Posts Tagged ‘contest’

Does melted cheese, pastry, chocolate and booze threaten to become your main food groups over the holiday season? The onslaught of holiday fare might make it difficult for you to keep your healthy eating goals on track. If you're struggling to get your 5-10 a day you may want to consider incorporating a beverage like Mott's Garden Cocktail into your diet - it has two full servings of veggies!

An exciting Mott's Garden Cocktail prize pack!

And Mott’s Garden Cocktail doesn't have that thick, tomato-y taste, so if you’ve tried vegetable cocktails before and didn’t like 'em, Mott’s Garden Cocktail might be your thing. There's also a low-sodium variety that has 78 percent less salt.

For a chance to WIN a Mott's Garden Cocktail Healthy Holiday Survival Kit, including a bunch of different kinds of Garden Cocktail, a $50 Loblaws gift certificate, fitness supplies, and what looks to be a very handsome basket, just subscribe to The Health & Wellness Blog and leave a message here sharing how you stay healthy over the holiday season. I'll announce the winner here on Wednesday December 22.

Waaay back on August 25, I asked you to tell us about your favourite Health & Wellness Club workout and fitness video for a chance to win one of three mini-libraries featuring books from all nine of this year's Read for the Cure authors, including Ian Brown, Margaret Atwood, Linden MacIntyre and more. (For more information, visit readforthecure.ca.)

Congratulations to our winners, Jeanette R., Irene and Kara!

Jeanette R. says:
"I really got a lot out of viewing Boot Camp Workout - Week 2.  The "mountain climber" was just the challenge I needed, as I feel like my workouts have been feeling a little drab lately. This is an excellent video!"

Irene says:
"I love the Boot Camp Workout Video - Week 4 where Pam, the fitness instructor, teaches how we can increase our strength with simple equipment that is not too expensive. Simple exercises with dumb bells, which I already have, are very useful. I could do them even when watching TV."

Kara says:
My favourite video is the Boot Camp Workout - Week 5 video. I really like the wood chop move as it works your whole body and you can feel every one of your muscles working. The videos have definitely helped me tone my muscles and I have discovered many new moves, such as the wood chop, to vary my workout and keep me motivated!

Hey - have you checked out our fab, new Yoga 101 video yet?

Also! Did you know that we'll be running Sexy Boot Camp after the holidays? Starting January 3, it's time to shake those January blues and get your groove back with six weeks of free daily e-mails to inspire you to become your strongest, sexiest, most confident self in time for Valentine's Day.

You'll receive fun daily challenges and make-at-home menus for romantic Saturday night dinners. Plus you'll get great workout tips, style guides and advice for how to heat things up in the bedroom. Yeow! Sign up for the newsletter today!

Canadian Living boasts a library of fab Health & Wellness Club workout and fitness videos that you can use year-round to help you get and stay in shape. You can find all our Health & Wellness Club videos here.

Tell us which of Canadian Living's Health & Wellness Club videos is your favourite for a chance to WIN one of three mini-libraries featuring books from all nine of this year's Read for the Cure authors, including Ian Brown, Margaret Atwood, Linden MacIntyre and more. For more information, visit readforthecure.ca.

You have until Sunday, October 31, to post a comment to let us know which Heath & Wellness Club video is your favourite. I'll announce the winner here on November 11. Good luck!

I can't believe Week 4 of Spring Boot Camp is almost over. It's been nearly a month since we started boot camping and I sure can feel the difference! What changes are you noticing?

For a chance to WIN the new book, The Mayo Clinic Diet, by the weight-loss experts at Mayo Clinic, plus the new DVD, 10 Minute Solution: 5 Day Get Fit Mix, just Subscribe To This Column and post a reply telling us about the changes you've noticed in yourself since you started Spring Boot Camp. Is your clothing fitting better? Do you find you have more energy? Are you suddenly looking forward to slipping into your bathing suit?

You have until Friday, June 11 to let us know. I'll announce the winner here on Tuesday, June 15.

We're always complaining about our bodies. Too fat. Too lumpy. Too large. Too flabby. It's common to hear people complain about the size of their hips, the girth of their thighs, their pudgy tummy or their multiple chins.

But let's banish that negativity! Give yourself some love. Tell us about your favourite body part for a chance to WIN a copy of the new yoga DVD The Pursuit of Happy Hips with Eoin Finn and Elite Athletes.

For a chance to WIN, just Subscribe To This Blog and post a comment telling us about your favourite body part. Is it your trim waist? Your cute feet? Your graceful neck? Your tiny wrists? Your beautiful complexion? Your strong shoulders? Or even your ample bosom! You have until Wednesday, April 28 to let us know. I'll announce the winner here on Thursday, April 29.

Have you signed up for Spring Boot Camp yet? Spring Boot Camp is just around the corner. Sign up today and starting on May 3, 2010 you'll receive an e-newsletter each day for six weeks to motivate you to get healthy and fit - just in time for the summer. You'll lose weight and feel great!

Oh my gosh.

I'm so full.

Even though I'm (usually) sticking to the super-healthy Bikini Boot Camp Six-Week Menu, I must confess that sometimes I may be eating way too much.

I may be eating so much that after some meals, I emit a series of sighs. I have to undo my pants. And all I can think about is napping.

I know I’m not the only one. So why do we eat so much, even when we're trying our hardest to be on our best behaviour?

In his new book, The End of Overeating: Taking control of the insatiable North American appetite, Dr. David A. Kessler cracks the code of overeating by explaining how our bodies and minds are changed when we consume foods that contain sugar, fat and salt. He says that food manufactures create products by manipulating these ingredients to stimulate our appetites, setting in motion a cycle of desire and consumption that ends with a culture of overeaters.

The book seeks to explain why it's so difficult to resist certain foods and why it's so easy to overindulge.

For a chance to WIN a copy of The End of Overeating, just Subscribe To This Blog and post a reply telling us about the food you're most likely to binge on. Maybe you set out to have just a few chips and end up emptying the bag every time. Perhaps you serve yourself a slice of pizza one minute, and the next minute, you discover that half the pizza is gone. (This happens to me all the time.)

You have until Friday, June 12 to let us know. I'll announce the winner here on Saturday, June 13.

Villamere. That's my last name. It's French, but apparently I'm not. If I was, maybe I wouldn't be such a chub-o.

We've all heard that French women don't get fat. But is it true? And why? (And if it is, I'm adding it to my list of reasons to move to France, right below 'Gilles Marini'.)

To find out the answer, I did a little Q&A with Laura Calder, host of the Food Network's 'French Food at Home', member of Chef Network Inc., and author of the cookbooks French Taste - Elegant everyday eating and French Food at Home. She's lived in France for the better part of the past decade, so I tasked her with confirming or dispelling the rumour that France has no fatties.

Q: We've all heard that French women don't get fat. Surely, that's not true. I mean, during your time in France, you must have come across a hefty French lady or two, non?

A: "One or two, yes. But it's not a blanket phenomenon like it is in North America today. The reason is, I suppose, that they are still eating the way we did two generations ago, to some degree:  good quality ingredients (nothing fancy, just meat and potatoes, apples and cheese, etc.), cooked in homey ways (stews, roasts, sautés, etc.) and eaten at meal times sitting down. The French are not snackers.

Really, there's no secret. It's just good eating. And it's guilt-free eating.  Our downfall is that we eat too much packaged food or food that's pumped full of chemicals and hormones, we snack like crazy on junk, and we don't move around enough."

Q: How do you keep your figure? You must be forever tasting things as you cook.

A: "How do I keep my figure? I eat like a farmer from the 1920s. No, seriously, I eat meals and don't snack and I eat really good food: organic meats from a butcher I know and trust, a lot of vegetables. I eat sweet things, too, but all homemade so I know exactly what's in them.  I also walk everywhere I go and I do a lot of yoga.

I think if we put pleasure first, we're healthier. Pleasure equals the best-tasting (and therefore healthiest) ingredients, plus taking the time to enjoy eating with people we love. That's the best healthy-eating program I can think of for anyone."

Q: Oh my gosh, can it be true? Guilt-free eating? Tell me about some of your favourite recipes from your new book, French Taste.

A: "I love the savoury swiss chard tart in the first-courses chapter. I love the craggy chocolate cake in desserts, and all the apple tarts. I love the beef and carrot stew. See . . . all the granny food. That's my bag."

***

None of that stuff sounds like diet fare. All of that stuff sounds delicious. Can it be true - can we eat deliciously decadent foods and stay healthy and slim?

I don't know, but this is definitely worth investigating. I've got a copy of French Taste and I'm going to start cooking. Maybe I am French after all . . .

If you're ready to eat like a French lady and see what happens, just enter for a chance to WIN a copy of Laura Calder's latest book, French Taste.  To qualify, just Subscribe To This Blog and post a reply telling us about a weight loss myth you've debunked or found to be true. Do you eat quality, homemade meat, potatoes and pies like a French person and still stay slim and trim? Does green tea really help you to lose weight? Did you lose weight when you started eating breakfast? Is cabbage soup really the answer? What about detox diets? Or grapefruits?

You have until Thursday, June 18 to let us know about your weight loss myth trials and tribulations. I'll announce the winner here on Friday, June 19.

Bon chance!

So many contests, so many winners during Bikini Boot Camp! 

Congratulations to roxy, who has won our Day 14 contest by telling us about her bad habits with salt.

roxy says:

"Well I think I’ve always had a thing for salt. I remember being a child out for dinner and shaking some in my hand and licking it and I did this many times it was a habit (like I was a horse?). This seems really silly right and I’m sure I’m the only child who did this but now I see why I used to get yelled at! I know why it was so bad but still this salt craze continues. Anything salty I want. Feta cheese, chips, popcorn, fries etc. I will put salt on everything I have been shaking less these days but its so hard not to just think the meal needs it!"

roxy has won a great prize pack from Mrs. Dash, containing all 12 flavours of Canada’s favourite salt-free, flavour-full seasoning plus a step counter and a jump rope.

Have you entered our Day 26 contest yet?

Remember these things? Legs. The time has come to slowly re-introduce them to sunlight.

Monday is June 1. And you know what that means: shorts weather is coming.

Sometime between now and Labour Day, you are going to have to show some leg. Even if you're unwaveringly devoted to full-length jeans, knee socks and long-sleeve turtlenecks, there will inevitably be a day this season where you will have to dawn capris. A skirt. Or shorts. And yes, maybe even a bathing suit.

Shorts weather is coming. Best to make peace with it now and get ready.

This is your time to moisturize, perfect your fake tanning technique and most importantly, shave.

Oh Lord. Shaving. What a colossal pain in the rear. Seriously, am I expected to balance on one leg in the shower like a chunky flamingo and run a razor-sharp . . . razor . . . all over my legs every frigging day? Look. At the size. Of my thighs. Do you have any idea how much area I have to cover with that tiny razor? The whole prospect is absolutely ridiculous.

I refuse.

This summer, I'm opting for non-razor hair removal. And you can, too, because I have a prize pack from Nair available for one lucky blog subscriber. It includes:

• Nair pretty glitter hair removal wax strips for legs & body with cherry scent
• Nair pretty glitter hair removal wax strips for face & bikini with chamomile and apple scent
• Nair shower power hair removal cream for legs & body, sensitive formula
• Nair 'cire divine' no strip wax for legs and body in sensual berries scent.

Hmm. Whoever wins this prize will have to report back to us about what 'sensual berries' smell like.

For your chance to WIN, just Subscribe To This Blog (it’s free, you know) and post a reply with your shaving horror story. Have you sustained a serious (or seriously embarrassing) nick or cut? Have you forgotten to shave for a special occasion? Have you ever done the classic 'I accidentally only shaved one armpit' maneuver?

You have until June 5 to tell us your hair removal horror story. I'll announce the winner here on Saturday, June 6.

Congratulations to mary and Shawna Sanderson who have won our Day 15 contest by telling us about how they like to enjoy their favourite vegetable.

mary says:
"My favourite would have to be tomatoes, since they are so easy and fast growing, I love to eat them sliced on hot toast with some butter and freshly cracked pepper on top, what an eye opener to start the day. I am always sad to see the last of them be devoured in the fall, my mind though goes to the next summer and thoughts of growing and enjoying them all over again"

Shawna Sanderson told us:
"My favourite are peas right out of the garden. When I was around 5 years old, I used to have a hey day in my grandmother’s garden sitting in the dirt and eating all the peas right outta the shell!"

I used to do exactly the same thing at my grandmother's. This year, I'm planting peas of my own for the first time with help from Douglas Green’s new book, The Guide to Canadian Vegetable Gardening. And I'll be sending a copy of this great book to our winners.

Have you entered our Day 20 contest yet?