#LoveYourBody June challenge

Alright everyone, summer is here! I know we are all beyond excited to shed those layers of clothing and expose our beautiful (and if you're like me, slightly pasty) skin to soak in some vitamin D. However, I also know that to some of us, summer can be a time of panic. So before I go on to explaining the Love Your Body June Challenge, let me tell you this:

Whether you're a size 12, or a size 2; whether you're a pear or apple shape; whether your skin's white or black; whether you're blonde, red-headed, or dark-haired; whether you're 4'6" or 6'4",

YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL AND PERFECT EXACTLY THE WAY YOU ARE.

Above all, this challenge is to get you healthy! It is intended to give you more energy, make you glow, and change your attitude towards nourishing and caring for your body. Dropping a bit of weight is just one of the side effects of taking proper care of your body (that is, if you have excess weight to drop).

Below you will find a calender with your daily challenges.
The SIMPLE goal: Complete all of the challenges.
The ULTIMATE goal: Incorporate the nutrition challenges to your daily routine, and the fitness challenges to your weekly routine.

Follow me on Twitter (@KatCiecierska), Instagram (@katciecierska) &/or Facebook and post photos of your meals, or workouts! Tag your photos: #LoveYourBody and @katciecierska so I can check in on you. Everyone who participates* will be entered into a draw to win a consultation and one personal training session** with yours truly :)

 *Participation means you complete at least 25 of the 30 challenges!
**Located in Vancouver, BC.

Without further adieu, here are your June challenges:

To download, click here.

Honey apple oatmeal

Are you ready for a delicious and sweet breakfast idea? Normally I'm not a fan of sweet oatmeal, but when I discovered this, I realized what I had been missing all this time! Check it out:

And I didn't even use a filter for this photo!

Ingredients:

• 1 small apple, peeled and grated
• 1/2 cup dry rolled oats
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup crushed or chopped up finely assorted nuts (I like a combo of pecans, Brazil nuts, and cashews)
• 1/2 tbsp organic raw honey
• 1 heavy-handed sprinkle of cinnamon

Cook the oatmeal in the water to your desired consistency. I prefer mine to be a little on the chunky side. While it's cooking, throw in the grated apple to warm it up, then stir in the honey.

Once plated, mix in the nuts. You could add them to the mixture while you have it cooking, but it'll soften the nuts, so if you like a little crunch, add them in last.

Sprinkle with your desired amount of cinnamon and serve piping hot and enjoy!

Chocolate banana smoothie

I like to make this smoothie when I'm on the run (so basically every day). It doesn't require a lot of ingredients, but man, oh man, does it taste good! Simple, sweet, and full of health, I present to you the chocolate banana smoothie:

 Ingredients:

• 1 scoop Vega One Nutritional Shake - chocolate flavor
• 1 tbsp of cocoa powder
• 1 ripe banana

The riper, the sweeter your smoothie will be.

• 1-2 handfuls of fresh spinach 

The bigger your blender, the more you can cram!

• ~1 cup unsweetened almond milk 

I used vanilla flavored because I accidentally bought that one last time I went grocery shopping, but plain will do just fine.

• optional: 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
  For your colon's health!

Blend thoroughly, add ice or extra water if it's too think, and of course, ENJOY!

This bad boy will keep you full for a few hours!

Upper body quickie

Strapped for time today? So am I! This upper body workout takes less than 10 minutes.

Equipment: You will need a moderate set of dumbbells and an Olympic bar.

Exercises (in this order): Push ups, underhand grip bar bent over row, standing shoulder press with dumbbells.

If you don't just have access to an Olympic
bar, substitute dumbbell rows instead!

Eventually my biceps will be so big and
strong that I will actually be able to kiss them!

Set 1: 10 reps each

Set 2: 8 reps each

Set 3: 6 reps each

Set 4: 4 reps each

Set 5: 2 reps each

Set 6: 4 reps each

Set 7: 6 reps each

Set 8: 8 reps each

Set 9: 10 reps each

Try not to take any rest periods longer than 15-30 seconds between sets. Feel burn, baby! By set 7 my skinny little arms were shaking like leaves.

Don't forget to warm up adequately before you begin, and give yourself a well deserved stretch upon completion!

Mediterranean Pasta Salad

This recipe is a veganized (yes, I just made up that word) version of a delicious, simple recipe that my sister's boyfriend made for the family last Thanksgiving. A definite crowd pleasure, this recipe is perfect for pot lucks since it yields a MASSIVE amount. Bonus: It's FULL of FIBER!

It's a rainbow of health!

Salad ingredients:

Please note: I tend to use the ol' eye-balling technique, so the quantities aren't set in stone. Play around with it and add whatever else you'd like to it.

• 2 cups cooked (al dente) whole wheat pasta of your choice
• 1 of each: red, green, and orange bell pepper, diced
• 1 1/2 cups of halved cherry tomatos
• 1/2 cup sundried tomatos, finely diced (can be the ones in oil but I used the dry ones here)
• 1/3 red onion, finely diced
• 1 small can of sliced black olives, drained
• 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds

Dressing ingredients:

• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all salad ingredients in a large bowl. Cover with dressing and mix again. Add more salt and pepper if needed. Let it sit in the fridge for a few hours so the flavors mix. Serve and enjoy!

My true diagnosis

Thank you Dunbar Physio!

One thing to know about me: I have hypochondriatic tendencies. It's not that I freak out and assume the worst, it's that I come to terms and accept the worst.

This was the case with my knee. Prior to performing any real tests, I googled "lateral knee pain" and the only thing that sounded close to what I was feeling was a stress fracture. So, I took a deep breath and accepted it.

Well, after seeing an actual registered physio therapist, I was proven wrong. It took several tests before my physio cracked the case. She had me elevate, isometrically contract, flex, extend, and rotate my leg in every direction. She pulled at joints, pressed hard on my bones and each time asked "does this hurt?" What I wanted to say was "YES! Of course! You're putting your entire body weight onto it and I can already feel the bruise forming." But instead I shook my head because it wasn't the same pain I had been enduring all week long. After 30 minutes of manhandling she felt confident enough to diagnose me with a posteriorly shifted fibula (that means my leg bone is out of place and shifted backwards for all you non-anatomy readers out there). In other words, my IT band is being rubbed the wrong way in the first 15-25 degrees of flexion and the last 15-25 degrees of extension.

This misalignment originated while I favoring my right leg while my left foot healed from the second degree burn I got over a month ago. Did I mention that I'm accident prone? The random 10 km jog sped up the process of me feeling the pain.

The good news: It's not as bad as it feels.
The even better news: I figured out a modified squat variation I can do in the mean time!!!
The bad news: There is no quick-fix and I will be in pain for a while.

Jane had it right all along!

So what do I need to do to make this go away?

1. Foam roll the shit out of my IT band, quadriceps, hamstrings, and stretch out my calf as much as possible.
2. Manually glide my fibula forward and tape it up whenever possible.
3. Perform external rotation and abduction exercises (also known as side leg lifts... Jane Fonda style)
4. Try to walk normally (this will be the hardest) so as not to promote any more misalignment.

Today I will be starting my rehab, and hopefully I will be back in the gym squatting properly and deadlifting traditionally in no time!