Finally Home

It has been a LOOOOOONNGGG journey to and from PA for the QVC appearance!!

I didn't think I was going to make it yesterday and then I didn't make it home last night. Finally, after much waiting, I touched down in T.O. this morning. Phewf!! I'm so happy to be home.

The QVC appearance went very well yesterday. I hope some of you were able to catch it. If not here is the link for your enjoyment.

On Thursday (before my mad dash to PA) we celebrated Chelsea's Sweet 16. I've decided I can't eat French food... a little too rich for my liking. Here are some pics from that night:



And here are some photos from earlier this week when I met Eat-Clean Diet Body Makeover Challenge winner, Melanie Nevins (and her husband Travis). We had a lovely Clean Eating dinner with them after the photo shoot at Grano, an intimate Italian restaurant. Lookin' great, Mel!!

Q & A Part 2 - EXERCISE

QVC!!!

I'm going to be on QVC again TOMORROW (Friday) for 8 minutes between 5 and 6 pm Eastern!!! Check your local listings. I will post the link once I'm done.

More More More....

Question: Did you gradually add a few more each workout? I have been trying to do just one after 6 months, and I still can't go all the way up. How did you do it? Assisted chin-machine or just pulling up for dear life?

Answer: When your body weight gets low enough chins come easy. Until then do half chins or assisted chins every day until you are all the way up!

Question: Do you think you'll compete again and how would i find out about competing in canada in the maritimes,what would be the names of these competions so i could search for them? What times of the year is competion time? And i was wondering about the contest your husband had going on at oxygen ,the ab contest? was a winner chosen?Thanks so much i love your blog and all your pictures no matter what your wearing.

Answer: I won’t be competing anytime soon. These last 2 were pretty tough on me. But I can never say never. To find competitions in your area I recommend an internet search. Since I don’t live in the maritimes I am not sure about comps in your area. They run all year round.

Question: I have a Q. Should I out work out a few days if i worked out to hard to the point were my legs and butt have been sore for 4 days. I ha d just switched my routine and was lifting very heavy. i did the step machine the next day,and then jogged and walked on a steep incline the next two days. What is better. light work out after or no workout on the sore muscles?

Answer: Sometimes light exercise after an hard day can be good, or a hard workout focusing on a different group of muscles. It’s best to give 24-48 hours rest between sessions focusing on the same muscle group. Listen to your body.

Question: Who came up with the different rep sets....6-8, 10-12 etc. What are the advantages of each?

Answer: I don’t know who came up with these classifications. I’m sure my husband knows! The advantage of each is to work the muscle in different ways. 6-8 reps with heavy weights challenges the strength of a muscle, while 10-12 challenges the endurance of the muscle.

Question: Can you elaborate on Giant Sets? and how often they can be performed?

Answer: Giant sets are as follows; choose 5 exercises for 1 body part and do them in succession. Repeat as often as you like.

Question: With regards to ab exercises...is it a myth that you shouldn't exercise them after 6pm or you won't sleep? It this IS true why wouldn't one sleep? thx.

Answer: That’s a myth. Exercise whenever you can and eat clean.

Question: Do you know of anywhere in the Toronto area where fitness competition shoes can be purchased?

Answer: Yes but you won’t like the answer – stripper stores! That is where you buy your princess shoes.

Question: How do you firm up the lower part of your glutes. I do very well with the upper part but have a hard time isolating the part that flows into the hamstrings. Thank you.

Answer: Well, the glute muscles span the glute from top to bottom so isolating the lower part is difficult. I like prone hip raises with weight.

Question: Can you work your calves everyday? I think the answer is yes but I'm not sure. Would you be damaging unrepaired fibers if you did?

Answer: Don’t train calves every day. Train them 2 or 3 times per week. The greatest growth comes from stretching calves too. So lift and stretch.

Question: Tosca would you suggest that if your work out lasts longer than an hour (wts only) that it is too long. I like the idea of feeling energized when leaving the gym. i do, but sometimes i feel exhausted. i do like to listen to my body. i am trying to figure out a good routine for me to get in 3 cardios at least a week but i will not give up wts to do so. i get in the 3 plus cardios but leave feeling wooped at times after pushing myself to extreme. i usually do interval training. I almost think i should concentrate on walking at a incline at intervals at 35%. It really makes me sweat and can get my heart rate without exhausting my legs. I should mention i would consider myself in excellent cardio shape and have been lifting wts for 25 plus years. What do you think?

Answer: Interval training is especially exhausting. Interval training + weights = no wonder you are whooped! Feeling completely beat after a workout isn’t a good sign. Try doing your cardio at a different time of day so you are not exhausting your body in one session. If you are doing a heavy leg session with weights leave your cardio to the next day to allow time for your muscles to recover slightly. Tone it down, girl! Otherwise you might injure yourself.

Yes I can! QVC and me!

What to wear to QVC?

Here it is! The big sign on the way in to QVC campus!

Theresa and I after her makeup transformation of me!

Good Morning!

Thanks to so many of you for tuning in, even online in Canada, to watch me on my very brief QVC segment! Man I had to talk fast to get it all in but 6 minutes of air time is 6 minutes I did not have before. Did you know QVC airs to 90 million homes in the United States? Home shopping is big bucks and alive and well thank you very much. I was of course thrilled to be invited – yes they invite you – to guest on the show. It made me feel as if I was keeping company with the big guys including Bobbi Brown (ahem, she’s my pal), Heidi Klum, Ellen de Generes (she just did a QVC show last weekend), Kelly Ripa and the grand dame of them all, Joan Rivers. I will let you in on a little secret – Joan has her own Green Room. The rooms are rarely green of course but this is the place you wait until they call you to air.

I have included some pictures of my makeup artist, Theresa Williams Turner, who is associated with Bobbi Brown. She did a superb job of my makeup if I may say so myself and kudos to her for covering those annoying nervous blemishes that insisted on popping up at a most inconvenient time. Did anyone notice them? Thank you Theresa.

There are a myriad of decisions to make before getting on air. Some of these include what to cook and who will cook it. Thankfully QVC helps with that stuff and my Eat Clean book team of Wendy, Vinita, Antonia, Jessica and Gabby are my logistical rocks who manage details I don’t seem to have time for – thank goodness for them. But I do have to worry about hair and makeup and clothing. When Bobbi Brown offered her advice and one of her own to do hair and makeup for me I could relax but there was still the issue of what to wear. It’s big deal because you have to think about things like what the background of the set is, what the host is wearing, what colors work best and the cut of the clothes never mind what image I want to portray. Should I wear business casual or fitness clothing? That was a tough decision and once again Bobbi helped me out suggesting I stay true to my roots in fitness. I stuck with that idea but I still needed to narrow down color. So I dragged a number of outfits to QVC with me and ultimately decided on the turquoise LuLuLemon top with coordinating black dance pants. Their fit is fab! I topped it off with a pair of fresh, new Nike trainers. Let me know what you thought of the look. I am interested in learning what it is women want to see in a person they go to for health and fitness advice. Tell me please!! I am still always listening.

Enjoy the pictures and this day.
Hugs and inspiration to all of you.
Tosca

QVC Link

Here's the link for QVC. Thank you to the kind blogger who put it in the comments section:

http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/view.2/app.detail/params.item.F04889.desc.The-Eat-Clean-Diet-Cookbook-by-Tosca-Reno

Wow!

You are all amazing. The support I receive from you all is just out of this world. Thank you so much. You give me the motivation to keep going when I'm having a bad day and the power to keep inspiring women (and men).

Yesterday was a great experience. I was up super early to get my makeup done. The lady was fantastic and made me look like a million bucks. The food stylist was incredible, too. Yummy!

As for the show, I have to say I was a little confused at first. I thought I was going to be on for the full hour, which is why I told you all to tune in at 9am. Turns out I was part of an hour-long segment, which included me for 5 minutes or so. Well, I hope I made the most of those 5 minutes. That's how they decide if they will take you back or not.

Thank you for all of your kind words of support and positive feedback from yesterday. I hope I get to do it again soon.

-Tosca

QVC Time!!!

Hey Everybody,

Tomorrow (Friday) is the BIG day!!! QVC time has arrived.

I will be on air at 9am standard time. If you can't watch on TV you can watch live at www.qvc.com.

I am so excited to be doing the same thing that Ellen de Generes did just last Saturday, Joan Rivers the Grand Dame of them all, Cindy Crawford, Bobbi Brown, and a host of well-known names. Time to bring Eating Clean to the masses.

I am working out clothing details now – fitness or dressy casual? Show the arms? Don’t show the arms? It is a tough call. I need a stylist!!

Okay enough moaning. I gotta get some rest.

Love and hugs,
Tosca

p.s. Feel free to call in tomorrow offering your input on the books... I would love that!!!

Going to QVC

This is Kelsey leaping - check out the air she is getting!

Me

My makeup drawer.

Hello Sisters in Iron.

Was your week cold enough? My golden retriever thinks so. He would lie down in the snow when I took my dogs for a walk, and wait until I cleared his paws. I don't think he likes the ice much. Yeah! It has been cold. I don't mind it too much. As long as I can pile enough clothes on me and get out in the weather I feel like it clears my head. I actually like it. When you add some exercise to the picture, like snowshoeing for example, well you get pretty warm. I am usually quite sweaty after an hour on my snowshoes.

I told you earlier this week that I was going to work on eating smaller quantities. It can be done e! All week I have used smaller plates and eaten a bit less than what I would normally. I feel fine. And I noticed I still have abdominal definition even though I am not training for a contest right now. So less is more!

This weekend I am travelling to Kingston and then Belleville. Kingston is our first stop to drop off some things for Kiersten at Queens - lamps, blankets, clothes, groceries - and then we are going to drive to Belleville for the Quinte Ballet School Gala. Kelsey is dancing in the gala and we are getting all dressed up for the big dinner. We are going as a family and it should be fun. There will be dancing and dining and silliness but most importantly we will be supporting the school.

At the end of the week I will be travelling to the US to appear on QVC. That is the big American shopping channel. I will be on TV at 9:00 am on Friday, January 23rd. You can watch online at http://www.qvc.com/. I don't think Canadians get QVC on TV but I have watched my friend Bobbi Brown on my computer and it works pretty well. I will be doing a cooking segment and pitching my books. Should be fun!

All week long I have heard Oprah and Gayle King talking about the inauguration. History is definitely in the making. The sense of change and the dare to hope is back in the air. I am not an American but even I feel empowered by this man and his family. I find myself looking forward to the changes he has promised to bring about. I am proud of Canadians too because we are just as excited about what is going to be happening in Washington. It is good for us to once again believe in something.

Remember to believe in yourselves too. I do. Remember you are never alone. This weekend make a hearty stew for your family. Fill it with vegetables and spices for flavor. Gather up your family and go for a walk or a skate. Get out into the fresh air and fill your lungs with clean, invigorating oxygen.

Hugs to you all,

Tosca

Loving Life!

Me and my books!

Me and my coach aka - Big Bob Kennedy

Hello All! My Sistah's in Iron and my Fellow Eaters of Clean Fare.

Can i just say how much I love you all? I feel like Kate Winslet the other night when she won two Golden Globes and went on for 5 minutes telling Leonardo di Caprio how much she loved him. Hmmm! Wonder what Kate's hubby thought of that? Okay I digress .... what I mean, is I love how smart you are. The comments resulting from the doc's blog post the other day show how much you have been paying attention, taking care of you and your loved ones and giving sugar and garbage foods the middle finger (can I say that?) I am still chuckling over some of the answers. You should be proud of yourselves. Good job gals.

I am sipping some hot tea with honey and lemon right now because I have a little bit of a dry throat. Otherwise I am feeling good and working hard at my next 2 (yes 2) books. Always something right? There are plenty of surprises in store for this year. We are going to have fun and share loads of laughs and tears I am sure. We are all in this together and I know for sure we are going to change one way or the other. It is the year of change!

I am already changing something. Starting January 1 I thought I would try the old trick of putting less on my plate or just not finishing everything on my plate. Sometimes my eyes are bigger than my stomach. You know what? It works. I am not hungry. I feel the same just not so bloated. My husband appreciates that last bit!! I can tell you. So if you don't want to change a whole lot, try it and see what you think. I feel great. Pants are getting a little looser and have good definition. I'll take it!

OMG!! I got the call to go on QVC! My show date is January 23rd/09. I will be on air at 9:00 am as an expert in Eating Clean and cooking clean. Can't wait to show them what we all already know!

So keep it tight ladies (any gents?) and stick with me. We are in for fun times.

Cheers,

Tosca

Your Sister in Iron