Getting Healthier

[nightshade]

It's more a where I live thing, as the only places that really do food here are pubs and greasy spoon cafe type places.

 

[EVIL UU]

Have you considered not eating out?

 

[Mr Trick]

Have you considered not eating out?

My guess is Nightshade has, but of course its nice to treat yourself once in awhile and not have to cook. Guess I've been quite lucky when living in Brighton as there were a number of good places to eat which catered to many different things.

 

[nightshade]

My mother wanted to go out for lunch, I normally cook at home

 

[Ethan Reigns]

For the five times I have been to England (all on business), I would say that healthy food choices are a bit harder to come by than here in the Toronto area. If you go to the local pubs, they have amazingly high fat content meals. How anyone makes it to a pensionable age is beyond me. On a couple of occasions, the people from our company stayed at the Two Brewers' Inn in Chipperfield and there were about ten food specials on the menu that were the sort of thing the Heart and Stroke Foundation warn you against. It was interesting that you could get trifle as a dessert in the McDonalds chain there - it never came here and it was good.

My future son-in-law is a chef at a local pub here and the meals there are a lot more survivable than English pub fare.

 

[nightshade]

In the city its a lot easier, but I live in a small town and during the day most places don't serve food. Most pubs are getting better with a salad or 2 on the menu and they also do specials that can be healthier, but the place we went I didn't like what was in the salad.

 

[Taake]

I'm really uneasy about these fitness videos and stuff, they just present unrealistic targets for people and I don't just trust them. Its better to join a gym or run or swim regularly as it gets you out of the house and engaging with people rather than just staring at a screen for hours.

Well I know the gym can be pricey, but surely Swimming isn't that expenisive? Its not like you have to do it everyday just once or twice a week. I think the thing to do is just to add little bits of excerise into simple dairy things such as walking home or two the shop rather than getting the bus or whatever the case and maybe running once or twice a week too.

My concern is that we live in a culture where people are told that if you don't look like famous celebs like Jennifer Lopez then you are not fit, which is rubbish, and it becomes a thing of trying to be cool just like them, not saying that you think that like just than that is the sort of thing which these videos can encourge.

Personally, as someone who has worked at a gym as a personal trainer (as well as at a yoga studio), going to the gym / studio is not only pricey but anxiety ridden for some people, even if only once or twice a week (and that can still be pricey...). Fitness videos online can be incredibly supportive and encouraging, I disagree that they're are the ones that present "unrealistic targets" for people. This is unfair to these videos and the gains people can get from them, the fitness standards of gyms and swimming pools are the same as those for the videos, the difference being that with a video you can do it in a comfortable, affordable setting.The only caution I would have is that one really needs to learn how to listen to ones own body.

Naturally it is often beneficial to have a professional / instructor to help you with your positions et al, and as you mention to increase your every day activity level, but in my own experience and testimony from former clients I can only say that fitness videos were often the push they needed to get started, and helped them work their way up to say the gym or the swimming pool. I just don't think you should be so quick to judge the ways people try to utilize to get healthier, you don't know their economy or situation after all.


As for support @nightshade I think it's great that you're taking steps to get healthier! And fantastic to trade run times with your friend, that's a good motivator, doing something together 🙂 I would try to set little goals if I were you (modest ones) so that one can feel like one is working towards something, which is important mostly during those days when motivation to stay healthy is lacking. And if you don't have the strength to run - those days just take a short walk instead and try to get that habit going. It takes a while for the brain to get a new habit going, but once it's there it will be a lot easier to keep going with the lifestyle.

E.g. for me I recently started taking ballet/barre classes. Some days I just can't find the motivation to do anything, but then I remind myself of how badly I want to improve my turn-outs or stabilize my hips as I work on my développés which is a process that's going to take years and requires my effort in small but consistent doses. Knowing that helps to keep me going even during those days when it feels hard. 🙂

Eating out can be hard, I would suggest to try to limit that activity, but when you do eat out - it is a part of life after all - just enjoy it and if there is no healthy option, que sera sera, you're making a change for life, not for today, so one occasional 'bad' meal isn't damaging. Your body will strive to maintain a status quo, so if you establish an every day healthy regimen, that will be the foundation of your fitness level. Also it's better for your mind not to stress about it. 🙂

(another tip, my sister does this a lot, is to have a burger but ask for it to be wrapped in lettuce rather than bread. And extra salad on the side rather than fries.)

 

[Mr Trick]

The gym does cost a lot and is not worth it unless you are using it on a regular basis and that sort of work out is not for everyone anyway. I don't agree that going swimming is that pricey, not if you only go once or twice, and if you have a job then you can afford that. It is just about getting a balance of excerise, but not over doing it, and also not becoming anti-social as a result. And the thing about those youtube videos is that they are after money too they just get it a different way. And I'm guessing ballet lessions are pretty pricey too.

 

[Fuffy]

have a burger but ask for it to be wrapped in lettuce rather than bread

Never heard of this before...

Wouldn't do it myself since bread+burger are soulmates 🙂

 

[nightshade]

The gym does cost a lot and is not worth it unless you are using it on a regular basis and that sort of work out is not for everyone anyway. I don't agree that going swimming is that pricey, not if you only go once or twice, and if you have a job then you can afford that. It is just about getting a balance of excerise, but not over doing it, and also not becoming anti-social as a result. And the thing about those youtube videos is that they are after money too they just get it a different way. And I'm guessing ballet lessions are pretty pricey too.

Swimming means swinsuits and a lot of people aren't comfortable wearing one, also for me it means travelling at least 10 miles to go to a pool. So in addition to the actual pool costs you have to factor in time and fuel costs.

 

[Mr Trick]

Fair enough. Good luck anyway🙂

 

[Taake]

The gym does cost a lot and is not worth it unless you are using it on a regular basis and that sort of work out is not for everyone anyway. I don't agree that going swimming is that pricey, not if you only go once or twice, and if you have a job then you can afford that. It is just about getting a balance of excerise, but not over doing it, and also not becoming anti-social as a result. And the thing about those youtube videos is that they are after money too they just get it a different way. And I'm guessing ballet lessions are pretty pricey too.

Well sure ballet is pricey, but I wasn't telling someone else to do them or suggesting that they were affordable to all people. That's presumptious. I was just giving an example of how I stay motivated in my chosen field of fitness.

As for anti-socialness... give me a break, dude. You can be plenty social even if you're uncomfortable being social in that particular setting.

I'm sorry if I come off as harsh right now but it really irritates me when people presume to understand the situations of others while using themselves and their situation as the p.o.v. It is insensitive and it can make people feel really bad. Again, I've worked at a gym, I've gotten to hear so many tears and stories from plenty of people wanting to get fit but battling these exterior ignorances of "just do this (go to the gym / swimming pool / whatever)..." and it can be something that's either;
a) psychologically loaded and difficult for them
b) unaffordable (you don't know their situation so don't come and tell me when something's affordable! Seriously, this is really just rude!)

 

[Ethan Reigns]

I don't know if it is affordable in your area, but I spent nine years in Tare Kwon Do and I recommend it for fitness but mainly for flexibility. At my (retired) age, I can still kick up to my head height and we also studied some Hapkido which is a purely defensive martial art. I started by going twice a week and upped it to three times a week shortly after when I felt I could benefit from it. I became an assistant instructor, leading classes in stretches, exercises, patterns (poomse, the same as kata in Karate) and attack situations. It was amazing that after being in class for a while, I was only a few seconds ahead of what I was asking people to do - you can get mentally lazy if you just follow an instructor without an opportunity to lead a class. The knowledge of self-defense gives you some assurance in a world full of criminality but more importantly, even if crime never existed, I found it eliminated a lot of fear from my life. In some cases, chronic anxiety has been linked to blockages in the Circle of Willis, a roundabout in the arterial system of the brain. Blockages do not cause a stroke because blood can get everywhere it needs to but in some cases, curing a blockage in this area has cured anxiety.

You have to look at what you want to get out of an exercise / diet program. Do you want to lose weight to look better? Do you want to lose weight for health concerns? Can you motivate yourself doing exercises on your own or do you do better in a group environment where you can't just slack off or in something? Do you like Weight Watchers (where you learn about nutrition as well as how to select from a restaurant menu) or do you want to learn and apply lessons on your own?

I recall one girl who started Tae Kwon Do a week before me. She was 20 years old and quite pretty but had some cellulite and a bit of a paunch. After a few months, the extra muscle volume in her legs (from kick exercises) had eliminated the cellulite and the paunch was gone. She told me she was expecting to lose weight and it hadn't happened, but muscle weighs more than fat and she had gone from somewhat pretty to swimsuit edition / centrefold / Victoria's Secret material. She was 5'11" tall, had a knockout figure and a pretty face framed in jet-black hair. She had a sparkling personality and a carefree attitude because she had no natural enemies... that lived. Some of the guys were afraid of her - including a 6'6" guy who looked like Max Headroom. I never had any problem with her, but if you showed any sign of misogyny, she would take you apart. One guy from Venezuela made the mistake of thinking she was "just a girl" and no real athlete. We had roundhouse kick practice where we were supposed to make light contact just to know how it feels and changes your balance. She was lifting this guy an inch off the floor and depositing him two inches over, then doing the same thing with the other leg and returning him back to his original position. He could barely speak afterwards due to bruised ribs.

We met a lot of interesting people and did a lot of interesting things and my sense of choreography gradually got better, but eventually I had to give it up due to business issues where I would have to work late and travel a lot. Good times. My knees would never take it now, but my life changed for the better because of the time I did spend there.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

A year ago I decided I needed to lose weight and to do more exercise.
I have managed to lose the odd kilo or two, the reason I needed some exercise is mainly because my tum is a bit big. I remember what my knees looked like but I haven't been able to see them standing up straight since I stopped working and walking became to hard. Admittedly my usual exercise regime consists of standing at the door thinking I must do some exercise (and going to make mugs of coffee).
My diet usually consists (weekly in-take) 4-6 packets of buscuits, 12 sausage rolls, 21 sandwiches and about 100 mugs of coffee.
I don't eat much as I mainly write stuff on the computer.

For the heath conscious out there, I'm trying to write a story based on the idea that smoking cigarettes is good for you, after you have died. And yes it is a comedy.

 

[Taake]

How is your running going @nightshade ? 🙂

 

[nightshade]

Badly, but mainly as hayfever is getting worse, but I have been also going for walks when I can as well.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

I have been also going for walks when I can as well.

Don't under estimate walking.
You get to the same place as running. And there is a school of thought that walking is actually better.
But.. there is a school of thought for everything so..
I just miss the nancy school of thought.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

I have a dog that gets an hour to an hour and a half walk in the morning and 25 minutes at night. If it wasn't for the succession of dogs that I have had (not sure whether I owned them or they owned me), I would be in considerably worse shape than I am in. A dog provides a reason that you must walk every day without being able to just slack off and not do it some days. I am thankful for Frosty the Spitz, Freckles the Dalmatian X German pointer X English Pointer X Afghan hound, Scamp the Irish Setter X Yellow Labrador Retriever, Mischka the Cocker Spaniel, Cujo the Samoyed and the current dog, Toby the Border Collie who have been walking me since 1984.

But congratulations on understanding that you have a problem and taking steps to eliminate it. 
Scamp was an interesting dog. We got him for the bargain price of $125 from a breeder of Labrador Retrievers who had inadvertently let the mother out one night and she had apparently met up with the Irish Setter. We had a dog door in the side of the house from the laundry room and he knew immediately how to use it. I had warned my wife that a retriever may not be the best choice because he is used to taking things from where they are and putting them somewhere else. No, she wanted this dog. Not long after, she spotted him taking her undergarments off the laundry pile out the dog door and burying them in the garden. She was left frantically digging in the garden for brassieres and panties. She named him after the first of those stunts.

A neighbour of ours came over with her dog and we watched in fascinated horror as Scamp lined up Skye, the other dog, at the edge of the garden. Scamp put out one paw and scratched the ground towards him. Skye did the same. Then Scamp put the other paw out and scratched the ground towards him. Skye followed and the light went on - Skye started digging furiously in the garden. It is said that everyone is either a creator, a healer or a teacher. Scamp was a teacher.

 

[Taake]

Badly, but mainly as hayfever is getting worse, but I have been also going for walks when I can as well.

I think that's great. I would count walking as my main mode of exercising/keeping healthy. It's low impact, it's easy to get going, and once you've gotten in the routine it's extremely low-effort in keeping up with. 🙂 Of course, as Ethan Reigns kind of pointed out, it's easier to keep continuity when you have a dog that requires your daily effort, no matter the day, but any walk you take is a step towards better health, so yay you! 🙂

 

[Blaze]

I'm not the healthiest person on the planet, nor am I trying to be. I mean, I tried the whole eating super healthy and going to the gym, and I was just miserable. As a general rule, I eat healthy, but I don't prevent myself from eating out once in a while, or having a good old Canadian poutine. I just try not to do it too often. Might not be the healthiest that I can be, but I'm in a better mood when I don't restrict myself to a strict diet 😛 One thing I've changed this summer though is I do try to always cook at home (unless going out to a restaurant for a special occasion). It's surprising how making your own food is so much healthier than buying stuff premade. So when I go the the groceries, I stick to the produce and meat sections, and rarely go down the aisles.

As for exercise, I've tried having a set workout regime and it didn't really stick. I hate running with a passion, it's really not for me. Instead, I walk 30min every day to go to work, which includes walking up a set of about 100 stairs. I take the bike to go see my horse in the country side instead of busing, so that adds a good 2-3h of bike a week. And than I ride my horse another few hours a week, which is a great workout. In the summer I enjoy the beach, so I go swim after work whenever it's nice. None of those things really feel like a workout, and they might not keep me in great shape, but they at least keep me in decent shape. And most of it is free!