Monday, September 28, 2009

Last Few Days in LA

My last few days in LA were full of activity.

On Friday I awoke bright & early for a taping of The Doctors. My husband and I were picked up from our hotel in Santa Monica and whisked through lovely LA traffic to set of the show. They made us feel very welcome and did a wonderful job on my hair and make up. That was a special treat! Once I was ready they sent me out on stage to meet "the doctors" en masse. We went through a couple of rehearsals before they began taping. Of course, if there's one thing I've learned about TV, it doesn't matter how much you rehearse, things will always change once the cameras start rolling. I won't give everything away before the air date, but we definitely did some training with the doctors. Think lunges with weights... woohoo!! The taping flew by and the audience was very receptive. Yeah! I'll give you an air date as soon as I know.

After that my husband and I were exhausted. The week had been a total whirlwind! We ended up being lazy and slept in on Saturday morning. I can't remember the last time I did that.

We spent the rest of Saturday putzing around 2 museums (the MOCA and the LACMA) before making our way over to Gold's Gym in Venice Beach for an overdue training session. It felt so good to have a decent weights session after a week of running around with very little time to spare.

Sunday was our final day. We ate breakfast at the hotel about 3 feet from Ron Howard (the director) and then boarded our plane to find Joe Jonas (of the Jonas Brothers) and Brenda Song (of the Suite Life of Zach & Cody) on our flight. They were kind enough to give me autographs for my 16 year old who literally screamed when I told her the news.

Now, I am settling back into home life, which means laundry, groceries, emails, and more!

I am happy to be home...

Tosca

Friday, September 25, 2009

Turning 95 Should Always Be This Much Fun

Last night I had the honor of attending Jack LaLanne's 95th birthday party. The event was as glamorous as you can imagine complete with a red carpet entrance to the Beverly Wilshire hotel. The band was amazing and we danced and partied and mingled and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We didn't make it a late night because today I was up bright and early for a taping of The Doctors. I don't have an air date yet, but you know I will keep you posted. This has been one heck of a whirlwind of a week, but I've loved every minute of it... phewf!

Here are a few pictures from the event last night. Enjoy and Happy Friday!!
-Tosca

Jack and his lovely wife of 50 years, Elaine.


With the birthday boy himself.


My gown. I felt totally appropriate last night. My hair and make up were excellent. Thanks Nancy!


Forbes Riley, my extremely dapper husband, Robert, and me!


Lou Ferrigno and his wife, Carla.


Me & Montel Williams.


Arnold giving a special message. When he arrived at the event I gave him a peck on the cheek. I don't know what came over me.


Blowing out the candles on his cake! The happy couple followed this by singing to one another. What a fun night!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Extra & Jay All in One Day!

Hello Sisters In Iron and Clean Eaters All!

I had such a fun day yesterday. We started with an early morning shoot for Extra on location in a beautiful Whole Foods. Sharon, the producer, is fun to work with. She knows what she wants and gets it done. I am feeling the Extra love! Nancy Jambazian did my beautiful makeup. She’s my go-to gal on the West Coast. We shot several fun segments for Extra’s show Lifechangers. I will keep you posted on air times. You can watch past clips here and here.

Then we raced over to NBC Studios in Burbank to hang with Jack LaLanne and his wife, Elaine, backstage at The Jay Leno Show. As I mentioned before, my husband, Bob, wrote the foreword to Jack’s new book, Live Young Forever. While there we met Al Michaels and Bob Costas and his wife Jill. Jay Leno came in and shook my hand and so did his musician, Kevin Eubanks. Nice people!

A buzz filled the corridor when the big man Vince Vaughn arrived – he was the featured guest of the night. He came in to shoot a few pics with us after the show. Yes that is me that he has his arm around. Did I mention how tall he is! What a thrill! He made an exciting announcement when he shared with us that he is engaged to a Canadian girl! This came in response to Jack’s question about whether Vince had any children. Vince said he would be working on it!

You can watch the hilarious clip with Jack, Jay and Vince here.

Today is another big day – Jack’s 95th gala birthday party is tonight! I get to walk the Red Carpet! More pictures and stories to come!

Have your own Red Carpet Day by treating yourself to some love!

Tosca

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Adventures in LA

Hi Clean Eaters,

I write to you today from sunny LA. My husband and I arrived yesterday afternoon, got our rental car, and drove straight to the beach. We needed a few moments to detox from our travels and previous weeks events before embarking on our many adventures to come in La La Land.

Monday night's GoodLife seminar was a great success. Lots of people attended and all ticket sales went to a foundation for obese children. I wanted to motivate my listeners by asking them to ask themselves how badly they want to change & to encourage them to live in a world of possibilities rather than one wrought with frustrations! I heard a bunch of excellent and very heartwarming success stories. Thank you so much to every one who attended. Events like that really remind me why I do what I do every day.

P.S. I was selling the hardcover cookbook (Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Cookbook) at the event and everyone was smitten. I sold more of those books than any other. You can preorder yours here!

So onto LA... just in case you thought I was on vacation, I'm not:

I am filming a few segments today with Extra. I will let you know when they will air.

After that it is off to a filming of The Jay Leno Show. My husband worked with Jack LaLanne on his new book Live Young Forever and wrote the foreword. Jack will be featured tonight on The Jay Leno Show. Be sure to check it out! He was also on Good Day LA yesterday with his wife, Elaine. Check out the video here!

Much love and sunshine,
Tosca

Monday, September 21, 2009

Join Me Tonight


Welcome to the start of a fresh week Clean Eaters.

I had a very busy, but rewarding weekend. On Saturday night at the WBFF show I was given an award for Health and Fitness Achievement. I was very honored. They did a lovely introduction with video clips of me training etc. It was a very special evening.

My husband and I also got to watch a performance by Liberty Silver and a Cirque du Soleil type balancing duo. It was pretty impressive!! I even managed to wear a comfortable pair of high heels. It was a little uncomfortable, but I do love a pair of heels and I couldn’t resist. On Sunday I had an interview and a photo shoot with the WBFF team. Now, I am packing my suitcase. Off to LA tomorrow for Jack LaLanne’s 95th birthday!

BUT TONIGHT...

Come join me in Aurora!!

I’ll be at GoodLife in Aurora, Ontario (15900 Bayview Ave.) this evening between 7pm and 9pm giving a seminar.

Visit my Appearances page for more information.

Hope to see you there.

Friday, September 18, 2009

At Home

I've taken a few days of rest at home allowing my leg to recover from my diving accident. I am really amazed at how much better my mobility is after a few sessions of physiotherapy including acupuncture and taping. I can walk around in flat shoes without too much discomfort. I've been staying off of it as much as possible so I can wear heels on Saturday night. I will be receiving an award at the WBFF show. I'll tell you more about it after the event. Soon after that my husband and I are flying to LA to celebrate Jack LaLanne's 95th (!!!!) birthday. This event will also be requiring heels. Calf recovery is much needed!!

While home I've been catching up on work and spending time with Chelsea and the puppies. Here they are looking lovely after a day with the groomer. Sadly, this look doesn't last very long. Bailey rubs his golden coat in the dirt as soon as possible and Davidson finds something to get into not long after that. Such is the life of man's best friend. I also got down to the city yesterday to get my highlights done. I knew it was high time for a change when I started wearing my hair in a ponytail all the time. It was looking a bit drab. Maybe I should just go with the foiled look all the time. What do you think? I also met up with my daughter, Rachel, for lunch. She's living in Toronto now while she attends naturopathic college. It was a very nice afternoon just us girls.

Now, I'm at home resting again. I have been in the gym doing as much as I can. This is my first day of leg training so I will tell you how it goes. Swimming with arms only is working very well for cardio. Thank you for all of the bike recommendations. I will have to get searching into that. First things first... healing!!

Happy Friday Clean Eaters!!

Love,

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Cool FYIs

Well, while I sit here and recover from my lovely torn gastroc I should tell you about a couple of interesting things...

I was on CTV this past week discussing The Eat-Clean Diet for Family and Kids and immunity. Here's a link to the clip. Let me know your thoughts on setting up your kids for a lifetime of good health.

Here's a great review of the Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook care of Jet Set Jen. Yummy!

I'm resting, resting, resting... which is VERY hard for me!

Monday, September 14, 2009

Here's What Happened

Here it is:


































































I have torn my right lateral gastrocnemius muscle. It will take 4 to 6 weeks of recovery.

Today the physio gave me ultrasound and acupuncture therapy followed by some serious taping.

I trained arms this evening and did most of the exercises either sitting or lying down. However I had no trouble doing triceps pressdowns. Tomorrow morning I am going to try swimming with arms only. This way I can still get my cardio but not involve my legs.

I will keep you posted.

Good night,
Tosca

Great Support! Thanks!
















Hello All!

(Can you see the pain on my face?) Even gym time hurts!!

Thank you for your wonderful support from the suggestion to face the future fearlessly (I will) to saving pennies for a curly handled bike (this will take a while). Yes the race I am preparing for takes place next year in June. I have so many career obligations I simply don't have hours a day to devote to training so I gave myself a big window. I think my other sister-in-law will be joining me as well as the Iron Woman sister-in-law. Even my brother Rene is considering it. Sounds like a family affair!

Your words are helping since I have been rather sorry for myself. I had planned a big run this morning and can't even make it to the kitchen from my bedroom without pain. I have an appointment with a sports physiotherapist this afternoon so I promise to follow her good advice. In the meantime I am recalling some pool training I underwent when swimming with a team in my past and remembered having to swim numerous laps with legs only or arms only. I am going to give the arms only a shot later today.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Empty Nest, Training and Injured

My sister-in-law Tammy is competing in an Iron Man event! She is my inspiration for my sprint triathlon.



















Grandma is hugging my Freshman, Kelsey.




















Here the lovely ladies are lounging by the pool before the mad return of school. It's rare for all 4 of them to be at home at the same time.





















Hello Sisters in Iron.
I have not forgotten you although several days have passed without much action on the blog. My silence has come at the hands of Busy-ness! I have just moved 3 (yes three!!) daughters out of the house so that they could get on with their lives. My car is simply a moving van and my wallet has been emptied several times over. But I can report that Kelsey and Kiersten are safely installed at Queen's University. Kelsey is in her first year of Fine Arts while her sister is in her 4th year of Religious Studies with an eye to a post grad in journalism. Rachel is ensconced in Toronto and is in her 2nd year of studies to become a Naturopathic Doctor. I am exhausted from hauling furniture up flights of stairs, making decorating decisions and hooking up equipment - did I mention I am not technically inclined?? Yeah! Well I am not!!
It's awful to have so much quiet after having had such a busy summer. I hardly know what to do with myself - NOT!!! I have decided to attempt (I said attempt) training for a sprint distance triathlon - the fastest growing sport in the nation. I have been gamely logging miles and kilometers, skipping rope and swimming laps. I need a bike for the road race part. My old Schwinn won't do (LOL). Any pointers from experienced readers? I need help with the bike thing. EVerything was going well until just moments ago when I decided I would do a few dives into the pool after swimming laps and I suddenly felt something snap in my right calf. I barely got out of the pool and the pain is ridiculous. I don't know what I have done to myself but it hurts. I am icing it and resting it now .....
Okay enough words here are some pics to round out the story.
Love you all!
Keep it tight.
Your injured Sister in Iron,
Tosca Reno

Thursday, September 3, 2009

ZiPlInInG & RaPeLlInG...

Here are some pics from our day of fun on Tuesday at the Elora Gorge in Guelph.

Gearing up for the day and looking apprehensive. When was the last time you jumped off an 80 ft. cliff??


Learning to rappel.


Robert's turn!!


Just hangin' around!!


My turn to zipline across the Elora Gorge!


And finally the Superman... head first across the Gorge!!


Our motley crew of adventurers included David & Jordan, our One Axe Pursuits guides. They were amazingly informative. Thanks guys... we had an amazing time!!

Some Fun Articles

Happy Thursday.

For your reading pleasure I have a few articles here about Eating Clean:

The 1st is an informative one featured in Better Nutrition.

The 2nd is a hilarious recount of a few days in the life of a Clean Eater. Thanks for sharing Erik! I got a good laugh out of that one yesterday.

Enjoy!

-TR

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

It's Here!!

Hi Clean Eaters,

I've been keeping super busy this week with work, photoshoots and moving kids etc etc. Today we're on one last family adventure ziplining, repelling and rock climbing!!

I know many of you have been eagerly awaiting my new cookbook, Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Cookbook. It is printing as I type! You can now preview the book and pre-order it by visiting the news section of my website!

Also, you all asked for it, so I put it together - The Eat-Clean Diet Companion  - a 365 day journal to help you keep track of your Eat-Clean meals. We've been working on it for months and I know you'll all find it an invaluable tool for following The Eat-Clean Diet. You can also preview that book by following the link in the news section of my website!


Enjoy!
TR