by Grace on August 28, 2009
I get headaches about four or five times each month. They are normally bearable and ibuprofen is usually effective. In the past week, however, I have been waking up with really bad headaches – throbbing pain that gets worse with movement. I suspect my headaches are caused by muscle tension in my neck. Despite my attempts to stretch, my chiropractor tells me that my muscles are still quite stiff. As I’ve been waking up with these headaches, perhaps it has to do with the position I sleep in. My chiropractor has told me to sleep on my back but I can’t seem to fall asleep that way. Exercise is supposed to help tension headaches so I really need to get back that back into my routine.
Read an article about headaches caused by medication overuse. If painkillers are taken regularly over a long period of time, they can become the source of headaches. According to the article, codeine or triptan-based drugs should not be taken more than 10 days a month and paracetamol or ibuprofen should not be taken more than 15 days a month. Although I always carry ibuprofen with me (you never know when a headache might strike), I am no where near that number.
by Juliana on August 28, 2009
So I’m back from my two week vacation. My first week was spent in Ottawa and Toronto and while you may be thinking I probably spent most of it eating…well I did.
If you would like to see the food I ate, just look below.
But what you might be surprised to find out was that I also did some exercise during my vacation too. I did the following somewhat strenuous activities:
- Climbed 10 flights of stairs to go back to my hotel room after a false fire alarm at 3am (this happened on my first night in Toronto).
- Ran for cover when I got caught in a thunder and lightning storm when walking back from dinner in Toronto’s Entertainment District.
- Climbed several stairs while going up to the towers of Casa Loma.
- Sweated bucket loads while touring Casa Loma because I visited it on one of the hottest days of the year and there was no air-conditioning.
- Ran to make the traffic lights several time when walking around downtown (both in Ottawa and Toronto).
- Walked around Toronto trying to find a Best Buy when my camera broke.
- Walked to MacDonald’s, Tim Horton’s, Rideau Centre, Dunn’s, Kama, Utsav, Spring Rolls, Second Cup whenever I wanted to have breakfast, snacks, lunch or dinner.
- Went on a Haunted Walking Tour of Ottawa which lasted about 90 minutes.
- Walked on the Rideau Canal.
- Walked around the National Gallery of Canada and Royal Ontario Museums (which were air-conditioned).
Sufficed to say, I managed to gain a little weight by the time I landed back in Vancouver. Which was why I forced myself to go for a power walk (1 hour and 15 minutes) or work out at the gym (45 -55 minutes) during the second week of my vacation.
Interestingly enough, the exercising really helped me to get over the plane trip. I am always notorious for not being the best plane traveller and I am always left feeling jet-lagged and lethargic after flying. The exercising really helped me get over that feeling faster and get back to my normal self.
The chocoholic, meat eating, smartie smuggling normal self, of course 🙂
by Ted Sedgwick on August 27, 2009
It’s pretty common to encounter some setbacks during a physical training program. The ability to work with your injuries and work through them is a good measure of your dedication to reach your goal. But it really sucks to have an external episode interfere!
It has now been 4 weeks now since I cracked a rib. If this had been due to my stretching program I would have learned something: how not to enter a full body twist or remember to have more pillows in the vicinity while standing on my head. But mine was an unrelated fall (full marks for the 1½ twist!) from unforeseen circumstances. You never expect to crack a rib while going for a boat ride! I was wearing a life vest, so the consequences would have been less severe if I had been thrown overboard instead of into a bench seat. But now I have to get on with it and gradually work through it.
I tested my rehab progress last weekend by taking Adam (Rib #11, right side) scuba diving. Some would have advised against it but I had really been looking forward to the trip to Thetis Island and there was a financial commitment involved. Things actually went very well and I don’t think I did any further harm to the body.
I have attempted to resume the 28-day yoga fitness program, with limited success. Stretching exercises are of course usually done in a balanced fashion of left and right but I am still impeded from stretching to the left side. This conjures a cartoon image (a la Gary Larson) of a distorted yoga practitioner. But then the bottom line is always “keep your sense of humor”.
by Jolene Cooper on August 25, 2009
It’s time for a recap:
Last week I set 3 goals to make fitness a part of daily life.
My three strategies were to:
1. Join a recreational sport league.
2. Exercise with friends, to keep me motivated.
3. Try new activities that bring me out of my comfort zone.
Last week, I signed up for a recreational dodgeball league with some friends, so that covers #1 and #2. I have plans with some friends to tackle the Grouse Grind once again this weekend, which incorporates #2 and #3, as I doubt I’ll ever be comfortable on the Grind. I went ziplining last week, which definitely had #3 covered.
I would say I’ve been fairly successful incorporating regular exercise into my routine, but I can’t say the same for cutting out the snacking.
Two weeks ago, I shared some strategies to help reduce my snacking. Let me update you on my progress, or regress, I should say.
First, I’ll remind you of my 3 strategies:
1. Keep busy.
2. Avoid eating after 8pm.
3. Don’t purchase unhealthy snack foods.
I actually followed all of my own rules, but somehow found myself snacking even more than normal. I was pretty busy last week, didn’t eat late at night, and I didn’t buy any unhealthy snack foods at the grocery store. I did however, venture out for ice cream and indulged on a package of peanut butter M&Ms one night.
I think my downfall was that I failed to keep my house stocked with healthy snacking alternatives. I’d like to blame my local market for having poor quality produce on the day I went shopping, but I really didn’t put in any effort to go anywhere else. This week I’ll put in the effort to stock up on extra fruits and veggies and hopefully my sweet tooth will be satisfied by healthy alternatives.
In the meantime, is there such a thing as Chocoholics Anonymous? I think I would be their leader. Does anyone have effective strategies to overcome a chocolate addiction?
