocolatey flavour that is perfect for desserts or smoothies but is extremely low in sugar (less than 1 gram per tablespoon). I have been using the Organic Traditions brand for years. I put a tablespoon into my smoothie or make vegan ice cream by simply blending a frozen banana with the powder.
Favourite Cookbook:
It’s All Good by Gwyneth Paltrow
This was the first cookbook I bought when I just started getting into healthy eating. I remember my best friend and I went to Whole Foods with a massive list and bought all the ingredients listed in the back of the book. Sticker shock set aside, most of those foreign (to me) ingredients have actually become staples at home. Brown rice vinegar, miso paste, gluten-free tamari and apple cider vinegar, to name a few, make a cameo in so many of my recipes now. I’ve been much more into simple, big-batch cooking lately so my cookbooks don’t get a lot of love, however, I pulled It’s All Good out the other day as I was in need of a good tomato sauce recipe and remembered how much I loved hers. Other favourites include her chicken burgers, ginger sesame carrots and of course, the roasted cauliflower and chickpea recipe. So so yummy!
Favourite Natural Skincare Product:
I’ve been pretty open about my skin struggles over the past few months and have tried so many products to help it. Lately I have been using this night cream and so far I absolutely love it. This Salvia Cream is all natural, organic and made for acne, overactive and blemished skin. It’s really thick so I like to put it on at night but my skin doesn’t feel over moisturized or oily in the morning which I really like. I tried a small sample of it for a couple days and ended up going back to buy the whole bottle. If all natural products are your thing, I definitely recommend it.
Favourite Workout Gear:
Athleta High Rise Powerful Gleam Tight
I recently picked up a pair of these tights in the forest green colour while at the Athleta store in New York. I wish we had it in Toronto – their stuff is so amazing! I have worn them a bunch, including teaching spinning in them, which is the ultimate sweat test and they passed with flying colours! Speaking of colour, I love the green. It was a nice change to add a little colour to my closet full of black workout pants. However, I love the pants so much I think I am going to also order them in black. DC will probably get mad when he sees this but hey – my workout clothes are my work clothes now so I think I can justify it, right?
Favourite Self-care Tip:
Using an Alarm Clock
I don’t know about you but I used to sleep with 5 different electronics plugged into a power bar right beside my bed. The chords were always tangled up and in my way as I charged my phone, kindle, Saje Nebulizer and headphones each night. I never really gave all this bedside technology any thought until I recently started waking up in the middle of the night and scrolling through my phone until I got tired again. Funny thing is, the more I checked in on Instagram or Facebook, the more awake I became. So not only was I scrolling through the middle of the night, but I realized I was scrolling first thing in the morning when I opened my eyes and then again before bed, wasting precious sleeping minutes. It’s just such an overwhelming way to start or end your day. I don’t want to get into it too much as I would like to write a post in more detail on this. So long story short, I unplugged everything except my nebulizer (which I can’t sleep without) from beside my bed and now my phone stays in the kitchen over night. I ordered a tiny white alarm clock that is battery operated and I’m kicking it old school with my wakeups. I can’t even tell you how much it has helped me, especially starting my day without rolling over and grabbing my phone. I strongly suggest you guys try it out.
Favourite Instagram Account:
I didn’t all of a sudden decide I want to start counting macros and then go looking for some accounts to follow. In fact, I came across Quincey’s account and was immediately drawn to her glowing personality, client transformation photos and of course, I have to mention her killer bod! It was actually after reading one of her posts on how counting macros helped her emotional relationship with food that I decided I would give it a go myself. I love watching her stories as she meal preps, gives advice and takes us through a day in the life with her husband and kids. Her website is also amazing and offers macro coaching programs, meal guides and workouts!
So there you have it – my March faves! Let me know in the comments below if there are any other types of products you want to here about. And as always, thanks for reading!