When asked “What is a healthy diet?” most will respond, “a diet with lots of fruit and vegetables!” Well, that is half true! While that is much better than the typical North American diet, loaded with processed foods, sodium, and “pseudo-foods,” too much fruit can cause the same imbalances as having too much processed sugar. Many will say, “But fruit is healthy because it is naturally high in anti-oxidants.” That is also true, but often the damage of too much sugar outweighs the benefit of anti-oxidants with massive fruit consumption. We will do much better to eat dark leafy greens and get a large amount of anti-oxidants, fiber, and minerals in a low sugar way. There is as always an exception to the rule; if your blood sugar is stable and you have already eliminated processed fats, processed sugars and grains, the body can then handle the sugar in fruit quite well. In fact, it is how nature intended us to eat! I have been mentioning this concept in the clinic when people complain that they are feeling sluggish, foggy-minded, and tired. After examining their diet a lot of people realize they are consuming more sugar than they realized through increased fruit consumption. Eat healthy and remember to eat more “greens” than fruit. Here is a link where you can get to know how much sugar is in the fruit that you are consuming. Carb Counter ~Think...
Looking towards the fall, the Royal Victoria marathon is slowly approaching. In endurance training the ‘old’ idea was more is better. That has been shown to be a good way to injure yourself and over train! One author pointed out, “If exercise makes you stronger, then how come you are tired at the end of a run?” The reason is exercise doesn’t make you stronger – proper rest does. So build some rest time into your training schedule and plan on tapering 2-3 weeks before race day to run your fastest time ever! Here is an article discussing the importance of tapering. The Globe and Mail- Couch Time Improves Marathon Training ~Think...
Have you ever wondered how much calcium, zinc, or fiber you should be having a day? Here is a great resource that you may find helpful. This interactive form can help you find out how many macro-nutrients, minerals, calories, and vitamins you should be consuming based on your body, body mass index, activity level and age. Click here! Did you know that most of the recommended dietary allowances of vitamins and minerals followed by Americans and Canadians were actually established at the time of World War 2 to prevent malnourishment of soldiers and have not been revisited since.(ref. Fuhrman)? So, when reading nutritional labels and you see that your food item contains 10% of your daily requirement of a certain vitamin it may not be completely sufficient. As a general rule you will get the most nourishment from real veggies, fruits, and proteins, just as nature intended it! http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/interactiveDRI/ ~Think...
It’s official, we can all rest assured that light to moderate exercise is actually good for our health because there has been a study proving this! The Journal of Epidemiology has determined that just half an hour of walking, cycling, swimming, or any constant activity 5 days a week can reduce the risk of death by 19%. Increasing it to 7 hours a week reduces the incidence of sedentary lifestyle related deaths by 24%. It doesn’t have to be intense, just constant. If you are not sure how to enjoy walking in our beautiful city, try listening to an audio book. You can purchase books on pretty much any topic online, or even download audio books from the Victoria public library for free. If you are technically inclined you can also entertain yourself with podcasts from itunes which are also free. So find an activity, drag a friend along and get moving! ~Think Vitality!~ photo source...
This weekend was the first full day qi gong workshop here in Victoria and judging by the feedback, it went well! Thank you to everyone who attended and for giving me such valuable feedback. I read the suggestions everyone had with great interest because I would like to offer as much value as I can and work out all the kinks. What a few people mentioned was they wanted a little bit more feedback on their form and how they were doing. I think this is a valuable part of learning from a real person rather than books or videos. On November 6th, 2010 we are planning the next seminar where I will devote time specifically to helping intermediate people improve their techniques as well as teaching the absolute beginners. So mark your calendars and start spreading the word if you know anyone that might benefit from qi gong! On the note of ‘spreading the word,’ I received a serious ‘beat down’ for not having a facebook fan page. So, here it is! You can “like” the page and find health tips, information, inspiration, upcoming events and happenings. For those of you who are new to fan pages, rest assured I cannot see your personal information or wild weekend pictures! In the meantime, start boosting your immune system because in 2 weeks time a lot of people are going to be getting sick because of kids going back to school! ~Think Vitality!~ photo...
