STAY MOTIVATED!

For those still keeping with it at the gym, allow me to congratulate you on your new found, or rekindled, interest in personal health! At times it may feel like there’s nothing to do but give up - maybe you're not seeing the results that you hoped for, or perhaps it seems like you've just got too many things on your plate to possibly find time for the gym. Let me assure you that every minute you put in at the gym is worth it! While it may seem like you're only running a couple laps or just lifting a few weights, to your body you're relieving stress and improving your health. Keep up the good work and remember - beach season is only a few months away!

FUN, HEALTHY SNACKS

Some of you may be considering how you can incorporate healthier snacks throughout your workday, and I am here to share a few quick snacks to help you out.
For people who do not have time to make a healthy breakfast here is a recipe for you:

2 whole FROZEN bananas
1 cup milk
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon granulated sugar

Place all in a blender and mix, and you can add Garnish with nutmeg for the final touch.

Those who are looking for a snack to eat during the day this Yogurt Parfait recipe is for you:
Bananas
Yogurt
Crushed graham crackers
Granola
Nuts
Berries
I really enjoy this recipe because it contains protein from the yogurt and granola with some calcium as well. Also, the berries contain vitamin C which is beneficial if you do not receive enough in your body.

These are just two quick and easy snacks that can be made in a short period of time that are healthy for you body and taste real good as well.

HOW TO MAKE OLD SKATES NEW AGAIN

Skating is a great cardiovascular exercise to do in the winter. The gliding motion of skating is easier on the joints than running is and if you skate on an outdoor ice pad, you will likely get a healthy dose of Vitamin D from the sun (something most of us don’t get enough of during the winter months).

However, many of us don’t want to fork out money for a new pair of skates. Whether you have an old uncomfortable pair or buy some used skates from Play It Again Sports, here is something you can do to make them MUCH more comfortable:

Trust me…I have an old pair of skates that, before this winter, I hadn’t worn in a very long time! They still fit but the gel and leather material around the ankle was very painful. So, I decided to do follow the steps of a solution I heard about when I was a kid…and it worked!!! My skates feel brand new!!!
1. Fill a bucket or bathtub with hot water and place your skates in it for 20-30 minutes.

2. Prepare an area in your home where you can sit and walk around with soaked skates on. Skate guards and a non-carpeted floor are best, but you can lay out old towels if you have to. Don’t go outside, your feet will freeze!

3. Remove skates from water

4. Put skates on (over socks)

5. Tie the laces up as tightly as you can.

6. For 20 minutes (the longer the better) read a book (or whatever) while rotating your ankles and walk around a bit. The idea is to let the hot (and now soft pliable leather) mold itself to the shape of your ankle and foot. You have to move your foot around to make sure the materials will accommodate the ankle motion needed for skating.

7. Remove your skates and lay them our somewhere where they can dry. It might take over 24hrs for the skates to fully dry out, but it will be totally worth it!
Don’t worry you can’t ruin your skates by doing this. However, you might want to wipe the blades with a towel when you set the skates out to dry. Happy skating!

ZUMBA-THON!!!

Want to learn how to shake your hips like Shakira? Come join us for the Zumba-thon that's happening next Friday, March 5 to learn some hot new moves. Zumba is the latest fitness craze, which is latin-inspired and is sure to get your heart rate going. The Athletic Centre (55 Harbord St., corner of Harbord and Spadina) is hosting this Zumba-thon to raise money for the relief effort in Haiti. It is taking place Friday, March 5 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm in the Field House (courts 1-3). The best part about it is that it is FREE. We are simply hoping for pay-what-you-can cash donations in order to raise some money. You can come for the entire 2 hours or just drop by for however long you can. In conclusion:

What: ZUMBA-THON!!!
Where: Athletic Centre, Field House 1-3
When: Friday, March 5, 2010
Why: To help with the Haiti relief effort

See you all there!


To learn more about Zumba, visit this website:
http://www.ac-fpeh.com/news.php/fpehnews/latin-inspired-class-heats-up-cold-winter-days

NO TIME TO GO TO THE GYM? IT'S OK, THE GYM CAN COME TO YOU!

Not every student lives on campus, or has access to a gym that is flexible with their demanding schedules. So here are some tips to help keep you active even on your busiest days.

1) WALK when ever possible – just missed your bus? It’s okay walk to the next stop, by the time you get there, so should the bus and even if it doesn’t at least you got your muscles moving. Thinking of taking the street car down two stops, or the subway east one stop- think again!

2) Take the STAIRS whether going to a meeting, to work, to class, or to the subway. Hold off on taking the speedy escalator or elevator, save those for when you’ve just finished a work out and can barely move!

3) SQUAT and TV- instead of sitting on the couch for the commercial break- or getting an in between show snack- squat for the duration. See how long you can last. If you’re with someone try to make a game out of it during each set of commercials - the winner gets a killer butt!

a. Have a bad knee and can’t squat? Its okay, you can do some sit ups or maybe some push up 20x3 is usually a good starting point. For push ups remember to get your nose to about 4 inches off the ground. The best; and softest, way to do this is to get a towel and fold in into four and place it where your nose would almost touch the floor. It’s a good indicator of where 4 inches should be.

b. Already have a killer butt? Do some lunges

5) Simple stretches to help loosen those muscles for your early morning run to catch the bus are always a good investment

And just remember even if you can’t get to they gym and you don’t have the equipment at home, it doesn’t mean you can’t do anything. There’s always something you can do to get your muscles moving, including cleaning the house!

WHAT'S YOUR FIT?

That is the question. This summer marked the beginning of a new chapter for the Athletic Centre (AC) and Varsity Centre (VC) with the hiring of a team of Physical Activity Ambassadors. We are a group of U of T students and recent grads that are dedicated to giving you the inside scoop on everything that you've been missing at the AC and VC. So while you're here, let us get you caught up on what we've been up to over the first few months of school.

Athletic Centre (Harbord and Spadina)

 Varsity Centre (Bloor and Devonshire)

(photos courtesy of physical.utoronto.ca)

We got off to a busy start this year attending a ton of orientations to get the word out about the AC and VC. First on the list was UTSU Day where free AC and VC goodies were handed out to the mob of Frosh in attendance.

Here are some of our Ambassadors dishing out some info to curious Frosh at UTSU Day.

And Amanda is looking oh so happy. I think we were all grateful for the beautiful weather that graced us on that day.

Christian was calm cool and collected handling the packed crowd of Engineering Frosh at their club orientation event.

Once orientation season finished it was time for us to figure out some next steps. Seeing as this was a new role for all of us, we were basically starting from scratch trying to figure out the best way to get more people to use the facilities that we already know and love.

 We wanted to make the AC more friendly and accessible and if you have ever been there before then you know that it can be kind of a maze. So, we figured the best way to keep people away from the minotaur in the heart of the labyrinth that is the AC was to put together some short "how to" videos dedicated to letting people know how to get around the AC.

 Can't quite figure out how to find the ballers in the Field House? Looking to get your chakras realigned but can't seem to find the dance studio? Just click on one of the links on the right side of this page and we'll lead the way. These took a while to complete but we hope it was worth it.

That's all for this post but we've got a lot more in the works so make sure to stay tuned for more updates.