blog

Apr

2010

Healthy Diet or just Healthy

I hear of friends constantly going on various diets to lose weight. This diet, that diet and many people that I’ve known over the years go on diets and lose the weight and a couple of years later they are on a diet to lose the weight again. Certain diets, I believe, will help you lose the weight but through the body off so that it ‘needs’ to put the weight back on again later. And not all diets work for everyone as there are so many different people and body types.

My belief is that it is the wrong thing to go for anyway – the losing weight thing. I think that a person should aim for being healthy and one of the results of that would be one achieving an optimum weight. And if the weight is not absolutely perfect and you are healthy then, so what?

So, what would be a healthy lifestyle? Spending two hours in the gym six days a week? Maybe for some that love that intensity of workouts then yes but for most people that have not really exercised and eaten well most of their lives this would probably last about five minutes.

There are a couple of things that one must do when making a change to a healthier lifestyle. First thing is to figure out what would be a healthier lifestyle for you. Another is that you shouldn’t change everything at once. For some few this may work but most people that have got some pretty ingrained habits it likely won’t work.

Two things that are a must though, are: 1. more physical activity and 2. changing what you eat. Whatever you are doing now isn’t working. Generally, many people that go on a diet and lose the weight will promptly go back to what they were doing before – that wasn’t working!

I have a friend that was about 80 pounds overweight. He was drinking huge amounts of soda. The first thing that he did when he decided to lose weight was to stop drinking the cokes. This alone started him dropping pounds. Without any exercise. He was also interested in becoming more fit so he incorporated an exercise routine into his week as well.

Another person told me that she didn’t have lots of time with her kids and all but did little things to help herself. One of these was to park as far as she could in the parking lot so that she was at least walking a bit when she went grocery shopping. If you think this will cost you time – I don’t think so – most people drive around twice as long looking for a spot close to the store just so they don’t have to walk.

Just changing one thing like above and deciding to live that way could keep you healthy. The fellow that cut out the soda will probably not get diabetes now and the girl who walks to the store from the back of the parking lot will likely have better circulation and lessen her chances of getting varicose veins.

Once you have done one thing like this add another. Take a lunch to work instead of getting that slice of pizza. Even if it is a few times a week. Get creative with your lunches. Then take your lunch with you to the park on the nice days instead of just walking to the lunch room. You are going for healthy remember – not just losing weight. You will find that if you can keep that one thing going for a few weeks it will become more comfortable and part of your life.

Go for increased health and you will find that you start doing things that will take the weight off. It will be a byproduct of getting healthier.

🙂

Apr

2010

Hiking Prairie Creek Trail at Elbow Falls near Calgary Alberta

A week ago Saturday Yvonne and I went hiking on Prairie Trail and Powderface Trail at Elbow Falls. Apparently the section we hiked was about 12.6 km. The hike we did is in three sections. You can see more photos and a topographical map here: H iking Alberta

(The first photo is looking back along Prairie Trail about half way along the first leg.)

We had hiked about a third of the Prairie Creek Trail a few weeks ago and liked it so we thought we’d try the loop. The first leg is about 6 km. We were expecting it to be much shorter so it seemed longer. The sun is coming in from the south and you are on a southern slope most of this section of the walk – in the cooler weather this was nice. Most of the snow and ice was gone after the first bridge. You have good views up the valley and there are several beautiful meadows through the last leg of that leg of the hike. About 6 km in you hit Powderface Link.

(The second photo is a couple of hundred yards before getting to the turn off for the second leg over the pass.)

There are a couple of bridges then another beautiful meadow – great place to stop and have a break or picnic. One can go on to the longer loop but that is over 20 km total and we didn’t have the time (or the energy). The Powderface Link was the toughest part for us as it is about 3 km – you are going over a small pass so entirely half is uphill and second half is downhill. Problem was that our uphill climb was on the northern side and covered with snow and ice – made uphill hiking very slippery. It is very closed in as well – not much to see as far as views of the mountains etc.

(The third photo is looking up the climb over the Link. Not that high but slippery.)

I enjoyed the walk but next time I will go back along Prairie Trail – the same way we go in – instead of crossing the pass – it is more open and I found it much more pleasant as far as views. The last leg is about another 3 km and is pretty flat – a few small hills – and quick.

(The last photo is at the beginning of the last 3 km or so at the junction of the pass and the Powderface hike back to the road.)

Mar

2010

Safe Ice at Ghost Lake

We went up to Ghost Lake about a week and a half ago. Beautiful day. I walked out on the ice with no little trepidation. The week before Gwen van Kleef, Peter Van Kleef and Alf Hauk had fallen through the ice in Lake Erie (fortunately it was only a few feet deep but nonetheless very scary). Anyway, with this in mind I ventured out. There were two fellows ‘para-skiing’ on the ice with their cars parked nearby(on the ice) and a truck loaded with ice fishing gear had driven across a bit earlier so I felt somewhat safe. Here you can see one of me out on the ice that Yvonne took and also one that I took while out on the ice.

BTW – Gwen, Peter and Alf did make it out of the lake and onto dry land.

“No Ice is Safe Ice?”

Mar

2010

Northern Latitudes

I’ve been in Calgary a couple of months now. Other than the ever present mountains a couple of other notable things:

My boiled eggs seem to take slightly longer to cook. I’ve been cooking/eating them all my life and had the timing down to a science but at the elevation in Calgary it does seem to take a bit longer.
The elevation in Calgary is 1,048 M (3,438 FT) whereas Toronto is only 253 ft/77 meters and Clearwater, Florida is sea level.

The other notable is the length of the day. It is not yet the end of March and there is still light in the sky at nearly 8:30 in the evening. A few degrees of latitude seems to make quite a difference.

Calgary Latitude: 51° 05
Toronto Latitude: 43°42′59.72″N

Summer days, I expect, will be very long.

Mar

2010

Water and PH balance

I had no idea that ph balance in the water one drinks could affect the amount one needs to drink. I was staying at a friends recently and they had a machine that would alter the PH balance of the water in the kitchen tap. I was unaware of what it did but was using it for a few days just thinking it was a regular filter.

I was doing a trade show at the time – a long one – 17 days. I talk a lot when I’m selling – even more than usual! As a result I drink a lot of water. Well, after a day or so of drinking this ‘filtered’ water I realized that I was drinking much less to quench my thirst. I asked and was told that the PH balance of the water was changed to help the body absorb it better or some such and well, generally, we drink and eat too much acidic foods and liquids so this increases the PH to make the water more alkaline. Much better for the body. As I’m on the road a lot, I wanted a way to increase the alkalinity of my water without lugging a machine about with me – Lemon juice. I did some research and found that even though one would expect lemon juice to increase the acidity of water it does the opposite. So, now I squeeze lemon into my water pretty much every day and do notice a difference. Apple cider vinegar will also increase the alkalinity of your body as well but it does not taste nearly as nice. (Other types of vinegar are acidic – do not use them for this purpose.)

If you are a little more stay at home than I am and would like to get a machine that will do a wonderful job at making your water more alkaline then go to SOS Water Systems