Wednesday, 11 December 2013

Princess Health andRegistration and team schedule for 2014.Princessiccia

Princess Health andRegistration and team schedule for 2014.Princessiccia

Hello H+P friends!  It's hard to believe another year has gone by.  We are very excited for an even better year of training and excellent performances with the team in 2014!

Our goal from the start has been to develop a fun training group that also includes the highest quality workouts and coaching.  At the same time, wanted to make sure it was accessible to everybody.  That is why we started this off as a free group, and it has been an incredible experience since the beginning.

With the growth of the H+P in the past year, a number of ideas and financial demands have popped up in order to keep the group running smoothly and successfully.  Because of this, we are going to ask for a small club fee for 2014.  Don't worry, it's cheap- cheaper than entering ONE race:

Before Feb 1st, 2014
After Feb 1st, 2014
Student - $20
Adult- $30
Family- $60
Student- $30
Adult- $40
Family- $80

This small amount of money that we gain from this will help us to do a number of little things that we wanted to do this year.  For instance, buying more sidewalk chalk for the summer TT and having more apparel on hand for when people request something (I think Brendan has been waiting for his shirt for 6 months now haha).  The money will be spent on making the club better for everybody in small ways, all year around.

Just to make sure the group remains awesome, there WILL be benefits to joining.  Actually, some might say that you will make money by joining.  Our goal is to make the club more than just a "good deal," but an amazing experience for everybody.  With your membership, you will get:

Membership Benefits (2014)

  • Access to all outdoor cycling and running workouts with coaching for the entire 2014 year
  • Your own membership card
  • An optional online profile on the H+P website
  • Team discounts at select Waterloo Running Series events (and others such as Road2Hope)
  • Team discounts at Runners' Choice Waterloo (20% off footwear, apparel and accessories, 10% off electronics and nutrition products)
  • Team discounts at McPhail's Cycle and Sport (15% off parts and accessories)
  • Free entry to the H+P summer TT
  • Prizes from our sponsors at events such as pre-runs and socials
  • A FREE injury assessment card (up to $75 value) from Dr. Sean Delanghe at Price Chiropractic and Fitness
  • The best training environment EVER 
So there you have it!  We are looking forward to making 2014 even better than the last.  Thank you all so much for your support along the way.  
If you would like to register, click HERE.


Team Schedule (2014)

February 23rd: The Re-Fridgee-8er (race #1 of the Battle of Waterloo)

March 30th: Around the Bay

June 15th: The Waterloo Classic (race #2 of the Battle of Waterloo)


August 10th: ENDURrun 
*We will be putting together a competitive male and female team with our best runners.  There will also be at least one fun team.  Of course, there is always the option to do the entire thing yourself!

September 12-14th: Centurion Cycling Blue Mountains (50 or 100M race)

October 19th: The Oktoberfest Run(Race #3 of the Battle of Waterloo)

December 13th: The Santa Pur-Suit

Now, time to lay down some base training!

Tuesday, 10 December 2013

Princess Health and Does "Metabolically Healthy Obesity" Exist?. Princessiccia

Princess Health and Does "Metabolically Healthy Obesity" Exist?. Princessiccia

Obesity is strongly associated with metabolic alterations and negative health outcomes including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and some types of cancer (1, 2, 3, 4). Excess body fat is one of the primary causes of preventable health problems and mortality in the United States and many other affluent nations, ranking in importance with cigarette smoking and physical inactivity. Obesity is thought to contribute to disease via the metabolic disturbances it causes, including excess glucose and lipids in the circulation, dysregulated hormone activity including insulin and leptin, and inflammatory effects. This immediately raises two questions:
  1. Does metabolically healthy obesity exist?
  2. If so, are metabolically healthy obese people at an elevated risk of disease and death?

Does metabolically healthy obesity exist?

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Monday, 9 December 2013

Princess Health and2013 Santa Pur-Suit.Princessiccia

H+P fished off the 2013 racing season on a successful and festive note!  While it wasn't one of our original A-races, we did end up having a great showing at this year's addition of the Santa Pur-Suit.  Here are the team results:



First off, the team ended up winning the corporate division in an average time of 19:16.  CLICK HERE for results.  This was a bittersweet result since this is the last time H+P will be entering in the corporate division in the WRS.  Next year, there will be an open team division, where 5 athletes (rather than 3) score points! 






And here are the team individual results (CLICK for full):


Coach Sean was lucky enough to win the race in a time of 17:44

In his first race as an H+P runner, Jesse Burt had an excellent performance, finsihing 3rd overall and winning his AG
Holger also had a successful H+P debut.  While he was not happy with his time, he still was third place on the team, and placed 4th in his AG!



Mailman made a great return from injury, coming in 13th overall and 2nd in his AG!

Vicki had an outstanding H+P debut, finishing in 3rd in her AG, and not far off her PB despite running in a Santa Suit!

Will, despite battling a cold that popped up just days before, still managed a 6th place in his category!

And finally, Mark Potvin (below) really, as he likes to put it, "stayed alert, and stayed safe" out there!



Monday, 2 December 2013

Princess Health and2013 Holiday Party Relay Results.Princessiccia

Congrats to everybody who competed in the 2013 H+P Holiday Party Relay.  I think it is safe to say that NOBODY loses a holiday relay.  More importantly, it is widely understood that completing this standardized challenge in under 2 minutes is considered elite- and every single team achieved this feat comfortably!

A HUGE congrats to Holger for winning the picture voting challenge- He was really working the pipes when this one was taken!

Here are the results:
  1. Polliwogs: 00:57 (Mike P, Val, A.Broom, T-Bone)
  2. Mike and the Mechanics: 00:58.5 (Mike H, Laura, Andrea, Craig/Mountain Man)
  3. Jilly Jill and the funky bunch: 1:09 (Reid, Nolan, Jeremy, Gillian)
  4. Payton and her boyfriends: 1:09.5 (Brendan, Payton, Holger, Mailman)
  5. Team Edward: 1:14 (Michael, Ed, Candice, Nicole)
  6. Chocolaholics: 1:20 (Dawn, Vicki, Bill, Will)
  7. Shidoobee: 1:18 (+10s penalty) (Sue, Liz, Jen Juan)
  8. No Name: 1:32 (Patrick, Liz, Kevin, Kerri) 
Also, a congrats goes out to our MVP's from 2013: Val and Greg (click here)

Finally, a huge congrats goes our to Juan for winning the food competition.  He will have the recipe for all of us soon!  Here's a pic of Juan attacking the relay course:


 Finally, here are some other great pics from the party!  Check out the full collection in our Facebook Album











Sunday, 1 December 2013

Princess Health and Festive Fish Recipe - Rainbow Trout. Princessiccia

Myself is vegan. My dear other half is not. He enjoys all my vegan creations, and it happens very rarely that he doesn't want to eat meat, but most of the time I have to think of both of us when preparing a meal.

This fish-dish will enter the Christmas menu too. It looks nice, and although I didn't try it, I can hear the 'Mmmmm' after every bite while he is eating :) And he says it's divine and I believe him! :)



Ingredients:
-2 rainbow trout fillets
-125 g brown rice
-1/4 cup fresh orange juice
-juice of 1 whole lime
-1 lime thinly sliced
-4 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
-2 tbsp olive oil
-2 garlic cloves
-1 tsp xylitol
-1 can mixed beans
-140 g pineapple (I used tinned pineapple-unsweetened, but fresh is better)
-226 g tomato salsa

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
2. Cook the rice in salted water.
3. Mix together the orange juice, lime juice, olive oil, minced garlic cloves, xylitol, a dash of salt and 2 tbsp parsley.
4. Place the fillets in the mixture, make sure they are coated everywhere, cover them and place them in the fridge. The longer they stay, the better the taste will be.
5. Mix the cooked rice with the tomato salsa, beans, diced pineapple pieces, 2 tbsp parsley.
6. Place the mixture in any type of baking dish lined with kitchen foil.
7. Take the fillets out of the marinade and place them on the top of the rice mixture.
8. Pour the marinade on the top and then cover the fillets with the thinly sliced lime.
9. Place it in the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes, until fish is cooked through.
10. Decorate with fresh parsley when serving.

Enjoy! :)





































































































































Friday, 29 November 2013

Princess Health and Food Reward Friday. Princessiccia

This week's lucky "winner"... Oreo cookies!!!


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Princess Health and Raw Almond-Coconut Balls. Princessiccia

These coconut balls are just 'Wow!'. One thing I like about vegan "baking" and trying new things is the excitement. I never know how the end product will taste. And I am always super-happy when it comes out delicious. This time it did exceed all my expectations!

Coconut balls were all time favorite since childhood. The only combination though was the one with cocoa and coconut. Unhealthy versions and then later healthier ones.

For the first time I tried something new, without the cocoa powder (although I love chocolate in any form). And for my biggest surprise, the taste of the almond and the taste of the coconut complement each other in such way that the taste of the balls are unbelievable! Do you know the commercial Raffaello balls? Ah, how I loved them couple of years ago! I could eat the biggest size of box of it in an hour, while watching Sex and the City :D I haven't had any of them in the last 4-5 years at least. Can you imagine how happy I was now when tasting my newest creation, and I felt again that heavenly Raffaello taste in my mouth?

And I think that the feeling of pleasure when you eat something delicious, added the thought that it is good for your body, good for your health, cannot be compared to anything! That feeling is priceless!

Most of the ingredients I used were organic. I try to by organic whenever possible.

And one very important thing about the ingredients below: the almond butter I used was raw almond butter. Most of the almond butter you find in health shops are made from roasted almonds. I only wanted to emphasize this because it is a huge difference between the taste of the raw versus toasted almond butter. And I think the taste of the raw almond is what makes these balls so amazing. Next time I will use toasted almond butter and update the post.

Ingredients (makes 11-12 balls):

-1/2 cup ground almonds
-1 cup shredded coconut
-dash of salt (I used a slightly bigger dash of it, so you can nicely feel the salty taste behind the sweetness, which makes it even more irresistible)
-2 heaped tablespoons of raw almond butter
-1 tablespoon of whole chia seeds
-3 tablespoons of whole goji berries
-3 tablespoons of agave nectar

1. Mix together the ground almonds, shredded coconut and salt.
2. Add the raw almond butter and start to work them together with your hand.
3. Add the agave nectar and continue mixing the whole doughy mixture with your hand.
4. Add the chia and the goji berries.
The mixture will not form a dough but it will be sticky enough to form balls with your hands.

Tip: Taste it, and adjust the sweetness. If the dough is not sticky enough, add some more almond butter, or agave (bare in mind that this will make it sweeter), or a little bit of plain water. If it is too sticky, add some more shredded coconut or ground almonds. The above amounts gave the perfect consistency for me.

Roll the balls in shredded coconut, place them on a plate and they are ready to eat! :)

The only time consuming part of making these kind of balls is the process of forming the balls. The above was ready in about 15 minutes with everything. If you want to make double, triple etc. portion, don't forget to calculate the time for making the balls. Children will be happy to help I think! :)

Enjoy!