Ste Annes Spa Day 2, Part 1

Day 2 started with a great breakfast: Eggs Florentine

The Eggs Florentine was great, though I could only eat half. I didn’t bother with the sausage but had some extra fruit. After breakfast, I had my first treatment of the day, the Minerva Aqua Polish:

Begin your treatment with a hydrotherapeutic massage with the Scotch hose. The therapist then exfoliates and refines your skin with a choice of “Aveda Body Polish” or “Sea Salt Formulations”. Complete your treatment with a relaxing Vichy shower and an application of customized hydrating lotions.

The Aqua Polish was very nice and I again enjoyed the Vichy shower. After my treatment I put on my boots and Susan and I headed out for a walk on the grounds:

After working up an appetite, we headed for lunch:

Curried cabbage soup for starters and spinach salad with orange and honeyed walnuts in a yogurt dressing.

We enjoyed a wonderful gewurztraminer with lunch:

This was spicy and slightly sweet. I actually wished I had brought several bottles of this wine. It was one of the best gewurztraminers I had ever tried. Cheers!

My entree was the asian noodle bowl:

And dessert was a mixed berry crumble with fresh whipped cream:

Goodness, my stomach is happy just reviewing these photos! LOL I’ll have to do another post for dinner as there are just too many photos.  More to come….

Begin your treatment with a hydrotherapeutic massage with the Scotch hose. The therapist then exfoliates and refines your skin with a choice of “Aveda Body Polish” or “Sea Salt Formulations”. Complete your treatment with a relaxing Vichy shower and an application of customized hydrating lotions.

Ste Annes Spa Day 1

Well!

I’m back from a very relaxing 2 night stay at Ste Anne’s Spa. Things have been really stressful for me lately and I was careening towards the meltdown zone and decided to go away and refocus before that happened.

Luckily for me, I have had the pleasure of visiting Ste Anne’s several times in the past few years and have always found it to be a place of refuge and extreme relaxation.

Here are some shots of the main building as we arrived on a very blustery day:

The building is actually much larger in the rear than it appears to be from the front.  Very deceiving!

Anyhow, my friend Susan and I got settled in, and began with our treatments. I started off with the Moor Mud Hydro Wrap:

After a body masque of Ontario Golden Moor Mud and an exfoliation, you are submersed in the hydrotherapy tub containing Golden Moor Plus with pine oil, while a hydro-massage is directed on the body. Finish your treatment with a warm Vichy shower and an application of hydrating lotions.

This was fantastic! I’m very picky when it comes to spa treatments and I always go for the interesting ones and this was very original. The Vichy shower is a line of shower heads that shoot water in a straight line along your back and legs while you lie face down on a treatment bed. It reminded me of running around outside as a kid during a summer shower!
Then Susan and I met up for afternoon tea:

I enjoyed this with a pot of Pear Cream tea. Fantastic!

After spending some much needed time in the outdoor hydrotherapy and eucalyptus steam room, we settled into our room and then went downstairs for dinner:

The amuse bouche was a strawberry smoothie. I selected the Seafood Medley as my appetizer:

This was great. Shrimp, scallop and salmon on a small bed of fennel, carrot, onion, beet and sprouts. My only wish is for a little more acidity in the plate and I think if the beets had been pickled the dish would have been perfect.

My entree was organic, free range beef striploin with a barley and squash risotto with seasonal vegetables. Although the striploin was very tasty, I have not had red meat in quite some time and it didn’t end up agreeing with me at all!

And how could I forget….

I enjoyed my dinner with Henry of Pelham’s Cuvee Catherine, a Rose Brut.

Last but not least….the “trio of chocolate”

A chocolate truffle, white chocolate creme brulee and chocolate velvet mousse with fresh whipped cream.

Needless to say, after such a difficult day of relaxation and gourmet food, I was wiped!

Day 2 to come….

Yummies….

Hey everyone!

Hope you’re all having a great day! Here are some random meals from the last week as I haven’t been able to do a proper post:

Pancakes and strawberries from my valentines day breakfast. My hubby’s was heart shaped 🙂

Some plain nonfat organic yogurt I had the other day with wild blueberries. I nuked the blueberries for a bit before adding to the yogurt. A nice cold/hot combination!

Yesterday’s salad: spring mix, apple, carrots, avocado and red onion. I tossed it with salt, pepper, rice wine vinegar and a ginger mandarin grapeseed oil. Tasty!

I also bought a juicer about a month ago:

I had some gift certificates for a local department store so I went with the slightly higher end model. It’s the Breville Juice Fountain Elite. Works really well and clean up is no more than 5 minutes.  I pretty much feel that I can’t go wrong, so far every juice I’ve made has been very tasty and enjoyable 🙂

Anyhow, I’m off to one of the country’s best spas for a glorious 3 days and 2 nights.  I’ve been really stressed out here and I have not been taking good care of myself at all. I haven’t been exercising and my eating waxes and wanes between eating well and eating horribly (ex. fast food! OMG!) Hopefully these next few days will help to get me back on track.

All the best. Hope you’re all having a wonderful day 🙂

T

Back

Hola

I’ve been gone for about 6 weeks, I won’t get into details now, but I really needed a break from the blog world. The more and more time I spent away from the blog however, the more and more I missed it and realized just how much joy it brought into my life. So yes, I’m back. For good. This happens to be my birthday weekend, so I’ll be off enjoying many culinary delights and do a proper post once done with the festivities.

I’ve really missed everyone and look forward to catching up with all of you.

Cheers

Tania

Xmas Break….

Hey everyone!

Hope all is well, things around here have been uncontrollably busy with (unfortunately) lots of work and somehow trying to get ready for Christmas. I’ll be taking a break from posting and will return December 28th.

I wish you all a healthy, happy holiday! 🙂

Tania

Tuesday–ready to GO!

So all my eats are planned, calculated and ready to go!

Breakfast: 1C nonfat yogurt with 3/4C raspberries. I also plan on having a large coffee with milk in the morning.

Lunch: Salad with mixed greens, baby carrots, red bell pepper and kidney beans. Dressed in 1/8C balsamic and 1 tsp olive oil.

Morning/Afternoon Snacks: an apple and baby carrots

Dinner: 5 oz cooked salmon and baby spinach, red bell pepper, shallots and sliced almonds. Dressed in 1/8C balsamic and 1 tsp olive oil.

My plan is to hit the gym straight after work for at least 30 minutes of cardio. I’ll be having a clementine as a post workout snack.

I’ll check back later, stats to be updated later today!

Cheers

T

Monday’s Eats

So I started the day off light as 1. I wasn’t hungry, and 2. I knew I was going to be consuming the majority of my calories at dinner!

I had a grande coffee at Starbucks with a good amount of nonfat milk. (not pictured) Once I got home, I snacked on a juicy persimmon:

This was so juicy and sweet, I could have used it as a jelly on toast!

After my snack, I got busy getting the house ready for my dinner party. I finished the last of my grocery shopping, ran a few more errands and started cooking!

I ended up using Giada’s Chicken Tetrazzini recipe as the backbone of my baked pasta dish. I followed her recipe for the sauce to a T but otherwise made many adjustments, cutting out the rest of the fat that is recommended in the recipe. I also added baby spinach along with the suggested mushrooms. This was warm and comforting, perfect for a cold winter’s day. 🙂

I also served a huge bowl of plain mixed greens dressed in balsamic vinaigrette (not pictured). Dessert was chocolate molten lava cakes with a scoop of french vanilla ice cream and raspberries.

I also had a glass of Woodbridge White Zinfandel and a coffee with milk with my dessert.

All in all, a very tasty (yet calorie laden) day!

Cheers!

T

Project ME

So it’s December 14, 2009.

Relatively few days left of this year, moving towards a whole new year, a new opportunity for more good things to come.

Looking back on this year, I have mostly positive feelings for everything that has happened. I’m grateful for my family, friends, my job, and the forum and friends I have found here 🙂

Part of what I am grateful for is my ability to step back and gain perspective on situations. I am the type of person who pushes herself a lot. I have had to push myself through a lot of fear and anxiety in the past, and it always gotten me far. It allowed me to grow as a person and push myself to achieve something even when part of me didn’t believe I could do it. In general, if I have fear or anxiety about something, it’s generally because there is something there that I’m not dealing with….that I need to deal with so that I can move past it and just get the F over it!

And so dear scale, you may not like me, and some days I may not like you, but we’re going to learn to get along!

And YOU……

I see you there, hiding behind every box in my pantry….you sneaky bitches!!! Well guess what? We’re going to get along too!  (We’ll all be singing Kumbaya before you know it! LOL )

And thus it begins…..

Goals: (in no particular order, just sounds nice this way!)

• Lose weight
• Get fit
• Feel great!

Goal #1: Lose weight

What:

• Long term: 30-35 lb weight loss
• Short term: approximately 5-8 lbs/month

How:

• Logging my food here everyday
• Counting calories
• Creating an average deficit of 500 calories per day via diet and adjusting my daily calorie target with every 10 lb loss
• Exercising to aid the deficit
• Continuing to follow the food guidelines I have laid out in my “Plan” section

How I will measure my weight loss:

• Weekly weigh ins will be reinstated
• Weekly measurements

When will I complete this goal?

• I will strive to complete my goal by May 10, 2010–my two year wedding anniversary

How will I celebrate?

• I will celebrate the loss of every 10 lbs and/or every dress size….and whenever I feel a celebration is in order! 🙂
• If it fits, I will parade around in my wedding dress on May 10, 2010.

Goal #2: Get Fit

What:

• Engage in some sort of cardiovascular activity for at least 30 minutes, at least 5 times per week
• Begin sessions with a trainer (which I paid for quite some time ago but didn’t end up going out of fear and embarassment)
• Get to the point where you can run for at least 30/45/60 minutes with minimal breaks
• Run a 10K this spring/early summer

How:

• Logging my workouts here
• Hitting the gym straight after work
• Scheduling my training sessions in advance
• Looking into different ways of being active this winter: cross country skiing, snowshoeing, etc.

How will I measure my fitness?

• Keep track of how long I can run without stopping
• Keep track of how much weight I am pushing, how many crunches I can do, etc.
• Monitor “functional fitness”: ease of movement and strength in everyday life
• Run the Easter Seals Run/Walk-athon 10K Race on May 30, 2010.

When will I complete this goal?

• I will complete the race, but fitness is not an end. It’s a beginning 🙂

Goal #3: Feel Great!

• Eat a mostly raw salad OR Green Monster everyday
• Continue to eat the foods listed in The Plan
• Drink lots of water
• Get 10 minutes of sunshine (if not working the 0700-1930 dayshift) everyday if possible
• Do something for ME once a week : massage, manicure, yoga class, meditation, dinner/coffee out with friends, movie,  a classical concert/opera
• Make myself an actual PRIORITY in my life
• Because not everyone is as lucky as we are: get involved in social/local causes. This month: CP24/CHUM Christmas Wish

How?

• Make a checklist: water, sunshine, salad!
• Plan in advance: schedule ME time
• Weekly check in with myself–how am I feeling? So far, so good!

And so it begins….TOMORROW!

Stats to be updated tomorrow and it all goes down here, folks! I’m serious about getting down to business. And boy, am I looking forward to continuing with the progress that I have made 🙂

I have this funny feeling that a year from now, I’m going to be a very different person!!!

K, I’m off to plan my dinner party!

Have a fantastic day everyone! Will post later 🙂

Snacky snacky….

Hello!

Hope everyone is well! My day was a hodge podge of sorts–woke up late, grabbed coffee with a friend, picked out a recipe for a dinner party I’m throwing tomorrow, went grocery shopping….and then back to the grocer’s because I forgot one of my key ingredients! D’oh!

I started off my day with a yogurt bowl:

I used:

• plain nonfat yogurt
• 1 banana
• handful of almonds
• 1 tsp cocoa powder

It was full of chocolatey goodness! Then I met a friend for coffee–I had a large coffee from Tim Hortons with 2% milk. We had a great talk about reflecting on the past year and our goals for 2010.  After my multiple trips to the grocers, I was ready to try out the recipe I had selected for tomorrow’s dinner party:

Baked Pasta Casserole

The recipe is from 101 Cookbooks–a gorgeous site I happened to stumble on today. Apart from not being able to find medium sized shell pasta at the grocers and adding some shredded chicken breast, I followed the recipe as is. I substituted penne rigate for the shells:

This was a lovely baked pasta but not what I had in mind for tomorrow. I was looking for something with a little more moisture. My plan is to combine this recipe with Giada’s Chicken Tetrazzini recipe. My goal is to make a baked pasta that has a slightly creamy (but not heavy) consistency, has lots of veggies in it and a bit of shredded chicken breast. I can see the recipe in my head, you’ll see it here later tomorrow evening! 🙂

Gonna start working on tomorrow morning’s  announcement post!

Cheers,

T

ps. I finally got around to updating my Blog Roll! Please check it out–lots of great blogs there! 🙂

Christmas Lists and such…

Evening everyone!

I had an interesting day trying to get some things done here at home while trying to get my sleep schedule back to normal. The worst thing about working nights is getting used to working nights. Getting back into a regular (aka non nocturnal) sleep schedule after working a couple of night shifts can be very difficult.  I end up feeling tired all day and all night!

I subsequently ended up waking up very late today. Much too late for breakfast!! I had a variety of steamed veggies from yesterday’s leftovers and decided to make a warm winter vegetable salad:

I used:

• mixed greens
• steamed broccoli, cauliflower, baby carrot, snow peas and zucchini
• diced red bell pepper
• spanish onion
• dressed in balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp olive oil, kosher salt and ground black pepper

I ate this with one melba toast and enjoyed 1.5 mugs of coffee afterwards with 1% milk.

While I was initially planning to prepare some salmon for dinner, J and I were both in the mood for some sushi so we ordered from Koganei Sushi, my absolute favourite Japanese restaurant!

Mmmmmmmmmmmm…..I had about 8 edamame pods and ended up having 10 spicy salmon rolls. It was delicious!

So both my hubby and sister in law have asked for my Christmas wish list–we generally do Kris Kringle amongst my husband’s family and my SIL has me this year. Although writing wish lists was really weird to me at first, I realized it just made things easier for everyone involved since we all ended up getting something we liked and didn’t have to sit around guessing. Also, hubby usually needs some direction in terms of buying for me. So I came up with a bunch of things that I thought would be good options for either of them in a variety of price ranges: (We generally spend ~ $150 for our Kris Kringle)

My Wish List:

• A heart rate monitor–I figure I could really put this to use in starting up my running again! I’m thinking something simple that tracks calories, HR and pace. Something easy to use. Anyone have any suggestions as to which model??
• Uggs style boots–perhaps people think they’re passe, but they just look so comfy and would be good for wearing to and from work/gym
• Subscription to Martha Stewart Living or some other mag with great recipes
• Gift certificate to: Aveda spa/Sephora/Spa Finder
• Comfy pj’s
• Yoga/exercise mat
• Healthy cookbook
• Cute tote for work
• Great lip balm that has a “finger free” application
• Peppermint flavoured coffee

So just a lot of random things that I’d end up buying for myself anyways…

What’s on your wish list? 🙂

Have a great night everyone!

T

ps.  A big announcement Monday regarding changes to The Plan and keeping track of The Stats.