A Circuit of Cardio Exercises to Burn Body Fat

I have learned a new term today:  Circuit - a group of exercises

I have been going to a fitness program at the gym for the past few months for two to three times a week. I just finsihed the fountation program and now am starting the cardio portion of the program.

Watching TV makes running on the treadmill easier

Joyce, my personal trainer, had me do the following circuit today:

1. Running on the treadmill for .20 mile
2. Rowing on the rowing machine for 250 meters
3. Skipping with a Skipping Rope  - 100 times
4. Stepping up onto a box - 12 times

Joyce planned this circuit for me and after the warm up I was supposed to finish this entire group of cardio exercises 3x within 12 minutes

Rowing for 250 meters is not too bad for me!

I tried my best, learning to breathe properly and performing these exercises with proper form which according to Joyce is extremely important. I concurred because of my personal experience with sports injury. Unfortunately, a lot of people do not realize when doing exercises, especially when training with weight and building strength,  improper form, i.e. how you lift up the weight, how and how far apart you stand, whether you are pushing down with your toes, or heels, where you rest the weight etc could easily cause injury if  you have not been instructed properly. I know a few young people injured themselves due to lack of professional training prior to starting their weight lifting training.



Skipping 100x after the first two exercises, not easy!



I signed up for a personal trainer at the Steeles Ave. and Victoria Park Goodlife Gym since last April. I must admit that it was not cheap, but my personal trainer has motivated and helped me to do exercises that I would never be able to do on my own.

Stepping onto the box is OK for me too

Yesterday, she did a body fat and other measurement for me.  We were both delighted to find out from the measurements indicating that since the time I signed up for fitness training, I have lost a good percentage of body fat which is now in the average range. Way to to!!!

Being motivated and going to my exercise program consistently,  I know I will achieve my fitness goals and be able to feel great, look awesome,  and able to open my own bottles and cans as I did in my younger days!

Keep up your exercise and all the best in your fitness goals!

R.T. Toronto, Canada

Oct. 5, 2012

Street Party - over 40 years of tradition on our street, Toronto, Canada




We have been living in the Don Mills area of Toronto for the past three decades. Our two sons grew up in this lovely middle class neighbourhood. While I have heard horror stories about  neighbours not getting along and  at times even suing each other, we have been very fortunate that our neighbours have all been nice and friendly and we have never had any issues with anyone.

The only regret I have is that for the past three decades I was a full time working mom and was extremely busy working and raising two young children, therefore unable to take part in the neighbours get togther.



A Potluck Party - Every Family brings a dish to share




  This year, for the first time I was part of the planning committee for our annual street party that has been a tradition on our street for over 40 years!

 Though the committee only met once at Lynn's house, we kept in touch with emails and did all the planning and task assignemnts online.



The Potluck - each person, in this case each family brought a dish to the party. We had food from different enthic origins reflecting our diverse cultures.

Our street party took place on a Wednesday evening  in early September and the weather was a balmy 70 degrees at 4:00pm.



Lots of food for everyone!



We took out tables, got chairs, prepared drinks and even games for the kids to play. Lot of neighbours started coming out form their hosues, some with children in tow. Some people who used to live here,  moved away but still came back for this annual event.



It was great seeing neighbours meeting each other and exchanging news and catching up. Since Canada`s winter is long and we stay indoors for more than six months of the year, it was great opportunity for neighbourly visits and chats. The weather cooperated and it was a fun evening.

 The party was a success; we had over seventy neighbours at our party and even the city councillor, Denzel Minan-Wong, dropped by to chat for a while.

The best part about this street party was I got to know a few neighbours and make some new friends. We even started our own weekly ladies coffee hours on Tuesdays in the morning from 10am-12pm.

We rotate our meeting place and have coffee at a different house each week. We met for three weeks already. Next Tuesday will be at our house and I look forward to hosting it. Finally, I am enjoying this sense of community and getting to know our neighbours really well! The joy of retirement and having time to enjoy our beautiful community and its inhabitants!

R.T. Toronto, Canada

Oct.1, 2012



Nuit Blanche, Toronto - A Free Night of Arts Entertainment, Toronto




Every year, for the past few years, Toronto has been hosting an annual arts event called the Nuit Blanche. It is only a one night event where some of the main downtown streets are blocked to allow pedestrain traffic all night long starting shortly after 7:00p.m and last until sunrise the next morning.

People performaing on the street on Nuit Blanche



    





Nuit Blanche is an event completely devoted to arts. This year it had over 160 exhibits and events throughout the main Toronto downtown core. I was at an eleven a.m. meeting downtown so I just went into Starbuck after the meeting and worked there until my husband came and we went together to enjoy the night of events.

A Social Experiment - Talking to Strangers



 



Since there were over 160 events, in order to get the most out of the evening, we got the program book from Dundas Square and pored over the program to select the ones that interested us the most. There were quite a few art events concentrated around the City Hall area, so we bought a Subway pass  for $10.50 which allowed two people unlimited travel for the day and into the wee hours of the next morning.




Floor Art, Outside City Hall



We started at the Dundas /Yonge Square where hundreds of Torontoians already gathered.  One activity we enjoyed was the social experiment of talking to strangers. At one corner of the square, there were  instrucitons posted helping people to initiate conversations with strangers. It was a lot of fun and from the huge number of people practising the art of conversing with strangers, this was a popular activity especially with young people.



Watching the `Civilization` Exhibit on the floor of Toronto City Hall  during Nuit Blanche

There were music, sound, visual, light, shadow and many other forms of arts presented all over the downtown. Thousands of people were enjoying this all night and early monring event. The best part of it - Free Admission and all people, from Toronot or tourists could enjoy this night for free!



Nuit Blanche, Dundas Yonge Square, Toronto



By R,T,  Toronto, Canada
Sept.30, 2012



Beautiful Window Boxes from our travels!

Assisi, Italy

I love gardening and I truly appreciate  the efforts which house owners /apartment dwellers put into beautifying their window boxes.

I just love looking at them, and admire the beauty and charm these window boxes added to the appearance of the buildings.

 Here are some of the window boxes we found in our travels for the past few months.

Most of the window boxes pictures were taken in Italy. Enjoy!



Assisi, Italy

Murano, Italy

 

Salzburg, Austria

A humble old house can be dressed up with flower boxes overflowing with colourful blooms and  foliage!

Assisi, Italy









Salzburg, Austria





Venice, Italy

Assisi, Italy

Italy

Italy

Italy

Toronto, Canada

Charlottetown, PEI, Canada

Charlottetown, PEI, Canada

R.T.  Toronto, Canada
Sept. 2012
p.s. Updated June, 2014

Dancing to the Phantom of the Opera in the Square

Dancing to the Phantom of the Opera in the Don Mills Square, Toronto

We are home finally! After almost a month visiting different cities in Europe in August, my husband and I were ready to come home. We thank God that we have had such a wonderful trip and we are home safely!

Of all the experiences we have had in Europe, the one that I remembered most was those beautiful town and city squares where people could simply hang out, meet and chat with their friends or just sit and watch the passersby. Because of the cold weather in Canada, Canadians typically spend at least six to eight months or more cooping up indoors depending on where they live. Consequently, we have many huge indoor shopping malls but not too many outdoor gathering places like the European town squares. How  we wish we had something like that in Canada.





People dancing under the stars in the town square



Yes! We finally have a beautiful neighborhood outdoor space where residents can sit, enjoy a nice meal, sip a cup of coffee while watching kids play, ride their bikes, play balls and chase each other.

 Not only can we do that all that, recently, we discovered this newly developed outdoor plaza even offer free dancing lessons two nights a weeks to anyone who wanted to dance and have fun.

So for a few weeks in September, my husband and I rushed down to the Shops at Don Mills Town Square, located on the corner of Lawrence Ave and Don Mills Road,  as soon as he swallowed his dinner minutes after coming back from work.  Together with a few other people, we learned the steps of cha cha, tango, sala and line dancing from our dance instructors, Janie and Dexter, who worked hard at putting some great music and dances for us.





Some of the dance participants in the Don Mills Square


Who would think of dancing tango to the music of Phantom of the Opera?  We did and we loved it!!! I always thought that tango was a very complicated dance so I never even bothered trying to learn it. Janie and Dexter managed to create a simplified version of the tango dance to this very favourite piece music of mine.









Janie & Dexter - Dance Instructors in the Square

 

It was fabulous to be able to listen to beautiful music, move our bodies fluidly and enjoy the crisp breezy fall air in a clean open space. This town square is away from main street traffic, surrounded by elegant shops, family friendly but not too crowded.

The best part of it was we had two professional dance instructors who came to the square and taught us how to dance rain or shine regardless of the weather since May this year. 

      

Making new friends & socializing after the dance



 
Unfortunately, we learned about it too late and I just joined when I came back from Europe at the beginning of September.

Besides the free dance lessons the square also offered free yoga classes from May to the end of September and other seasonal activities in the winter.

It is time that the inhabitants of Toronto have a town square not just in downtown Toronto, but in the suburbs as well. Don Mills was the first planned suburb in Canada, so it is fitting that we also have the first suburb town square!

R.T.,Don Mills, Toronto

Sept. 2012

Staying in a Vienna Pension for our last night in Europe!

Last Night in Europe

From Salzburg, we took the 5:50 pm OBB train and got to Vienna at around 9:30p.m., our last night in Europe.  Dan In n Out, centrally located in the city of Vienna, off the Ring Blvd, was the pension that my husband booked through the internet. The Pension is an European thing; it is a basic no frill hotel room located in an office building. When we got to the building, it was all dark and it did not look like a motel or hotel as we expected in North America. We thought might be we had been taken for ride by the internet booking.

We rang the door bell and after  about ten minutes when we were about to leave, someone finally came to answer the intercom and told us to just go up via the elevator. We took the tiny elevator to the floor where the pension was located and were met by a gentleman who handed us the key to our room. He explained to us what the pension was and said that there would be nobody at the reception desk but breakfast would be served in the morning.  Since our flight was leaving at 6:30a.m. We asked the gentleman from the pension to call a cab for us for 4:30a.m.

The room at the pension was O.K. but it was at a very central location in Vienna. However, we were not able to take advantage of this excellent location as we would be leaving in a few hours. I wished we had booked this place when we first landed in Vienna so that we could have walked around the city much easier.

We had a very enjoyable trip in Europe for the past few weeks and now it was time to leave this beautiful continent. Feeling a little sad, I busied myself packing our luggage and dared not to fall asleep lest that we should miss our flight.

The taxi was at our pension right on time taking us to the airport. The cab fare was at a fixed rate of 50 Euro, not bad.

We were at the airport so early that nothing was open, neither shops nor restaurants.  We got a little snack and boarded our plane to London for our North American flight home.  There was a stopover at the Heathrow Airport for a couple of hours, barely enough time for us to pore over some of  the mountainous volume of Olympics souvenirs.  There were lots of shops at the airport and we bought a couple boxes  of chocloate for friends back home.

Good Bye, Europe, thank you for a lovely time!  We have fallen in love hopelessly with Italy and a few other places therefore we hope to be back again soon!

R.T.

Aug. 2012

Salzburg - The Home of The Sound of Music

We enjoyed the walk up to  the HohenSalzburg Fortress

 Next morning we woke up and had a sumptuous breakfast in the cafeteria. The restaurant was the busiest of all the hotels we had stayed on this trip. The breakfast included traditional hot breakfast food such as bacon and eggs, pancakes, cheese, rolls, jams and cold cereals etc.

HohenSalzburg Fortress - Built on the Highest Point of Salzburg

There are about 140,000 inhabitants in Salzburg and it is the 4th largest city in Austria. The birth city of Mozart, Salzburg was the city where the movie The Sound of Music was based on and filmed in the 1960's.  The Sound of Music Tour has been going on ever since and it is a popular one.

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With only one day in Salzburg, we wanted to hit the main points of interest. Having signed up for a tour, we toured the city with 4 other tourists packed in a mini van. Our tour guide was a model for multi-tasking.  This young British lady guide also doubled as the bus driver.   Austria is truly an efficient country.  Elsewhere, the tour bus driver and the guide``s work would be performed by two individuals.   The tour bus took us through the old town and we got some decent knowledge of the various notable buildings in the City.




We came across this house built into the side of a mountanl

 We learned that Salzburg in German literally means 'salt town'.  The Celts, Romans and later Germanic peoples had all taken a stab in extracting salt from the quarries in the town. At one time, salt was so highly valued that it was used as a medium of business transaction, like money today. At one time, folks here were paid in salt and that was how the word salary came into being.  She also told us about the unique tradition of the Bishop Princes that ruled Salzburg through the centuries.  They were strict but caring rulers.  No wonder we could still note the orderliness, discipline and cleanliness of Salzburgers today.  Salzburg had been an independent Principality until not very long ago when it was finally absorbed into the Austrian Empire of the Hapsburg.
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Other really neat thing we did after the tour was walking up to the Hohen Salzburg - the castle located at the highest point of the city.

The Majestic Alps as Seen from the Top of the Hohen Salzburg

When I was in Canada, I have had experience some chronic pain on my right leg. However, having walked daily for the past three weeks on our European trip, the pain in my leg has gone. I attributed that to the daily walking exercise and we walked as much as we could.

When we sought directions how to walk up to the castle located at the highest point of the city, we were asked if we were taking the bus or walking. We were given a big grin and thumbs up by the locals when we told them that we were walking! The walk up to the castle was not too bad, neither was it a piece of cake.

View of Salzburg from the top of the Hohen Salzbury Fortress

But the scenery on the way was breathtaking as we came across numerous smaller castles, beautiful buildings and a modern museum! The walk was worth the time and effort and was the highlight of our visit in Salzburg. Highly recommend it if you have the time while visiting this city.

Hohen Salzburg Fortress - a city within wall

We had an audio tour of the Hohen Salzburg Fortress and learned about the history of the different expansions by the various prince archbishops. It was a small city within the castle walls with its own school, church, blacksmith shops, dungeon and even a torture chamber where the tools for torturing its dissidents and prisoners were kept.

After the tour, we could have taken the bus down to the square, but we wanted to walk and get as much exercises as possible.  Descending the hill, we could hear classical music playing and we soon found ourselves in the town square enjoying the free musical performances with many others.

We could hear the music from the square as we were descending from the Fortress

 Salzburg has a lot to offer to its residents and tourists alike. It is a city full of music. The day when we visited the old town, we came across a number of musicians performing on the streets and in the square.

Old Town Square - Salzburg

The annual Salzbrug Music |Festival attracts hundreds and thousands of music lovers.
 The next time we visit Salzburg, we will make sure that we will be able to be a part of the musical celebration.


R.T. Salzburg, Austria
Aug. 2012