Health and Fitness – Page 6 – HIKES & HAMSTRINGS

Essentials of Nutrition: A Functional Approach

I’ve been a bit thinky and distracted at work, so I started looking at my fruit, decided to Instagram it, and then write something on my phone about it. With all the P90Xing going on, I’m constantly eating. All. The. Time. And since the next workout is a few hours away, it’s time to start getting the sugars in me for some energy!

Wait- do I even know anything about how all this nutrition stuff works?? The answer is no, not really. But I do have it on my goals for the year to become more educated in the areas of diet, exercise and nutrition. Well, lo and behold, my good friend Dr. Beth just came out with a text book!!! It’s called “Essentials of Nutrition: A Functional Approach”. What perfect timing! I’ll be sure to order my copy and start reading! Congrats Dr. Beth on this amazing accomplishment :). Link to the publisher: Flatworld Knowledge.

Tony Horton, So We Meet Again…

“Curse you Tony Horton and your P90X!” I believe I start every single P90X-related post this way. And I always have high hopes for a successful 90 days. However, this time I’m going to be more realistic. The fact of the matter is: I have an injured foot, as well as weird chronic pain in my right arm. I’m currently seeing a physiotherapist for these issues, and she’s applying IMS (intramuscular stimulation) techniques to help resolve the problem. I’m hopeful, but I know I have to take it easy. Tomorrow is Day 1, and I may only be able to complete Day 1 before finding another mode of exercise for 90 days. I may make it half way before another part of my body decides to break. Either way, I’m going to do my best and move forward with my 2013 goal- to make exercise and fitness a priority, in whatever capacity that is. Let’s Bring IT! And good luck to my bro who is doing his Insanity challenge, starting tomorrow. We’ve got this, bro!

I Saw A Moose!

Originally, this post was going to be about trying cross-country skiing for the first time. I was going to write about UofC’s Intro to XC skiing program, the beauty of the Mount Shark area in the winter, learning the proper diagonal stride technique, and having a great day in the mountains.

But that story has been trumped by this:

I SAW A MOOSE!!

Why is this so important? Well, I guess it’s not that important. However, I’ve always wanted to see a moose in Alberta. I’ve been to the mountains so many times, and finally it happened. As we were driving back from cross-country skiing along Spray Lakes road, I spotted it in the distance. It was just standing there, on another road, just minding its business. “It’s a moose!”, I proclaimed. we circled back and admired it. Moose (or meese, as they are sometimes called) are amazing looking creatures, and they’re huge! It seemed aware that we were watching, and decided to walk in our direction. I think it was just curious. Although its proximity to the car was a bit alarming at times, we were able to snap some nice photos. I was so excited that I saw a moose. If it’s been unclear… I SAW A MOOSE!

To summarize, I loved cross country skiing, and can’t wait to go again :).

Trying to get back up :/ — Trying to get back up

XC Skiing is definitely something I'll try again :) — XC Skiing is definitely something I’ll try again 🙂

November Fitness Challenge?

As I write this, it’s December 2nd. Where did November go?? For some reason, time just feels like it’s flying by! Although November came and went, there was a challenge in there. The November Three-way Challenge of Awesomeness. To recall, friends Dan, Beth and I, after realizing that we were quite lazy throughout the month of October, decided we would do some kind of activity every day in November. We would be accountable to our goals by tracking the activities on a shared spreadsheet. We enjoy challenges, yes, but the main purpose of this undertaking was to motivate each other to schedule fitness activities into our day-to-day lives, especially when things get quite busy or that lazy feeling sets in. In the end, we all increased the amount of time doing something each day in November (on average) compared to October, whether that was running, biking, cardio, stretching, etc. In that regard, the challenge was a complete success and we all won. Yay!

For me, life these days is certainly not like the life I lived 2 years ago when I was able to do a 90 day P90X plan without missing a day or workout. Now, it’s a challenge to incorporate something every day, although as I write that, I hear myself screaming “Excuses!” The November Three-way Challenge of Awesomeness went well in that I managed to do something every day. Sometimes it was 90 minutes of Bikram yoga. Occasionally, there were wintery activities, such as skiing or snowboarding. And when time was seemingly nowhere to be found, I would target my abdominal muscles for 10 to 20 minutes. Of course, sometimes I was enthusiastic for the workouts; other times, I worked out begrudgingly. For posterity, here are my activities for the month:

Since I like metrics, that works out to be 1,351 minutes of activity over a 30 day period, or 45.03 minutes/day on average. I’m quite happy with those numbers. I did a bit of googling and came across the Public Health Agency of Canada’s site on physical activity. We all know that living a healthy lifestyle that incorporates physical activity can: prevent chronic diseases, like heart disease and diabetes; make us stronger; decrease stress; combat obesity; improve mental health and morale; and give us more energy. According to the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP), an adult between the ages of 18 and 64 should accumulate at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity to vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity per week. That physical activity should include some strength resistance activities at least 2 days a week. I like the slogan that the CSEP uses in their guideline pdfs: “Pick a time. Pick a place. Make a plan and move more!”

Even though I’m quite pleased about surpassing 150 minutes per week, and integrating strength training and cardio throughout the month of November, I have learned and realized a few things:

I want to step it up. Big time.
To do so, I need to eat better and start trying to get more sleep. (I make no promises on the sleep part!)
In order to complete everything I want to complete, I need to work on a schedule. This is super important in order to fit in the workouts.

My plan, once again, is to start a round of P90X in the new year. Hopefully I’m not plagued with the same injuries as this year, but since I’m still recovering, anything is possible. But I’m not going to get too tied up with this. As long as I continue living a healthy lifestyle, watching what I eat, and exercising safely, I will be very content :). With that said, I have taken a few days off to relax. Apparently relaxing once in a while is also important for a healthy lifestyle….

Snowshoeing in West Bragg

Robbie and I had Monday off, so we decided to head to West Bragg Creek. I recently learned about this gem of a place. It’s very close to Calgary with great cross-country skiing and a nice snowshoeing trail. It was sunny and it seemed like a good day for a quick snowshoe outing. In fact, I was testing out some new winter boots, as well as the MSR Lightning Ascent snowshoes that I purchased.

Like I realized last year when I went snowshoeing for the first time, I really enjoy it! This was definitely a beginner trail, but you can certainly progress and hit some mountain peaks on snowshoes. Unfortunately, this usually involves backcountry terrain, avalanche safety know-how, and use of other technical gear. One day. One day. But until then, it was an enjoyable afternoon, and a super easy way to enjoy a nice wintery day :).