It's officially spring, even though it may not feel like it just yet. So while mother nature warms up the air, you can start warming up your body for some great runs around town. Here is a list of some upcoming runs you can sign up for:

March 26 | Around the Bay 5K
April 1| Beaches Spring Sprint 5K
April 9 | MEC Toronto Road Race TWO 5K 10K 15K 
April 15 | Uxbridge Half Marathon 5K 10K Half-marathon
April 16 | Beaches Easter Day 5K
April 23 | Run4Hope Brampton 5K 10K
April 23 | Backs in Motion 10K Run and 5K Walk
April 30 | Run for Women Unionville 5K 10K 
April 30 | Run/Walk for Southlake 5K
April 30 | MEC Toronto Trail Race ONE 
May 7 | GoodLife Toronto Marathon 5K 10K Half-marathon Marathon Relay
May 13 | Color Me Rad Toronto FunRun

For a complete list of runs you can visit www.runguides.com/toronto/runs.

Reposting from Huffpost Living Canada. Originally posted 11/22/2016. 

It's that time of year when extra calories lurk around every corner. American Thanksgiving is this week and for me, the Christmas parties start this weekend! So what's the harm in a little holiday weight gain, especially if it's just a couple of pounds? Well, the fact is those pounds can add up year after year, making holiday weight gain an important factor in your overall weight.
To avoid those extra calories and help you stay on track with your healthy living strategy this holiday season, let's explore my top five hacks.

1. Indulge In Healthy Foods
When you practice portion control and tweak preparation techniques, you'll avoid extra calories and walk away from holiday meals with energy, not a food coma! Many of your much-loved holiday foods are stuffed with nutrition. Let's take a closer look at two of my favourites: turkey and cranberries.
I've always preferred the taste and texture of dark meat, which is packed with nutrients including zinc, iron and selenium. All are excellent for immune, skin and hair health. A 100-gram (3.5 ounces) serving of dark meat with the skin has 29 grams of protein, 10 grams of fat and 210 calories.
The next indulgent is fresh cranberries! Personally, I love the tart taste of these red holiday jewels and eat them year round. They are bursting with the antioxidant proanthocyanidins known to combat oxidative stress and decrease inflammation. Also, they are a good source of fibre and vitamins C and K. A 60 ml (¼ cup) serving of fresh cranberries is only 13 calories.

2. Put A Cap On The Bevies
During the festive season, it's common to consume more alcohol. Excess alcohol can relax inhibition, and stimulate appetite. With the number of parties and dinners over the holidays, limit alcohol to one to two drinks per event.
Here's how: Consider skipping the glass of wine (>200 calories per 250 ml) at dinner and replace it with sparkling or still water. At a cocktail party, choose either one glass of red wine, a skinny cocktail such as cranberry juice and vodka with fresh raspberries, or low-fat eggnog with a splash of rum and cinnamon. Then switch to sparkling water with a lime twist to cut the calories and stay well hydrated for the rest of the party.

3. Maintain Your Sleep Schedule
Although holidays are considered a time of rest and relaxation for some, busy schedules and family commitments can get in the way of a good night's rest. Sleep deprivation has been reported to alter the function of the body's hormones involved in hunger and satiety responses, which can lead to increased food intake.
Instead of burning the midnight oil during the festive season, ensure you maintain a sleep routine. Head to bed early and get plenty (at least seven hours for adults) of restful sleep every night. This will help keep your food intake on track over the holidays!

​You know stretching important. It gives you the muscle flexibility to perform your daily activities with ease, such as getting out of bed, lifting your child, doing yard work or house cleaning. It also reduces stress, improves posture and decreases injuries. And seeing as flexibility deteriorates with age, it’s important to keep working at it.
​
The good news is that stretching is one of the most rewarding activities because you can see results fairly quickly. If at the start you could only bend as far down as your knees, by the end of the first week you might see your fingers reaching an inch or two lower. Eventually you will be showing everyone how comfortably you can touch your toes, or clasp your hands behind your back, or even do the splits! 

So here are some tips to help you get your ‘pretzel’ on:

Most parents can relate to the daily challenges of finding foods that their children will eat and enjoy. Perhaps our job as a parent is to serve and expose our children to a variety of healthy foods whether they choose to eat those foods or not. 

Taste buds do change.   
Toddlers and young children have more taste buds than adults (they decrease as we age). Children can taste the bitter, spicy and salty in foods that a parent may not which means that spinach and broccoli may taste bitter to a child.   

Allow children to take part in food preparations.   
Apart from touching a hot stove, boiling water or sharp knives there are many ways that children can be helpful in the kitchen.  Allowing children to take part in meal preparation is an important step in getting them to try new foods.