Every year at Thanksgiving, we have a family tradition to go around the dinner table and say one thing that we are thanful for. This usually turns into something comical and is mostly done to please the highly emotion women of our family (mom). This past year, I got to start, which meant I had the oppertunity to steal all of the good choices first... I always feel sorry for the poor sucker at the end of the table who has to think of something original after going through 12 other people's ideas of why we are thankful. I was going to choose family or friends, and then screw everyone else up because secretly that is what everyone else was hoping to say... but I said I was thankful for good health instead. Don't get me wrong, I'm still pretty sure I made at least 6 out of the 12 people have to rethink their ideas, because obviously we are all thankful for our health, and obviously this seems like a very easy, somewhat thought-less answer to the Thankful question.
I've thought about this quite a bit since Thanksgiving though. Perhaps we don't give quite enough credit to how truly blessed we are. It's very easy for me to think about health in terms of kilometers ran, negative splits, and supersets. If this is the case, than I am very thankful. Although I work hard for it, I guess that means I am very healthy, cause I think my body could run forever, I am confident that I can lift my own body weight, or more, my heart works efficiently, my lungs don't tire very easily and frankly... I have buns of steal! Luckily, I love doing what I do, and that's exactly why I do it, however, it's only a very small contributor to my overall health. Although I enjoy the benefits of having a heavy-duty-pumping machine (aka healthy heart), if I were to drastically reduce the amount of exercise I do in a week, I would still be blessed with good health... great health.
I work in the hospital, and I'm studying in the health care field, so I have definately been exposed to sickness and disease, on a daily basis. I've seen otherwise healthy people freakishly die, I've seen people who are far too young die, or become dibilitated in some way or another. I've seen people suffer with permanent handicaps, I've simply seen just a lot of suffering. Of course, no one ever deserves to be sick or diseased... Well... Almost no one.... (there - I said it, it's mean, but we were all thinking it!). There are times when people bring illness on themselves (hello to all you smokers out there), but far more often than not people just get sick. I suppose UB is a great example of this, I don't think he could have done anything more for his health, his lifestyle should have had him crossing an Ironman finish line in his 80's.
I don't really know why things happen the way that they do... and that in itself requires an entirely different blog (and different author!). However, I do know that in the mean time, I plan to cherish every day that I have good health as I would consider it one of the greatest gifts of all time. I'm not going to turn into some chemical/germ/microbe free crazy activist who only wears organic cotton and never showers cause even that is harmful... but I am going to continue to do my best, my very best, for as long as I am alive to care for my body. And every single day that I wake up and I can breath on my own, and my heart pumps blood on its own, and my legs move and my brain remembers, I'll be thankful for. Because one day, IF something were to ever happen to me, then I can have peace of mind knowing that I took care of my gift to the best of my ability... anything else is just plain old bad luck (or whatever else one chooses to believe...).
Primarily, as a reminder to myself, but perhaps a good reminder for everyone, this is a list of PRACTICAL things that I think are crucial for every day living to ensure optimal health.
10. Our body is largely composed of water, we need it, and we need a lot of it. 8 glasses a day minimum, however we require an additional 2 glasses of water for any alcoholic, caffinated or high sugar content beverage we have. Also to be noted, I'm pretty sure a venti starbucks size is 20 ounces, so thats equivalent to 2.5 glasses therefore 5 additional glasses of water. Don't know about you... but this will make me spend 3 out of my 24 hours in the day peeing. Not worth it.
9. Stress is a killer. It will eat away at you from the inside-out. Eliminate it. Eliminate NOW. The best way I can suggest eliminating it is to quit your job, move into the mountains and live off of the land. If that's a bit to extreme, may I also suggest simply rethinking life priorities (If Dr. Phil can give professional advice, then so can I!)
8. Get a cute, fluffy, smooshed-in-face cat and name him Bedford.
7. Ensure that there are children in your life. They are the best way to keep you young, make you laugh, and teach you about the real miracles in life (disclaimer, they may also be the cause of previously mentioned stress... in this case, I revert back to point #8).
6. Plan your wardrobe so that every single day of the week you have a minimum of one pink item included in your outfit. It's been rough for me, but Respiratory Therapy students are required to wear red scrubs (SO excited to graduate!), so I have large amount of pink underpants to choose from on a daily basis. On my days away from being a student, and just working at my normal job, I ensure that I wear pink scrubs from head to toe.
5. Excersice daily in some capacity. If you're like me, than you have a well thought out exercise plan that involves each muscle group, heart rate zones and you think in Watts. If you're like every other normal personal in the world, 20-30 minutes of an increased heart rate is all you need. So simply, take the stairs, take your kids/pets (really, is there a difference?) for walks, go to the gym, join a club, get a hobby...etc etc etc.
4. Eat clean. It's easy to get very hard core in the food department, and I'd say I'm borderline, however, conveniently for me, I enjoy cooking, I learned quite a bit about nutrition when I studied nutrition (go figure), and my sister is an even better cook, and equally as conscious in the same area (and I help myself to her fridge on a regular basis). On that note, it's easy for food to turn into something that controls your life (hello point #9!), and it's very easy for food to turn into a reward or a punishment. This isn't really a healthy way of looking at food, and probably defeats the purpose of healthy living. I like to look at food as fuel for my body, so I want to fuel myself accordingly. I find this helps me make really good choices the vast majority of the time, but I don't feel like choices are weighing over my head like there is a "right" and "wrong". Anyways, this is a lesson that took me many years to learn, and I'm sure many more years to come to perfect... but it's been a rewarding journey.
3. Surrond yourself with good people/friends. This requires little explaination, aside from me saying that I am SO rich with friendship (I'm stealing Alison's quote on this one). If friends were worth money, I'm pretty sure people would nick name me "money bags" and I'd give Bill Gates a run for his money (so punny! hahaha). I might not have a lot of friends, but the ones I do have are keepers! People who are loners, or who live alone for too long turn into weirdo's... this simply cannot be good for one's health. On that note, people who hang out with mean people... turn in to mean people (also hazardous to ones health).
2. Get enough sleep. We need 8 hours a night and I'm pretty sure the world is FULL of sleep deprived people. If you've ever been cut off in traffic in that morning commute, or had a grumpy cashier at Safeway... I can almost garuntee that they didn't get eight hours of sleep last night! Unfortunately, I need some work in this department (a lot of work). Although I think I function well off of little sleep, I'm sure Craig would beg to differ. That said, I am a shift-worker, and studies have already shown that I will lose 10 years off of my life thanks to this. Oh well... I'm taking one for the team...
1. Laugh every day, in fact, laugh every hour. People who are too serious age faster and look ugly (my opinion anyways). Combining all of the above points does not make it very diffucult to find reason to be joyous. From my experience, this is the easiest thing of all to do to stay healthy. Studies have shown that 1 hour of extreme laughter instantly vanishes wrinkles. It's true - I'm pretty sure I read that in the Bible somewhere too (not quite sure which version - maybe something a bit more contemporary like The Message).
I'm so very very very grateful for my health. It's one of the worlds greatest gifts, and the only way that I know how to thank God for this gift is to take care of it.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Man Push Ups
It's been a while... far too long really, but life got oddly busy, and I somehow lost my desire to write. Suddenly last week, I missed it a lot. I suppose now that Ironman is finished, this blog's purpose is largely selfish. I can write whatever I want, no one even really has to read to it. It will be my online-personal-self-expressive journal (hahaha just kidding - I am definately not that deep!).
As a brief update, regarding my shingles recovery, post partum depression and post ironman recovery: It took a good month for all of the nerve pain to clear up, my doctor perscribed some pain killers specifically for nerve-type pain, but I opted to stick it out like a real Ironman - just kidding - I chose not to take them because I see all the patients at the hospital get super constipated when they take this specific drug and I wasn't ready to do that to my smoothly-running-well maintained-cleaned out daily bowels, nor do I want to gag back psyllium husks! Luckily, it's been 3 weeks since I've felt any pain what so ever, so I'm just going to assume that I am done with that (thank God!). I had a bit of a hard time cutting back on the training, you just get so used to it, that it seems weird not to plan my life around long bikes and runs and fitting in a second work out for the day! I'm sure I wasn't the only one who was out for an "easy and short" 25 km run less than 3 weeks after the race, then straight to the pool after to finish the workout off with 12 x 50 m sprints (however, I may have been the only one doing that while holding my insides together in pain).
I work very well with goals, like for example, completing an Ironman, or qualifying for the Boston Marathon. But then when I complete the goal, I need another one asap to avoid the dreaded postpartum (as mentioned previously). For the first time in a very long time I don't really have a specific goal, and I am happy to say that I think I'm actually doing OK. No irratic, compulsive, psychotic, irritable behaviors (not yet anyways). I am going to run the Vancouver Marathon (Alison is going to do the half!!! Woot Woot!), I'm hoping to have a PB in Vancouver, so I guess it's a pseudo-goal. But I won't seriously start training for that (outside of my usual weekly long runs and speed work) until February, so in the mean time I've picked up a new challenge, and I've started doing a lot of weight lifting, but challenging myself far beyond what I've ever done before.
I've always stayed away from heavy lifting because I'm a runner and runner's don't do that... we run, and to build muscles we run hills, and to get faster we do fartleks and to run longer we do long runs and to look better we get coordinated Running Room Reflective jackets and we run in a herd on Sunday mornings taking up 3 lanes of a 4 lane street. It's what we do, and we do it well! Until recently, my opinion of heavy lifters were that they probably had itty bitty lungs under all that bulk because they never do cardio, that they live off of a trio of rice, soy and whey protein powders as well as various muscle building amino acid supplements, and quite frankly, they spend three quarters of their actual work out too busy checking themselves out in the mirror. I could be stereotyping here... but as a runner, I'm sure I've been a victim of that runner stereotype on more than one occassion, and let's all be honest... it's true. Athletes are all weird in their own little weird way. However.... I have managed to maintain running about 80 - 100 km/week while doing 3 intense heavy weight lifting work outs - and I have yet to ingest a single ounce of weirdo supplements, I don't check myself out in the mirror, and my aerobic capacity has actually improved! I've bench pressed, chin-ed up and push-ed up more weights, more reps and with far more intensity than ever before in my life (and shall I clarify... by bench press, I mean I've moved to 10 lbs plates from my previous "bar only" personal best). A weight lifting workout, if done with a certain technique and designed from an expert in the field, can actually be one hell of a workout! By that I mean, sweating, tears, pain, sweating, aerobic, anaerobic, not walking for three days after and more sweating! It's great, I couldn't be happier!
This brings me to my next point... it makes such a difference to have a expert advice in the field, and I am not refering to the beef-head or dumb blond (there I go, stereotyping again... and there is nothing wrong with being blond) that took a 4 hour online course to become "Personal Trainer". I've always been a big believer in being well informed, hence my many many years of involvement in the Running Room Clinics, as well as having a triathlon coach, it made all the difference for me. How convenient for me that my closest friend from school happens to be a personal trainer with a Bachelor of Kinesiology and quite big into weight lifting herself (which is actually an under statement because I'm pretty sure she could bench 4 x's her body weight if she really tried). Whitney has taught me SO much, my idea of working out has really been transformed. I have learned to fit SO much more in to an even shorter period of time, I've learned about working certain muscle groups and how to optimize it, I've learned about super sets and other great things like that, I've learned that I am far stronger than I ever gave myself credit for (Hello people... I can actually do chin ups!!!), but of far most importance - I have learned that doing a "Whitney Leg Workout" and attempting a long run anytime within the next three days is pure and utter torture (the kind I like)!
Also very interesting to be noted - along with my previous stereotype of girls who do man-pushups, I just assumed this would mean I would "bulk up" and watch the weight on the scale increasing. I always give a chuckle to the "muscle weighs more than fat excuse" even though it's true, I think it's used far to lightly (as in "I haven't lost any weight cause I gained muscle" - possibly, but not usually the case). I'm not a big weigh-myself obsesser, in fact, I generally try and stay away from it. I get myself weighed every year at the doctors office, so I use that as my guide line and try to stick with it. I'll jump on the scale once in a blue moon at the gym, but for no real reason (and for some reason I always get suckered in when people have scales sitting out in the bathrooms at their homes). I was a victim to the scale for FAR too many years, so now, for the most part, if I feel good, then it's all good. We had to get weighed when we registered ourselves the day before the race at Ironman, I was 128 lbs. I had my once-in-a-blue-moon lure to the scale today at the gym and I was 123 lbs - so I guess my stereotype was wrong (not that this had anything to do with weight loss or weight gain, just and interesting observation). Perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise to me because Whitney makes me look like a whimp when we work out together, and she is very petite - so I guess bigger isn't really stronger.
It's a fun new project, I love working out with Whitney, we go easily in our 70 minute lunch break at school and then I spend the afternoon in classes sitting by myself in a corner because I am STILL sweating. I still get to run as much as I want(my first love), but I think I'm standing just a wee bit taller (all those core muscles are holding me together stronger!). Don't worry, I have no plans to get super tanned, lube myself in baby oil, clothed in a inny-weeny-yellow-polka-dot-bikini and compete in any bodybuilding/muscle-man type competition (that is SO not me!). It's just all for fun...with a 6-pack as the result (however, I have yet to see the 6 pack).
As a brief update, regarding my shingles recovery, post partum depression and post ironman recovery: It took a good month for all of the nerve pain to clear up, my doctor perscribed some pain killers specifically for nerve-type pain, but I opted to stick it out like a real Ironman - just kidding - I chose not to take them because I see all the patients at the hospital get super constipated when they take this specific drug and I wasn't ready to do that to my smoothly-running-well maintained-cleaned out daily bowels, nor do I want to gag back psyllium husks! Luckily, it's been 3 weeks since I've felt any pain what so ever, so I'm just going to assume that I am done with that (thank God!). I had a bit of a hard time cutting back on the training, you just get so used to it, that it seems weird not to plan my life around long bikes and runs and fitting in a second work out for the day! I'm sure I wasn't the only one who was out for an "easy and short" 25 km run less than 3 weeks after the race, then straight to the pool after to finish the workout off with 12 x 50 m sprints (however, I may have been the only one doing that while holding my insides together in pain).
I work very well with goals, like for example, completing an Ironman, or qualifying for the Boston Marathon. But then when I complete the goal, I need another one asap to avoid the dreaded postpartum (as mentioned previously). For the first time in a very long time I don't really have a specific goal, and I am happy to say that I think I'm actually doing OK. No irratic, compulsive, psychotic, irritable behaviors (not yet anyways). I am going to run the Vancouver Marathon (Alison is going to do the half!!! Woot Woot!), I'm hoping to have a PB in Vancouver, so I guess it's a pseudo-goal. But I won't seriously start training for that (outside of my usual weekly long runs and speed work) until February, so in the mean time I've picked up a new challenge, and I've started doing a lot of weight lifting, but challenging myself far beyond what I've ever done before.
I've always stayed away from heavy lifting because I'm a runner and runner's don't do that... we run, and to build muscles we run hills, and to get faster we do fartleks and to run longer we do long runs and to look better we get coordinated Running Room Reflective jackets and we run in a herd on Sunday mornings taking up 3 lanes of a 4 lane street. It's what we do, and we do it well! Until recently, my opinion of heavy lifters were that they probably had itty bitty lungs under all that bulk because they never do cardio, that they live off of a trio of rice, soy and whey protein powders as well as various muscle building amino acid supplements, and quite frankly, they spend three quarters of their actual work out too busy checking themselves out in the mirror. I could be stereotyping here... but as a runner, I'm sure I've been a victim of that runner stereotype on more than one occassion, and let's all be honest... it's true. Athletes are all weird in their own little weird way. However.... I have managed to maintain running about 80 - 100 km/week while doing 3 intense heavy weight lifting work outs - and I have yet to ingest a single ounce of weirdo supplements, I don't check myself out in the mirror, and my aerobic capacity has actually improved! I've bench pressed, chin-ed up and push-ed up more weights, more reps and with far more intensity than ever before in my life (and shall I clarify... by bench press, I mean I've moved to 10 lbs plates from my previous "bar only" personal best). A weight lifting workout, if done with a certain technique and designed from an expert in the field, can actually be one hell of a workout! By that I mean, sweating, tears, pain, sweating, aerobic, anaerobic, not walking for three days after and more sweating! It's great, I couldn't be happier!
This brings me to my next point... it makes such a difference to have a expert advice in the field, and I am not refering to the beef-head or dumb blond (there I go, stereotyping again... and there is nothing wrong with being blond) that took a 4 hour online course to become "Personal Trainer". I've always been a big believer in being well informed, hence my many many years of involvement in the Running Room Clinics, as well as having a triathlon coach, it made all the difference for me. How convenient for me that my closest friend from school happens to be a personal trainer with a Bachelor of Kinesiology and quite big into weight lifting herself (which is actually an under statement because I'm pretty sure she could bench 4 x's her body weight if she really tried). Whitney has taught me SO much, my idea of working out has really been transformed. I have learned to fit SO much more in to an even shorter period of time, I've learned about working certain muscle groups and how to optimize it, I've learned about super sets and other great things like that, I've learned that I am far stronger than I ever gave myself credit for (Hello people... I can actually do chin ups!!!), but of far most importance - I have learned that doing a "Whitney Leg Workout" and attempting a long run anytime within the next three days is pure and utter torture (the kind I like)!
Also very interesting to be noted - along with my previous stereotype of girls who do man-pushups, I just assumed this would mean I would "bulk up" and watch the weight on the scale increasing. I always give a chuckle to the "muscle weighs more than fat excuse" even though it's true, I think it's used far to lightly (as in "I haven't lost any weight cause I gained muscle" - possibly, but not usually the case). I'm not a big weigh-myself obsesser, in fact, I generally try and stay away from it. I get myself weighed every year at the doctors office, so I use that as my guide line and try to stick with it. I'll jump on the scale once in a blue moon at the gym, but for no real reason (and for some reason I always get suckered in when people have scales sitting out in the bathrooms at their homes). I was a victim to the scale for FAR too many years, so now, for the most part, if I feel good, then it's all good. We had to get weighed when we registered ourselves the day before the race at Ironman, I was 128 lbs. I had my once-in-a-blue-moon lure to the scale today at the gym and I was 123 lbs - so I guess my stereotype was wrong (not that this had anything to do with weight loss or weight gain, just and interesting observation). Perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise to me because Whitney makes me look like a whimp when we work out together, and she is very petite - so I guess bigger isn't really stronger.
It's a fun new project, I love working out with Whitney, we go easily in our 70 minute lunch break at school and then I spend the afternoon in classes sitting by myself in a corner because I am STILL sweating. I still get to run as much as I want(my first love), but I think I'm standing just a wee bit taller (all those core muscles are holding me together stronger!). Don't worry, I have no plans to get super tanned, lube myself in baby oil, clothed in a inny-weeny-yellow-polka-dot-bikini and compete in any bodybuilding/muscle-man type competition (that is SO not me!). It's just all for fun...with a 6-pack as the result (however, I have yet to see the 6 pack).
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