Hey Chicks,
We wanted to take this time to celebrate an awesome and valuable member of the FIT CHICKS family who has just reached a kick butt milestone…1 year of teaching bootcamp with us and helping chicks reach their fab fitness goals!
The fabulous, fierce Erina!
Erina is our Chick Sergeant at the Toronto King & Bathurst bootcamp location and she has been kicking chicks butt since April 2012. Even as a busy mama chick of a wee rooster, her fierce passion, enthusiasm, drive and commitment to spreading the healthy love never waivers – in class or out! We love her, her chicks love her (check out our April 2013 Chick of the Month Isabella’s awesome story of sweating up a storm with Erina!) and you will love her too!
We are so proud of her dedication, passion and hard work she puts into her chicks and her camp each & everyday and wanted to take a moment to give her a huge shout and celebrate her hard work. We could tell you but thought it would be more fun for Erina to tell you herself:)
A true Canadian chick rocking the hill!
So here is Erina to share a few things about her and how she loves “Livin la vida FIT CHICK“…take it away chick!
Livin la Vida FIT CHICK is based on adding 4 healthy principles to your life. Principle 1 is Fitness – To move everyday! Do you have any tools or gadgets that help you make the conscious choice to be active?
My favorite App right now is Songza. You just input your activity or mood and you have an instant workout playlist! Its great for running:) I also have all my gym and yoga classes apps so I can easily access class schedules so I can plan the night before what classes or bootcamps I can fit into my schedule, so I can get my own workout in!
Principle 2 of Livin la Vida FIT CHICK focuses on Nutrition: Eat Real, Whole Foods made with LOVE. Do you have a fav recipe or post snack that you make with love?
I always send my new chicks a list of great pre and post workout information and snack ideas. I would love to share it with you:
- Pre-Workout at least an hour before: Snack made of mostly vegetable based carbohydrates with a bit of protein: Carbs are the muscle’s primary energy source which is why they should make the base of your pre-workout snack. But having some protein with your snack can be beneficial, as it will give you more sustained energy and also has the advantage of supplying the body with an early boost of amino acids you’ll need to begin repairing and rebuilding muscles, upon the end of your training.
- For a high intensity workout, if you have less than 30 minutes before your session or if you have a sensitive stomach, you may want to stick to a snack made almost entirely of easy-to-digest carbs, like a banana.
You need to learn what works for you. Had a good or bad training day? Take note of what you ate and you may eventually notice which foods work, or don’t work for you. Here are some good places to start:
- Banana + peanut butter
- Oatmeal + sliced almonds
- Sprouted grain English muffin or toast + almond butter
- Whole-grain crackers + hard boiled egg
- Fruit and nut bar or granola bar
- Fruit salad + chia seeds
- Dried apricots + almonds
- Wrap: Tortilla + hummus + cucumber & tomato
- Piece of fruit + Greek yogurt
- Small quinoa salad
- Small baked sweet-potato topped with greek yogurt
- Date & almond smoothie: 1/2 banana + 2 dates+ almond milk +2 tsp. almond butter
Again, there is no one-size-fits-all pre-workout fuel. So dedicate yourself to finding your formula. Then just stick to it get the most out of your workout:) I also make an awesome “almost” guilt free chocolate bar (check out below for the full recipe)
Yummy, sweet, healhty goodness!
Now for Principle 3, Wellness: Give yourself love! Not only are you a FAB chick Sergeant for FC, you are also a wife, a working chick, a busy mom. How do you make sure to have “Erina” time each day?
I teach and personal train full time so I usually work early mornings and afternoon/evenings so luckily I have time to make it home for breakfast with my family and walk my son to school. After, “me time” is going for a workout then having a quiet lunch by myself at home:) Then it’s back to work again until at least 8:30pm….it’s a very long day but I love it!
Principle 4 is all about Paying it forward. Do you have a tips on how you incorporate spreading the healthy love & habits to your kids?
Go on “active” vacations. Now that my son Aiden is older we go on ski vacations every winter and our next trip is hiking and rafting in the Grand Canyon. This way we spend time together and teach him new ways to be active. Aiden also does “parkour” with my husband during the week and rides his bike with me when I go running.
Wee rooster Aiden - so cute!!
You are always such an inspiration! What motivates YOU to keep positive & healthy?
I love motivating others to work harder than they think they can. I see a lot of new Chicks that are nervous to start working out and I feel the best part of my job is making them feel comfortable, confident and part of a team.
If you wanna sweat up a storm with Erina, our next session starts on May 6th so sign up now…she will give you some great tough love, we promise 
FIT CHICKS xo
Erina’s “Chick Approved” Paleo Coconut Chocolate Bars
Ingredients
4 Tbsp. Organic Coconut Oil
1/4 C. Unsweetened Cocoa powder
1/2 C. Ground Nuts (Walnuts, Pecans or Almonds)
3/4 C. Shredded Coconut (make sure is unsweetened!)
1 Tbsp. Raw Honey or to taste
DIRECTIONS
In saucepan melt together raw honey and coconut oil.
Mix all the dry ingredients together, blend in melted coconut oil and raw honey and combine until mixed well.
Press into a cold 9×9 baking pan and chill for 30 minutes before cutting into 12 pieces.
