Archive for February, 2010


The Common Denominator

Filed under: Health — 2 Comments
February 26, 2010

I was curious to know what the top  leading causes of death were in Canada. Stats Canada reports “ the three leading causes of death in Canada were 1) cancer, 2) heart disease and 3) stroke.  These three causes of death were responsible for 58% of all deaths in Canada in 2005.”

Next question, is there something I can do to lower the incidence of all three at once?  What I found was that there are many factors which can lower the incidence of the top 3 causes of death.  Some in our control and some not.  The top three had the following  in common to lower the cause of death in a nutshell (not in any particular order):

  • no smoking
  • exercise
  • healthy diet
  • healthy weight
  • decrease alcohol consumption
  • health screening by your health practitioner

Given that making change is difficult, and its overwhelming to do everything at once, pick a starting point. It’s nice to know if I decide to pick one of the common denominators above I can lower the incidence of three of the leading causes of death, not one of them.  Once you take that change and ensure it is threaded into your daily routine, you can  pick another lifestyle choice and then another and then another and like a  waterfall cascading where you’ll quickly pick up momentum and eventually these good choices will become embedded in your day-to-day.

I’ve included some reference links below for those of you who are interested in more information.

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Technology and Health

Filed under: Fitness, Health — 8 Comments
February 25, 2010

I was thinking about how technology has caused certain things to become more pervasive in our lives.  Watching my husband, I see how the business day has crept into places they weren’t to be found ten years ago.  If his iPhone beeps at 8pm in the evening with some important work related email, he gets that pushed to him. Often he can act on that email or at a minimum reply.  That happens dozens and dozens of times during the day.  Technology has embedded work into the fabric of his day.

A similar example is news.  When growing up, news was something that took took place several times a day.  In the morning, the paper would be delivered and my parents would “consume” the news .  News came to us at set times in the evening.  ”Stay tuned for the eleven o’clock news.”    Today though, through the use of technology, we get a steady stream of news pushed to us all the time.

These two examples got me thinking about our health.   We go to the gym at set times to workout.  Or we visit the doctors at set times etc. Health is important to us but seems to be relegated to set times, rather than being embedded in our everyday.  I wonder if (self) managing our health could be changed in the same way that work or news has been transformed by technology, so that issues can be addressed immediately instead of at set times?

Tomorrow I will….think of other uses for technology in health.

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The Games People Play

Filed under: Fitness, Kids — 14 Comments
February 24, 2010

In a previous addition of the children’s magazine Chickdee, David Suzuki described his dream home. One feature was to have a TV that worked according to how  physically active you were. Is it possible??  Most recently, my eldest daughter has taken an interest in walking, why?  Because on March 14 Ninetendo will release its Pokewaker.  In a nutshell its a pedometer.

As per a tech review site, Engadget, “By ‘walking’,  one can catch wild Pokemon, search for hidden items, and even find new routes within the new HeartGold and SoulSilver versions of the game”.   No, this isn’t quite David Suzuki’s dream but getting pretty close.  Thumbs up to Ninetendo for trying to get kids moving.  As for my daughter she has been training hard to play this game.

So my point is technology can be an enabler for health, and other related issues.  This now brings me to my latest endeavour.  I have most recently signed up to play Evoke.  I love the concept. It’s a game created by Jane McGonigal… (note its not a simulation) to address real life problems like poverty, food security.  Imagine,  the possibilities, bringing together people from all over the world, to work collaboratively in making the world a better place.  Perhaps someday soon David Suzukis dream home will actually be a reality.

Below, I’ve linked a video that provides info on Evoke!

EVOKE trailer (a new online game) from Alchemy on Vimeo.

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Treading Lightly

Filed under: Fitness, Food, The Toolbox — Leave a comment
February 23, 2010

I was recently reminded of my university days, which triggered a memory of a class I took and a project on obesity.  In remembering this project, I dug out and cracked open my Exercise Physiology book third edition (yes somewhat dated, but still relevant – here is a link to the latest edition if you are interested).  Here was an interesting statistic from the book: if people considered obese, from the ages of 18-79 were to decrease calorie consumption by 600 calories daily until they achieved “normal” body fat,  the energy savings at that time would have been enough to to supply power to Boston, Chicago , San Francisco and Washington DC for one year!  Or the same amount could have fueled  900,000 cars per year.  Wow staggering figures.  I know that the numbers themselves would be different given the changes in energy consumption of vehicles and buildings, but still, it is staggering to think about consuming food in that way.  I never really looked at calorie consumption in those terms.

This than got me thinking about my own ecological footprint, and my energy consumption.  Bill Gates presented on TED his vision on energy.  He is thinking globally about tackling the energy issue.  I too am thinking globally, but what can I do locally?  Amongst all the other good energy conservation things we do, we can also get a double-win with healthier eating.  Food and fitness going hand in hand with energy and conservation.  Not only is leading a healthy lifestyle beneficial for my own health and well being, but it can also be good for the health and well-being of our planet.  Local and global.  Nice!

Tomorrow I will…continue to look for ways to tread lightly.

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Changing the Soil

Filed under: Fitness, Health — 1 Comment
February 22, 2010

This weekend I decided to tackle my ” to file pile”.  It’s that pile of letters,  bills, and magazines collected during a period of time that end up  living on my kitchen chair.  I came across the most recent copy of my Physiotherapy Canada journal and found a particularly interesting article titled “Effects of Physical Activity on Cancer Survival: A Systemic Review”.

In a nutshell the review evaluated “the effect of physical activity on the survival of individuals with cancer“. The conclusions are promising, but one is cautioned in the article.   Basically the article suggests “that increased activity is associated with reduced cancer recurrence” for breast or colon/colorectal cancer.

So why did I find this interesting, other than the fact that I think exercise is beneficial for all?  Well, prior to reading the article, I once again was captivated by a Ted video. The video was titled “David Agus: A new strategy in the war on cancer“  and  I found the idea that the speaker presented fascinating.  If we consider our bodies as a system, like soil, David Agus challenges us to think  about cancer and approaching it differently by changing the soil.  David Agus speaks about changing that system pharmacologically, which I found radically refreshing.  The article’s findings, that I spoke of at the onset of this post, I believe also point to a way to change the soil.  I think that the evidence of physical activity impacting cancer, could also be the result of that physical activity impacting “the system”, in effect, changing “the soil”.

I would encourage you to watch the video and I will update this post when the article from my physio journal becomes available.  I believe this shift in mindset with how cancer is approach is an important one.  Ultimately the goal is prevention , trying to modify things in our life that we have control over, to decrease the chances of illness.  Nevertheless, as important as prevention is, we should also look for ways to advance treatment.

Tomorrow I will…continue to look at ways to change the soil.

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Tools in the Most unlikely Places

Filed under: Food, The Toolbox — 7 Comments
February 19, 2010

To the delight of my family, I have been busy in the kitchen.  My cookbooks are no longer on the top  kitchen shelf rather they are strategically scattered in reaching distance around the the island.   This was all in an effort to attend my first cooking class at the neighbourhood grocery store. Once a week they offer a free (sort of free you pay 10$ initially and then receive a 10$ gift card at the end of class) cooking demonstration called what’s for dinner. This week they featured products from their PC Blue Menu.  The chef prepared Chicken and vegetable stir fry.   The class was enjoyable and the food was tasty.   Now depending on your learning style, a cookbook might work for you, or a video streaming from the internet , or a blog, or  an iPhone app , or a demonstaration or a hands on cooking class provided by your local college, the opportunities to learn how to cook are endless.

Along my journey here is something I had not expected to find.  Sometimes when  you aren’t looking for something specific you stumble upon something unexpected like the pc.ca website.

From their website, here is a link to some health tools all in one area.  I particularly enjoyed the life expectancy calculator.  As I said in a previous post, I would like to live to the age of 100 like the folks in the Ted video with vim and vigor and am happy to report I am on my way (according to the online life expectancy calculator  ;-)

In the words of everybody’s favourite Vulcan, Mr. Spock “live long and prosper”.

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The Bottom Line Is What Counts

Filed under: Health, The Toolbox — 4 Comments
February 18, 2010

In business we take great care in knowing and understanding  our numbers. Did we meet our numbers?  Are we profitable?  Are we gaining or losing customers? Healthy companies want to know: What’s our bottom line? Is it really any diifernt in our own personal health?  Do we know our numbers?  Did we meet our numbers?  As I look in my wallet, I am  reminded of the many numbers that I carry: my OHIP #,  my SIN #,  my credit card #. You get the idea.

Not that I don’t have enough numbers already, but at the end of the day for a “healthy bottom line” I’ll keep these new numbers handy.  What are these new numbers?   LDL Cholesterol, HDL Cholesterol, and Triglycerides.  Take these numbers, print the page and cutout it out so that you have these on hand the next time you are visiting your doctor.   Just like you would talk to your financial planner about your RRSP and their performance, do the same with your health numbers!!

How are you performing?!? That’s the bottom line.

For your convenience, I’ve created a picture below of these important numbers.  You can click on the picture and print it for your wallet.  This information came from the Mayo Clinic website.

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Powerful Card

Filed under: Fitness, Health, The Toolbox — 5 Comments
February 18, 2010

I was recently inspired to go to the library by a  local author, Andrew Larsen, when he was  speaking at my daughter’s school.  At one point during the talk he pulled out from his wallet what he called the most important card you can own – the library card.  Literacy he said was about understanding and comunicating.

Literacy is power.

So , off I walked to the  local library. Wow!!  Not only can you read about, (my favourite area) health and fitness, but you can also surf the net, watch videos, listen to music, attend seminars and talks (most for free), borrow pedometers ,  and get books for your e-reader (very 21st century). There are a slew of things to do and I can’t imagine easily getting bored to death.

More importantly though, was a key thought that came to me through this experience.  We associate libraries as institutions for access to knowledge & information.  This of course is true.  That is mental fitness; strengthening your mind.  This recent experience however made me realize that the library can assist you with the health and well being that I’ve been writing about.

How?  It is like the author said:  literacy is power.  The more you know about health, fitness,  and wellness,  the more you can become an active participant in your own health.  When I wrote the other day in a post about becoming an active participant in your health, I hadn’t considered the  library as  a “how-to” option.

Ask yourself, what card would you rather have to use with more frequency.  Your health card, or your library card?

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The Gatekeeper (Inspired by Jamie Oliver TED Talk)

Filed under: Food, Health — 3 Comments
February 17, 2010

I really enjoyed the  2010 Ted talk by Jamie Oliver.  I would highly recommend watching this inspirational talk.

The time is indeed ripe for a food revolution.  The issue of obesity has been growing in the last 30 years as per Stats Canada.  It’s sad to think that the next generation’s life expectancy will be lower than our own.  We’ve made huge gains in technology.  With a click of a button everything you want to know  from a to z, starting with why eat an apple a day to why zebras have stripes, is out there for all to see and consume. Despite this glut wealth of information, the issue of obesity keeps growing.  There are many reasons that we hear and read about as to why this happens, but, ultimately, I must take personal responsibility for my own actions and what I choose to do and eat and become a gatekeeper to my fridge.

If you want to watch the Jamie Oliver talk, I’ve embedded it right here in my blog below.  Click below on the video to watch!

Tomorrow I will….take responsibility for what is in my fridge!

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Doing The “Leg Work”

Filed under: Fitness, Health — Leave a comment
February 16, 2010

It’s that time of year again, summer camp planning.  And so  I found myself flipping through the Parks and Rec guide when I came across some interesting activities which further confirmed for me that fitness does not need to cost a fortune.  Fitness needs to be threaded into our day.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy going to the gym, but at times can’t seem to get there for one reason or another, and so I’m walking anywhere and anytime and often.

Since variety is the spice of life,  when I am bored with the streets in my neighborhood, I will be sure to check out the city of Toronto’s New Walking and Cycling maps. Ah, technology with a click of the button all is laid out for you saving you the “leg work” for the real leg work.

I think that it’s important, to continue to look for ways that a healthy lifestyle can be achieved through easily accessible resources.

Tomorrow I will…continue to explore other options.

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