Fun and Fitness: “Easy now. Steady, steady...”

Another week, another 100 miles. I set out on Monday - via exercise bike - and I hit my goal, as usual,  near the end of the week. Steady Eddy, that’s me.

[“Last week: By Wednesday, 70% of the work was done”]

Yesterday I covered 38 miles, so this week is unfolding like many others. ‘Wednesday hockey’ is paid for, so another 6 points will be mine after the game. By Sunday I should be at or past 100 miles/points. Easy kap-easy.

Plus, by the end of the week I'll have read at least another 150 - 200 pages of a great book re WW2. Ride on.

[Photo by G.Harrison]

  

***

Last week, did you have a steady week, exercise-wise?

Please click here for more Fun and Fitness

Walking 8: Discovering London in one pair of pants

Miles are adding up. Three here, four there, three or four times per week. No doubt, I will one day possess some of the finest quads in London.

Lately I have left the house for my 'fun and fitness walks' wearing three layers of clothing ‘up top’, i.e., t-shirt, sweat-shirt, light jacket. After 20 minutes and two trips up and down a steep hill in Thames Park, however, I've unzipped the jacket and sweater under my neck and allow heat from the furnace to escape. It’s amazing how much heat a person produces when exercising.

Recently I added a detour around a local brewery to my regular route in order to stay outside longer and see a different view of London. The ‘Blue Loop’ includes another nice hill so my quads and onboard furnace get a good workout, and because leaves upon hundreds of trees are just beginning to emerge, graffiti and river views are unobscured.


[Please not: I said “around a local brewery” and not “into”]

A ‘cycle’ tag in Harris Park reminds me to keep looking for a good bike to haul my new bike trailer. Biking and camping season will soon be fully upon us and I plan to pedal to, and camp in, some pretty exotic places soon - once I dust off my old Coleman stove.


Paris, Zurich, Vienna, Brussels, Stratford-on-Avon... even Avon. All on my list. All in Ontario.

But first, I have many miles to walk.

[Photos by GHarrison]

***

Please click here for Walking 7: Discovering London in one pair of pants.

.

Austerity without Anxiety: “I cut the glass in half and - voila!”

[“Skim milk is a type of diary product that generally contains less than 0.5% milk fat. It is made by removing much of the fat from whole milk and is often preferred for its nutritional value. There are many benefits to drinking skim milk, which can range from reducing body weight to building muscles and staying fit.” www.wisegeek.com]

I’ve heard that skim milk is good for you.

Years ago my dad said, “Drink skim milk. It’s better for you.”

Better than what, I thought. Than a kick in the pants? I didn’t bother to ask. I took a quick drink, it was cold, then ran out the back door to the ball park to play third base for the local Juvenile fastball team. I hit a few singles and stole third base twice that night. Coincidence? You decide.

Today I drink skim milk because I still want milk in my diet, it is a great drink when really cold, and it costs less money than homogenized.


["Add cubes. Freeze your mouth off!": photo GH]

I add ice cubes on occasion to make it colder than when it comes out of the fridge. And I sometimes add half a glass of water to save on the milk content and stretch a one week’s supply to two.

I do the same (or add even more water) to most bottled juices and ice teas. I like the reduced sweetness and flavour and enjoy seeing my dollars last longer.

Some will say, “You got the money. Live it up, man!”

I say, “I actually think cutting some of my drinks in half with water is a healthy choice. Saves money too, for other, more important choices in life.”

Austerity. No anxiety. I’ll drink to that.

***

I’ve heard the North American diet, including a plethora of sugar- or corn syrup-sweetened fruit drinks, is not fully healthy. That it can kill you even.

I’m liking my cut-in-half habit more every day.

What else could we cut in half for our own good?

Please click here for more Austerity without Anxiety.

.

Fun and Fitness: Old man keeps on churning, keeps on smiling

[The best player on the opposing team said the following yesterday while the Zamboni made its last pass on the ice:

“Take it easy on me today, Gord. I’m not as slim as you are.”

Then he patted his stomach.

I responded jokingly, skated to my bench, thought that maybe he was mocking me, so during the last shift of the game I made him pay.]

I’m sure many people look at me and wonder how I stay so fit and trim, and how I keep such a well-balanced, positive nature.

I can’t blame them. I surprise myself some days.

I put the ‘fit and trim’ down to my exercise routine: I ride a recumbent exercise bike at least 100 miles per week, lift light weights while doing so, and step in front of big guys on the ice just to send shivers down their spine. (It keeps the adrenalin pumping!)


["79.2 miles so far this week. Plus, 330.2 EXTRA mi. in the bank": photos GH]

I put the ‘well-balanced, positive nature’ (oh, I’m sure you’ve noticed) down to my reading routine: While I ride, I read. Two books - usually with different or contrasting topics - on the go at a time.

E.g., I just finished Tar Sands Showdown. Next up - A Star Called Henry, by Roddy Doyle. (Roddy is such a good writer. I recommend any of his books. And watch the movie The Commitments, then find the story of Roddy’s that inspired it).


And after I finish ‘by Hook or by Crook’ (a journey through Wales and England in search of interesting language forms) I’ll switch to ‘Under a Green Sky’ (global warming, mass extinctions of the past).


Ride and read. Read and ride. Balance. And hockey, just for the sheer fun of it.

It works for me.

***

Please click here for more Fun and Fitness.

And if you click on the ‘fun and fitness’ label below, who knows where you’ll end up. On the ice?

.

Pt 1 Can we develop a deeper appreciation for Nature?

Of course we can.

And after watching and reading reports about ongoing environmental and economic damage in the Gulf of Mexico (oh, it’s more than a double whammy) I say we should work on a better relationship with Mother Earth almost above all else.


Many would agree that if we practice a certain skill over and over we’ll get better at it.

(So, why is my slap shot, after 50 years of hockey, still such a dud? Maybe just a little more practice is needed, that’s all!)

To draw closer to nature, while at the same time taking a step back from a fossil-fueled life that seems to stomp on Mother Earth’s toes at regular intervals, perhaps we could do more natural activities until they become healthy habits.

For example:

Many already know there is much to gain by growing some of our own vegetables. Many do so even though they live in apartments or condos.

I learned yesterday, while my grandson Ollie played at Thames Park beside a community garden, that a person (the fellow I talked to was a condo dweller) can rent a 20’ x 20’ garden plot annually by making one phone call.


["Let's try 'fresh' for change"]

Even growing vegetables indoors or on a front or back porch or lawn is a valuable exercise.

A fellow I play hockey with (who happens to have a better slap shot than me, but I’m not bitter) grows potatoes inside plastic pails.

“It’s so easy,” he says. “When they’re ready you just dump the pails over and pick out the spuds.”

My dad grew potatoes by the row and I swear I’ve never tasted better, but the pail idea sounds like something for my back deck this year.


["I've got my tomatoes, now I'll try potatoes"]

So, can growing some of our own vegetables become a healthy, or healthier habit this year by starting, expanding or including another person in the activity?

I say, give it a try.

***

I’m off to look for large pails or containers. I think I know someone who tosses out several white plastic pails every week.

And I can buy seed potatoes at Springbank Gardens for 69 cents per pound. I’ll document my success (or like my slap shot) my lack of it!

.

Climate Change Concerns Pt 1: Reduce meat and dairy products - a good idea

And not just during Earth Day, i.e., tomorrow.

Leo Phillips, in a Letter to the Editor (Apr. 20, London Free Press), suggests we ‘celebrate Earth day and every day by replacing meat and dairy products in our diet with healthful, eco-friendly foods.’

He makes his case by stating the following:

A recent study in WorldWatch magazine found production of meat and dairy products may account for half of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions


["Our farming practices leave a lot to be desired": photo GAH]

Such production contributes more pollutants to our water supplies than all other human activities combined

It is causing global shortages of drinking water

It is the driving force in global deforestation and wildlife habitat destruction

Perhaps the magazine article to which he refers shares more information related to each point, but his focus nonetheless is a good one, i.e., changes in our food production methods and eating habits are required.

Leo encourages us to consider ‘healthful, eco-friendly foods.’

I suppose when he says the above many think about the following:

Eating more locally grown produce

Eating more locally raised and butchered meat

Reducing the amount of meat in a meat-rich diet

Planning and planting a garden.

What else? Please, you tell me.

I do know that one other thought entered my mind, because last night, while reading and riding (gotta lose a few pounds), I came across a paragraph in Super Freakonomics about fertilizer.

So, to the above list of four thoughts I’d add a fifth:

Using compost in the garden rather than industrial fertilizer.

***

More to follow re fertilizer.

Please click here to read Part 2.

.

Fun and Fitness: New way to measure healthy body size

Under the heading of ‘Keeping Fit,’ a topic that’s near and dear to my heart, C. Castagna writes about a new way to measure healthy body size in the Aug. 19 issue of The London Free Press.

Out with BMI (Body Mass Index, in with MWL (Maximum Weight Limit? Please read for yourself.

[Please click here to link to article and MWL height/weight chart]

But it makes sense to me.

At 5 ft. 5 in. tall, under MWL proposed by Prof. G. Fernandez, my maximum weight should be 155 pounds.

While marathoning (1995 - 2006), my weight was usually 140 - 145 pounds, most of it made up of blue twisted steel - insert laugh track here - and I looked under weight.


Now, I’m slightly over 155, know I could lose a few pounds (there’s one pair of jeans that just doesn’t feel right) and am trying to do so by walking where I can, riding an exercise bike (I’ve upped the mileage goal per week) and mixing fun with a regular fitness activity, i.e., hockey with the boys twice per week.

I'm motivated because...

... the majority of Canadian seniors (age 65 plus) have 5 prescriptions or more

... 37 cents out of every dollar my home province (Ontario) spends now goes to health care

... a vast number of prescriptions are tied to poor lifestyle choices and diet.

I think trying to hit the MWL target sounds like a good idea.

Good luck with your own fun and fitness goals.

And if you’re holding a KFC Double Down - put it down and back away slowly.

***

Does the MWL chart seem to make sense to you?

.

Sorry. No return to the Ice Age this year

Every time I’ve step outside the door so far in December I am reminded - by the mild temperatures and lack of snow - that our planet seems to be shifting away from winters that I once considered ‘normal.’

Our postman was even wearing shorts the other day.

Hello! This is Canada, eh!

I was born in 1949 in small-town Ontario and as a young child got quite used to cold winters and a mother who would make the following reminders from December to mid-March whenever I stepped outside:

“Don’t forget your toque.”

“Where are your mittens?”

“Do up the zippers on your boots. They’ll fill up with snow.”

“Zip your coat all the way up. You don’t want to catch cold.”

“Get home before supper.”

And, of course, I’d always hear her but pay her little mind. (Poor Edith).

I do, however, pay attention to the direction that average global temperatures appear to be heading as depicted in the line graphs from NASA.


From 1949 to 1969, though there were fluctuations in average global temperature from year to year and in the five-year mean (as one might expect), the earth didn’t warm significantly and if an alien had asked me, when I was 20-years old, to describe a typical Canadian winter in 10 words or less I would have said, “You’ll see lots of snow so don’t forget your mitts.”

From 1970 onward (the last 40 years), however, the average global temperature has generally headed north, enough to say that the trend has been toward global warming and climate instability.

Every few years the average will dip for a year or two but, during those times, the Ice Age hasn’t returned, perhaps because the Earth’s average is now too high to allow that to happen overnight.

Based on what I read and wrote about earlier, that "carbon emissions have been rising fast in recent years (as have average global temperatures), but are set to dip by up to 3 per cent in 2009 because of the recession,” I wouldn’t be surprised to see the global average temp stabilize somewhat (rather than continue its upward trend) if we stay in a recession mode for 5 - 10 years or more.


(E.g., lower industrial production may result in less carbon released into the atmosphere which may slow the warming trend).

Though the recession has put many people out of work and I don’t wish unemployment on anyone, I still recommend an austere lifestyle until a small, sustainable economy can be developed and maintained.

I.e., reduce spending, pay off debt, increase savings and wear woollen mittens when needed.

***

The link to NASA provides a look at average global temperatures from different angles. Please take a look.

.

Would we miss KFC if it grilled its last chicken tomorrow?

KFC is promoting the crap out of its grilled and fried chicken (5,000 US stores to soon give it away for free) but a restaurant analyst (Larry) recently said KFC’s latest performance report was disappointing.

I thought, will we miss it when it’s gone?

The majority of the bones in my body (82%, incl. the little ones inside my inner ear) say NO.

Reasons we won’t miss it:

There will still be 3,489,842,909 fast food joints out there. KFC could disappear at noon and we wouldn’t even burp at its passing


["One that got away": photo GAH]

There are 4 billion other distractions to occupy our frazzled brains. E.g., where are my car keys?

Many people are too busy making their own sandwiches to care. They’re thinking of saving money instead

Of all the reasons (yes, there are likely others), I like the last one best.

Tuna on whole wheat is not only healthier but it’s always nice to learn a new skill.

***

Do you know how to make a healthy sandwich?

What’s for lunch?

KFC who?

.

Where is my 75-year old cyclist?

Yesterday I mentioned I was too slow to snap a picture of an older woman on a snappy bike (or was it a snappy woman on an older bike?).

This morning I returned to my porch with my coffee and camera and... waited.

And waited some more. Read the paper. Clipped an article about Canadian shopping habits. Formed an opinion. (“Our wealth has its downside.”)

[See below - Wealthy Canadians still shop while others reduce]


Waited some more. Snapped a picture of the empty street. Came inside to tell you about my fruitless search.

But I’ll look again later. Hopefully, I’ll spot the snappy cyclist.

.