Author: Grace

Some updates:

1. I haven’t been to the gym in several weeks but this is due to my schedule rather than sheer laziness.  I’ll be going back this week.
2. Have been going to yoga classes.  Unfortunately, my flexibility doesn’t seem to have improved.
3. Muscle soreness continues to come and go.  Hopefully more yoga will help.
4. More than a week later, I still haven’t completely gotten over my cold.

It’s frustrating to see so little improvement since this blog started.

On another note, I went to see a naturopath for the first time a few weeks ago.  She sent me to get a food sensitivity test done.  According to this test, I am sensitive to wheat, gluten, cheese, yeast … the list was quite extensive and I don’t remember all of it.  To ease me in, the naturopath suggested I start with avoiding bread, cheese, milk, and white sugar.  I didn’t think white sugar would be a problem because I don’t crave sweets.  Then I realized there is white sugar in a lot of savoury foods as well, especially processed food.  Avoiding processed food is definitely a good idea.  But I enjoy eating out and you don’t really know what goes in the food you eat at restaurants.  I also love bread and cheese and a few days ago, I caved in and ate a whole pizza.  This is going to be challenging.  Even as I write this, all I can think of is PIZZA.

We’re barely into fall and I’m already sick with a cold.  I remember when I used to rarely get sick but now I seem to be getting sick at least twice a year.  I always just get a cold and nothing serious but I am a bit concerned by the frequency.  My symptoms are usually always the same – sore throat, runny nose, feeling dizzy and tired – that get progressively worse for the first few days before I start to recover.

So it was with great interest when I read Suzanne’s flu prevention plan: http://www.hse.ubc.ca/healthpromotion/healthyubc/Healthy_UBC_Newsletter/healthyubcoct.html#flu.  Suzanne shares some tips on how to stay healthy during the flu season.  I have followed most of the tips Suzanne mentions in a conscious effort to prevent the flu/cold but I still managed to get sick.  The only thing I wasn’t able to do was to avoid people who are sick.  This was very hard to follow when everyone around me has been ill – family, friends, co-workers.  In an effort not to spread my germs to people around me, I keep a bottle of hand sanitizer with me that I use constantly.

Managed to continue with my workouts this week.  I previously focused on carido exercises but I started adding strength training and more stretching to my routine.  The result is constant muscle soreness.

On days when I don’t make it to the gym, I go for a very quick run.  The problem with running is that I’ve started to notice some pain in my left knee.  Perhaps I need new shoes?  Question for more experienced runners out there: what precautions do you take to prevent injury?

I’ve started going to the gym again.  This time I went with my friend to her gym where they have a television at every machine.  Because each machine had its own individual TV monitor, you can select your own channel to watch.  It made a huge difference for me.  Instead of looking at the clock every 30 seconds and wanting to leave the gym as soon as possible, I actually wanted to stay longer at the gym.  One night I watched an entire episode of Criminal Minds while on the treadmill.  Another night I watched an episode of Law and Order: SVU.  That’s an hour of working out each night that flew by.  I would have stayed longer if my friend wasn’t so eager to leave.   She couldn’t find a TV show she wanted to watch.

What kicked off this latest fervor for working out was a long walk I took from Chinatown to Stanley Park on Saturday.  I didn’t want all that energy wasted as a one-off exercise venture so I decided to follow that up by going to the gym.