Yesterday, I happened to be on the step mill finishing up my small cardio routine post weight lifting and I saw a quick scroll on the bottom of the news monitor that talked about a call for changing how we label our sugar in our product packaging.

The aim was certainly directed towards highly processed foods and helping to further regulate how they do things, how they show information to the public.  There are many ways to hide sugar when you process foods. Names for sugar derivatives change often and regulations allow you to call sugar type additives (such as HFCS) different things on a box if the percentage used is small enough. So, there is essentially some level of ‘flex’ when you manufacture and package food and then market it to consumers.

The news bulletin yesterday was enough for me to research further.  For one, I need to be on top of any changes as they affect my packaging and for two, I am interested from a healthy living, be balanced and eat variety type of lifestyle.

After looking further into the discussion, I actually think the proposal isn’t a bad idea. Folks such as Indigo’s CEO and ex-Lululemon’s CEO are calling for changes.  Calling for more transparency especially when it comes to sugar labeling.

For one, most consumers have a hard time understanding grams.  What is a gram? How much is it? It’s easy to lose track of how many grams of sugar we eat during a day.  And it’s not relatable.

The minute I say to you that you should limit your sugar to 12 teaspoons a day, it is more relatable and understood.

Again, I’m not advocating not to eat a piece of chocolate or a piece of cake. I’m advocating for smarter more informed and much more understood choices.

So, in view of the fact that I stand for all things real and I stand to educate consumers. In view of the fact I take a stand for real food, for real solutions that make it easier for us to bring food back home, help us cook and bake and snack smarter. In view of the fact that I look to help us to enjoy our daily lifestyle solutions without fad diets, fad exercise regimes and patches/pills and other things I view as very temporary and sometimes dangerous solutions as they do not fix the problem or educate us on sustainability.

I have therefore decided to take a stand. We may be small, but it is within my power to make proper choices and become an example.  So I figured that if Indigo’s CEO can remove that delicious chocolate I tend to grab when I walk by the counter after I have a stack of books in my hand ready to check out because even I get hungry from a day of running and forget my snacks, then I should be able to make a stand too.

All of our CRAVE IT and Do You Bake? new packaging (for both the USA and Canada) starting with our JUNE release of new products will highlight the amount of sugar (in teaspoons) per serving (dry) contained in each product.  Further, based on our suggested baking and/or cooking and/or use directions, we will also provide our estimated per serving amount of sugar (in teaspoons) on the back of the box in order to educate the consumer.

I’m not afraid of the sugar in some of the products. You may think I am. I simply am not. I believe in balance, not perfection. I believe you can eat something slightly higher in sugar but be smart the rest of the day or week. I believe you can eat what you want, as long as you are educated and therefore as a manufacturer, this has to start with me and start with me I will.

So with all new products and when new packaging must be ordered on any existing products, we will add this information to better inform you, the consumer, so you can make the best choices for you.

There are a ton more of proposed changes that are equally important but this was the one that stood out first, one that is quickly within my control and power to take a stand on.

If you would like to read more about what has inspired me and motivated me to make these changes, please follow a few of the links below

• E-Canada Now
• CBC News
• TheStar.com

Ciao! Jenn,

Co-Founder Do You Bake? and Founder CRAVE IT

Oh! And don’t forget I would love to hear about your journey through eating a real food way, adding real activity into your life and you are more than welcome to connect with me on Facebook, follow along on our CRAVE IT Instagram page.

This week I’m seeing the massive value in changing up your workout.  First, I’m condensing my morning workout and adding in a smaller supplemental workout.  This isn’t something I can sustain all the time just by sheer fact that it takes time to get to the gym and back, twice. So for my busy lifestyle I won’t be able to keep this up all the time, as is the case of  most people.

So, this is a 3 week switch up in my routine. I’m hitting the gym twice, two smaller workouts but high intensity. As you workout, if you are looking to constantly improve, constantly change and if you are just plain hitting an exercise or weight plateau, I highly recommend looking at your routine, asking for some help and getting yourself changed up. It makes a huge difference.

My exercises are also different. They are more focused, they are much more dynamic and I am being taught the value of complete and proper form.  The exercises I am doing are challenging and walking away, I feel like I have worked out hard.

Yesterday, leg day.  I am fairly strong on my legs. Today – I can’t walk. Seriously cannot walk. My legs are on fire, no matter what way I sit or stand.  They just burn. I feel an incredible sense of accomplishment because I am seeing such a huge value in changing up the way I do things. And I’m also seeing a huge value in pulling on the advice and support of other people that want to see the best in you, so that I too can learn and teach you.

Change it up!  My routine yesterday actually was real simple – it was simply squats (olympic bar on the squat rack), lying down leg presses (on the leg press machine) and hack squats (on the front load hack squat machine)

I focused on form and full range of motion. I had a spotter that was there for me to help me through any and all failures.

My workout yesterday was focused on repetition. 15 – 18 reps and 3 to 6 sets. I normally do way more in terms of number of different exercises on leg day. This was three. THREE! And I’m uber uber sore!

So ! Take from this! Learn to change up your routine, push your body to new levels to build a better you, for you! No matter what you want, continue to seek those little changes to make improvements.

Your change, your challenge does not have to remain ‘constant’. You can do little things that will make a huge difference, as I’m seeing here!

Be great, be awesome and enjoy your Friday!

Ciao! Jenn,

Co-Founder Do You Bake? and Founder CRAVE IT

Oh! And don’t forget I would love to hear about your journey through eating a real food way, adding real activity into your life and you are more than welcome to connect with me on Facebook, follow along on our CRAVE IT Instagram page.

Drumroll please! …. and here I am super excited to announce my NEXT challenge!

The Vegan Muscle, aka Lexxia Stone has challenged me to live a plant based life for 120 days AND train under her!

Lexxia is 100% plant based body builder and 100% natural (music to my ears!).  She approached me with this challenge and I said OK! without much thought … then I started to talk to other people about what new adventure I was embarking on after my 18 weeks with T (My 18 week shadow the body builder challenge was complete) and here’s the reaction I get

#1 – You can’t be healthy eating only plant based foods

#2 – That’s vegan, right? (scrunches nose up)

#3 – Are you sure? Like really sure you want to do this?

#4 – You won’t build muscle being plant based. You will go backwards. All the hard work you have put in … you will lose

#5 – You are crazy! better you than me!

That was enough for me to CHARGE AHEAD with this challenge for a few reasons! Here’s what I hope to accomplish!!

#1 – EDUCATE! I want to educate everyone I can on a new form, style and type of eating! I want to educate about plant based foods, about plant based nutrition, super foods and more!

#2 – TRAIN HARD! I want to show you that yes, you can lead a plant based life AND be very healthy AND build a better physique! It’s not crazy…it’s real!

#3 – SOCIALIZE It! There is a crazy stigma around plant based eating and vegan lifestyles (evident from my reactions above!) and I want to bring awareness to what it is, to give you an option to replace even one meal a week or a day with a plant based focus. It will nourish your body, give your body sustenance and more.

#4 – NUTRITION! Through Lexxia, holistic nutritionist, trainer and my team of nutrition & diet experts I will show you how to incorporate plant based foods into your diets and educate you on why you should do it! and the benefits!

#5 – NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT – Across Crave It and Do You Bake? based on the feedback, the love we may enter into a NEW phase of development for next year … and launch a plant based product line up! Show the love, and we’ll work hard to add this to our line up!

#6 – LOVE FOR THE ANIMALS – Yes, I come from a background of eating meat, poultry, eggs, dairy.  I actually am not one that truly needs to eat it … minus maybe eggs. I do love my eggs.  Other than that, I’m not a fanatic over any of the animal meats. That said, there is an appreciation I would like to pay to those that have strong social beliefs and animal beliefs and follow this way of life not necessarily for nutrition, but for social reasons. I am an animal lover, I love my dogs and I can’t stand to see mistreatment of animals, however those considerations have never been taken into account in my dietary lifestyle … but I believe we need to be open, we need to appreciate other folks view points and I also believe we need to be educated.

Bottom line? This is a huge opportunity that I am looking forward to … to debunk the myths, to share a ton of information, to provide great and awesome training tips to and more.

I will talk more about my up and coming lifestyle change between now and August 1st to show you how I start to prepare for this amazing adventure!

YOU too can get involved! Connect with me on Facebook and you can join our up and coming plant based group! You will get exercise and fitness tips, workouts and more. You will have access to special release products, You will get my recipes and food life … an expansion of what I blog about here!

Watch my facebook page for our new plant based living group! Challenges UP!

Ciao! Jenn,

Co-Founder Do You Bake? and Founder CRAVE IT

Oh! And don’t forget I would love to hear about your journey through eating a real food way, adding real activity into your life and you are more than welcome to connect with me on Facebook, follow along on our CRAVE IT Instagram page.  AND! Follow Live the Smart Way here on Instagram!

When I started my very first challenge with Teresa Bragado, I was pretty fit and healthy.  Weighing in at about 126 pounds and feeling great, eating well and exercising routinely.  The opportunity Teresa gave me, allowed me to challenge myself, build muscle, learn a new sport and I quickly became and fell in love with all things muscle building and achieving more for myself!

Two weeks into my working out with Teresa and I was pretty much hooked! I now knew there was no turning back, even after the 18 weeks of T were completed and had concluded. I would and will continue upon this journey to see what I can do! To see how far I can go! To go from fit to super fit, build muscle, develop a new physique and have fun doing it.

All the meanwhile, I hope to inspire anyone that wants to try something new, anyone that wants to reach for a little more.

I realized through my constant interaction with other women at the gym, those that were trying to lose weight often would say “yeah but Jenn, look at where you are…and look at me”.  After the third or fourth person said something to that effect, I saw they saw me as this fit person going to SUPERFIT territory and they didn’t feel it was attainable for them… even though they wanted it!

So … silently I began to tell those that said this, my story.  Telling them that no, I did not just start out as a fit person and that years ago, like them, I was extremely unhealthy, tipping the scales at over 245 pounds.  For a girl that is a small frame, that is only 5’4, that’s a lot a lot of weight!

Making that connection to those that want more and to do more for themselves became my mission. Anyone that wanted a little ray of hope, I would tell my story to, both inside and outside the gym

So yes, I have gone from 245 pounds! (WOAH) and a size 24 to .. fit … on my quest to SUPER FIT and super strong!

Over the course of the ensuing weeks I will give you more of a glimpse into how I did it — but here are the highlights!

#1 – It took me 2.5 years to lose the 115 pounds.  I did it slowly. Real food, real exercise. NO SUPPLEMENTS, NO DIETS, NO DIET PILLS (I do not believe in them. they are not sustainable)

#2 – I have maintained my weight loss for 4 years.  I am now going into superfit goals!  I do not supplement, I am building muscle all naturally.  #allnaturalbodybuilding as they say!

#3 – I have never had surgery. Ever.  Those that are concerned about skin. It’s personal and it varies from person to person for a lot of reasons.  Here’s what I can tell you – It takes time, Be patient, It doesn’t happen overnight, make sure you lift weights, eat proper and lead with protein, add in vegetables and a balanced eating.  Be Patient.

Why I was unhealthy? Long story short! I was born with a congenital heart defect (Thank you Sick Kids in Toronto for all their care) and I had heart surgery at age 5. (full open heart!) Prior to that, I ate little, was a wirey kiddo.  Mom and dad post surgery thought I would be a great idea to just feed the heck out of me post surgery. I never learned how to eat properly and didn’t learn the value of activity.  My weight fluctuated up and down through young girl from 145 pounds upwards…and then it just went up and never went down.  My story really isn’t about fried food or some crazy food have to have feeling, it was simply lack of education on how to live life to the fullest.

So! As you start to think about your goals and when you look at me, don’t think I haven’t been where you are.  I have. It takes work. It takes HARD WORK. It takes commitment and it takes time.

I hope my story helps you.  Need support? Connect with me, I’m happy to lend an ear and be a cheerleader in your corner!! The support is a great thing!  I get what you are going through … and I know it may seem like its way too far away if you are in unfit territory but it’s not. Commit to it, develop new lifestyle habits a little at a time (do NOT crash diet) and your new living will become sustainable, in time!

More on my transformation and how I did it, in the up and coming weeks.

Ciao! Jenn,

Co-Founder Do You Bake? and Founder CRAVE IT

Oh! And don’t forget I would love to hear about your journey through eating a real food way, adding real activity into your life and you are more than welcome to connect with me on Facebook, follow along on our CRAVE IT Instagram page.  AND! Follow Live the Smart Way here on Instagram!

Crave It and our sister brand Do You Bake? will be at the Live the Smart Way Expo this weekend in London Ontario!  If you are in the area, come stop by! It’s going to be a TON OF FUN!

Here’s what we have lined up!!

• TONS of sampling some real food! Yeah, real food! No chemicals, additives or preservatives with anything!
• TONS of sampling with our CRAVE IT brand! High protein, fiber and more! Oh .. and its real food too!
• FIND OUT about my next challenge!! It is super awesome, I’m super excited and I”m even MORE excited when I get the ‘scrunched up nose’ look and the ‘you are doing WHAT?’ reaction! Umm..hello! Time to educate, teach and train! Let’s rock it starting AUGUST
• FIND OUT about MY transformation! and what I plan to attack in the coming months! ANYTHING is POSSIBLE! Believe me! And just do it with real food, have an awesome support system, move a little more, train hard and DO it for YOU!!! So excited!
• Meet our AWESOME ambassador Krista Ford! Holy Heck, she rocks! This was her Idea and I am so excited to support her!
• Meet ME! Yep! I can’t wait to meet everyone that stops by! Talk to me about fitness, food, dogs, cats, animals, the love for life, the zest I have for a big ol challenge! Connect with us! We are so so looking forward to meeting you!

We will be tweeting, facebooking, instagramming and I’ll be blogging throughout the weekend! Keep in touch with us online! We have a TON to share!! EEK!

From your very over tired, but super excited Jenn @ Do You Bake? , co founder of Do You Bake? and founder of CRAVE IT – I look forward to seeing all those super smiling faces!

Ciao Ciao! Now time to go lift some boxes !!

PS: Yep! I sure did work out this morning!  Leaving you with my workout photo of the day! Already! .. and I even got some pointers from this SUPER AMAZING guy .. I’m dying to tell his story  – super motivating and .. inspiring! Waiting to get permission but you just really have to see what this guy did! He is such a motivator!

Oh! And don’t forget I would love to hear about your journey through eating a real food way, adding real activity into your life and you are more than welcome to connect with me on Facebook, follow along on our CRAVE IT Instagram page.  AND! Follow Live the Smart Way here on Instagram!

I have 10 weeks left in my prep like a body builder challenge and two weeks ago I took some time out with our Fitness Advisor, Erik Edwards.  He ran me through a whole host of different drills that kicked me in the butt!

Before we began out workout, he made me stretch and warm-up (I hate stretching by the way. It’s one of the things I truly just can’t stand doing. I think because I find it boring).

During our warm-up he noticed I had a hard time squatting parallel to the floor.  He proceeded to run me through a few tests to determine where my weak points were (it could have been anything from weak or misaligned ankles to hip flexors).

Erik found, based on his functional movement tests, that my hip flexors are tight.  This movement is part of a drill he put me through to loosen up and limber up my hip flexors. This is incredibly easy to do and it was unbelievably effective.

Watch the video here! If you have tight hip flexors, this may work wonders for you.

It’s important to note, that when training, you should always seek the advice of those that have ultimate knowledge in areas of muscle development, tendon and ligament formation. There are various things at play when it comes to building strength and muscle development and it is not always just about the muscle.

I bring this information to you, through the eyes and advice of someone that has great skill and knowledge, not just about exercise, but equally Erik Edwards understands the functional components and the physiological aspect of exercise and health.

Ciao for today! Build the best you possible, but do so with the advice, support and help of those that understand all aspects of the sport and the athletic training!

Love love the shoulder press! Just absolutely love this move, especially when using the Olympic bar! This exercise was a part of my Upper/Lower circuit – phase 2 of my 18 week shadow the body builder training regime.  I upper/lower circuit train 3 to 4 times a week. This means each major muscle gets hit twice in a 7 day period. My second phase, this phase, focuses on a rep range that will promote additional muscle growth, less focus on strength and a minor focus on leaning out.  In the past 2 weeks I have seen some strength gains, more muscle pop and I’ve lost 9 pounds.  I have increased my caloric intake to reduce any further quick weight loss in order to make sure i”m losing weight at a slower but more appropriate rate.

My workout today consisted of about a 2 hour routine. Each segment includes legs then shoulders, then biceps. Enough rest for 30 seconds and I go at it again. Five times. Then I move to the next segments (4 to 5 segments or circuits in the entire workout. Minimal rest. Takes approximately 1.5 – 2 hours)

The circuit with the shoulder press included – walking overhead (plated) leg lunges, olympic bar shoulder presses, cable bicep curls (alternating biceps).

A little about the Olympic bar shoulder press!

#1  – I like performing in standing stance. It engages more of the core, the legs, the hips.

Ciao!! See you tomorrow!

Jenn @ Do You Bake

Founder Crave It & Co-Founder Do You Bake?

PS : I would love to hear about your journey through eating a real food way, adding real activity into your life and you are more than welcome to connect with me on Facebook, follow along on our CRAVE IT Instagram page.

Today I am proclaiming this as my first certified day off from the gym.  I have not taken one day off in 8 weeks and even on my one off day, I did end up at the gym to do a little light cardio. So today, I rest.

Actually, many professionals and even those in my corner tell me I need to take at least a day off a week to give my body a chance to recover and relax. I have not taken this advice for the entire eight weeks but today, I will rest!  The hardest part for me is resting. The hardest part is mentally understanding that this is a good thing and not a bad thing. So conditioned to stick to a routine, to want my progress to want to see change it is hard to understand how a day of rest can actually be good for you!

So … instead of speaking from experience, let me tell you what my coaches tell me! Here’s what they say about why its important to take a day or two off a week from the constant pounding you put your body through when working out super duper hard!

#1 Results – the results and the changes you see in your body actually doesn’t come from the time you spend at the gym. It comes during the time you rest your body. Yes, you have to put in the gym time to make change, but the body actually changes more during periods of rest than activity.

#2 – Good for the mind – A day of rest is good for our insides. Its good for our mind. Helps us feel inner refreshment.

#3 – Reduces risk of injury! – that’s right! we work out so hard all the other time, our body needs a chance to try and repair any small tears  Instead of progressively taxing the muscles, we need to give them some time to heal.

#4 – You will see better results – We often fall into the mode where we push harder to try and get better, bigger, faster results. Taking a day off actually will help you see better results! It sounds sometimes counter-intuitive, but a day off, a recovery day (regularly) will help you get back to the gym stronger because your body has had a chance to rest, recover and prepare for the next hard sets of workouts

There are the top four reasons! … While I try to internalize it, it is hard for me to understand, feel good about and be OK with.  Starting this week, through the remaining 10 weeks I have left, I will program in one day off a week. This will become my next tweak to my workout regime, starting today!

10 weeks to go on my body building challenge with Teresa!

Ciao!! See you tomorrow!

Jenn @ Do You Bake

Founder Crave It & Co-Founder Do You Bake?

PS : I would love to hear about your journey through eating a real food way, adding real activity into your life and you are more than welcome to connect with me on Facebook, follow along on our CRAVE IT Instagram page.

Your alarm clock rings, you look at the time and think “just five more minutes”.  Hit the snooze and snooze away knowing you can get ready for the gym..and yet you still hit that snooze a couple more times, you contemplate not getting out of bed and just going to the gym later. You think that you could really just skip today and instead do a little more tomorrow.

Yep! That was me this morning. I had the Monday morning I don’t want to get out of bed feeling. Oh it was just so tough to get up and move! After lying in bed, contemplating my options I decided to just pull my body up from the pillow and get moving. Even if my workout was not meant to be a super charged, hard and tough one, I knew I would at least get a workout in, rather than nothing.

We’ve all been there. Just don’t want to get up. Just don’t want to head to the gym. Lack in motivation to get going and keep moving.

Here are five reasons why you should get through a Monday workout!

#1 – It sets the stage for the week! When you train on Monday this usually helps to propel you through the rest of the week! It sets you on course! It helps you make the rest of the week happen!

#2 – It helps to reduce stress! That Monday morning hustle and bustle can be a killer! Use your workout to de-stress early in the morning! This will help you move through the rest of your day!

#3 – You’ll catch better sleep! Yep! You will sleep better when you get a good workout in! When you add heavy lifting to your routine, studies have shown it actually gives your body an ability to reset its sleep cycle, promoting a better, deeper and longer nightly sleep!

Get out there and make your Monday workout happen!

Ciao!! See you tomorrow!

Jenn @ Do You Bake

Founder Crave It & Co-Founder Do You Bake?

PS : I would love to hear about your journey through eating a real food way, adding real activity into your life and you are more than welcome to connect with me on Facebook, follow along on our CRAVE IT Instagram page.

Meet Erik! Erik is one of our team fitness advisors, working behind the scenes on some very special projects and very special content coming to you soon! Yesterday while we were in our work mode, he pulled out some of his fun equipment to try out.

Needless to say, we had fun and I learned a lot more about the importance of tendons and joints and how both of these things play an equally important roll in our strength capabilities.  Erik went through a bunch of different drills with me yesterday afternoon and I thought it was a piece of cake ..

Until this morning rolled around .. I am sore and my body is sore. Its the kind of sore that says you really did a lot of work. I can’t believe it. I train hard. Super hard, with super heavy weight.  Yesterday I barely touched anything over 25 pounds per arm and yet I’m stupid sore.

Motto? Try something new! Don’t get stuck! You will hear more of Erik as time goes on and he has even challenged me to another challenge! So I have two more challenges right after my 18 weeks with T!

Why? To show you you can do anything! To show you fitness can be fun! To show you the VARIETY of working out, of exercises you can do to stay in shape, get in shape and be the best you possible

…. and of course, I truly think they just like seeing if I’ll take them up on the challenge!! CHALLENGES UP!

Jenn @ Do You Bake

Founder Crave It & Co-Founder Do You Bake?

PS : I would love to hear about your journey through eating a real food way, adding real activity into your life and you are more than welcome to connect with me on Facebook, follow along on our CRAVE IT Instagram page.