Getting healthy and fit in real time, in real life…

We have been running this Blog for almost 4 months now and for the most part it has been possible to keep with the goal of providing some insight into attaining our physical and/or mental health goals.  Our Blog is however limited in readership, and although there have been interesting/thought provoking/even delicious topics presented I wondered what the general UBC population is hearing.  Are we just Blogging to the converted?  After all, we are members of the Department of Health, Safety and Environment.  Shouldn’t we be well informed on issues relating to our health?  What message is getting out to the other members of the UBC community?  This week I sought to get a brief snapshot of the information that is targeted to my fellow transit commuters.

 People who commute by bus will usually either plug in an iPod or pick up one of the local commuter ‘rags’ to occupy their time.  So, today (October 28th) I decided to see what they would learn from the local papers related to health and well being.  I picked up copies of WE, “Vancouver’s Urban Weekly”, and metro, “The world’s largest global newspaper.”

 H1N1 stories, fed by the media frenzy for sensational reporting, have progressed far beyond the health advice stage (wash your hands/Dracula sneeze) so I am not considering items related to it.  So my findings were:

 WE:  No general health or fitness columns (advertising, yes) but they do get credit for their front page story “Can’t Sleep – Your not alone” , a discussion of common sleep disorders. 

metro:  No general health or fitness columns. No articles.

 So it was a short search!  Conclusions?  That our daily information relating to health and wellness comes from advertising!  Want to lose weight?  Try apple cider. Improve the quality of your sleep? Use a wool duvet!  I guess this shouldn’t be a surprise in our world of instant messaging news bites.  One that caught my immediate attention was “Body Troubleshooting” – implying an instant fix to conditions that we have taken years to attain!

  Let’s hope that our habits over the years have not left us with conditions that cannot be fixed and we are aware of legitimate resources – not just advertising – to help us make informed decisions on how to improve.

That’s my first Christmas carol reference of the season. It must be the snow on the mountains that’s bringing it out of me.

Last week I shared my joy that my running endurance has returned to it’s pre-sickness level, I’m still ecstatic, don’t get me wrong, but I haven’t been getting out to run nearly as much as I’d like to. And I’ve got two hypotheses as to why that is.

1. It’s cold outside
2. There’s other stuff I’d rather be doing.

I said Brrr, it’s cold in here.
Most of my work out clothes are t-shirts and shorts, I’m blaming my earlier reliance on indoor gyms. While the climate controlled gym is pretty appealing now that I can see my breath, I think need that external stimulation to keep me going. When I worked out at my gym in Ontario, I required my iPod, and a tv or book or magazine to keep me on that treadmill or elliptical for my cardio bout. To be honest, I think I developed Exercise Induced Attention Deficit Disorder.

Ok so that doesn’t really exist, but it probably should. And don’t even think about trying to get it in the DSM IV, I’m on the phone with the APA right now.

Tangent, sorry. OK so maybe the A.D.D. isn’t always exercise-induced…

If I’m not that thrilled with returning to the indoor sweat box, I need to figure out how to stay warm exercising outdoors.
Most of you BC natives are probably already familiar with winter exercise gear, but here’s some helpful info for everyone else.

1. Layer. Wear a synthetic layer close to the skin to wick the sweat away. The outer layer should be breathable but protect against wind or rain.
2. Don’t over dress. The general rule is to dress like its 20 degrees warmer than it is. That sounds like a bit extreme to me, if I were to dress like it was 25 degrees outside today, I’d freeze! I’m going to start with a 10 degree differential and let you know how it goes.
3. Put a lid on it. You lose 40% of heat through your heat, so wearing a hat will help keep you warmer.
4. Hand’s up. Another 30% of heat is lost through the hands, gloves that wick away moisture will keep them warm on cold days.  On extremely cold days, mittens will keep your hands warmer.
5. Bottom half. Running pants should be synthetic material that wick moisture away. Since our legs generate lots of heat, we don’t need as many layers on our bottom half.

Here’s the article where I found most of this information:
http://running.about.com/od/coldweatherrunning/a/wintergear.htm

I’ll tackle hypothesis # 2 next week.

In last week’s blog, I made reference to a 4 letter word that cannot be said due to its’ potential of striking fear in the hearts of men.

In this week’s blog, I have to admit to you that there is another. Compared to the first one which has the redeeming value of fresh air and exercise, this second one strikes fear in the hearts of ALL of us, particularly in the arteries.

Let’s just say it is complicated.

As we know, salt was discovered a long time ago by someone who was looking for something to spice up their popcorn and Caesar during intermissions at unappetizing Roman spectacles at the Forum. (Ed’s note: Not to make fun of the food, drink or famous Roman Emporer. I will always have the highest regard for popcorn and Caesars. As for the famous Roman Emporer,  I understand that he was told by his advisors not to make any long term plans. Just goes to show you that it pays to be honest about your food and cautious about politics)

Lest we forget, salt was used to preserve some foods before refrigerators and cold beer. Who ever invented prosciutto should have received the Nobel Prize for an amazing contribution to billions of happy tummies throughout the ages.

Like fond memories of Disney’s movie “Old Yeller’, we will always cherish the name ‘Old Salt’, fondly describing the classic, grandpa-like fisherman repairing his nets outside of his house on River Road in Delta, B.C. prior to going out to catch herring to sell to raise proceeds towards the annual Christmas fund for children and, you guessed it, the tasty creation of Rollmops!

And I bet you can provide me with several of your own salt stories as well!

Well,  not to pour salt on a wound, but nowadays we should know better.

For example, salads do not need to be salted if you are applying a dressing to them. There is sometimes salt in the dressing or, if you are using a base of olive oil and vinegar, you still do not NEED it.

The same can be held true for restaurant meals. The chef has taken the time to flavour the food so that it does not require anything except the utensils to eat it. How many times have you seen people put salt on their food the minute the plate lands in front of them?

You don’t want your arteries to go on strike do you?

And if this doesn’t convince you, you will certainly not want to see Head Chef, Pepe, come roaring out of his kitchen in your direction with a meat cleaver in his hand and a wild-eyed look, screaming something in French that sounds like “How Could You Do That To My Masterpiece?!!!”

Next week: A Post Halloween Special: The Battle of Disproportionate Portions: “I Can’t Believe I Ate the Whole Thing” and other similar horror stories.

Have a week of good health.

Rick