It's all about you

People are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of good nutrition as a part of good overall health and well being. This is good. The problem is that everyone wants a quick fix to their problems, whether it is carrying too much weight, hypertension, digestive issues, or whatever. And they want their quick fix to "fit into" or to "work" with their very busy lives. 

But at the end of the day, the only person responsible for your health and wellness is you. Not your spouse, children, friends, relatives, neighbours, colleagues, and certainly not spokespeople for the current "solution" du jour.

You. 

And while you may be busy, or busier than the next person whom you compare yourself with, you control your health choices. And if you make poor, or suboptimal decisions, do you know who is going to pay the price?

You.

Oh, your family, friends and the like will be saddened that you have to spend time with doctors, in hospital or whatever. But they'll get over it. Eventually. You may not. In fact, your choices may result in very serious consequences and even contribute in a very real way to your eventual demise.

Now I'm not claiming that I have always made excellent, or even mediocre decisions at some points, when it comes to my health and wellness. It has been a long, ever-evolving process. I have made plenty of missteps along the way. I like to delude myself into thinking that I have learned from them and will avoid them in the future. Who knows? Only time will tell. 

What I do know is that each one of us as individuals have to decide for ourselves how to make the most of our time here, and that nutrition plays a key role. And nutrition starts with the consumption of food. Real food. Not as Michael Pollan calls it, "food-like substances". Food.

My own road has led me to adopt a Primal/Paleo style diet, that is leading more and more towards strict Paleo (started with no grains, legumes, sugar, processed food, and now moving towards an elimination of dairy too). I feel great, eat great food, and exercise in a manner that is consistent with our evolutionary history. 

I encourage everyone to more carefully consider their health and wellness as the primary focus at the centre of their busy lives, and not something peripheral that only needs to be dealt with when an MD directs them to "eat healthier and get some exercise".

Here's some banana-almond pancakes as a reward for reading this long-winded post. 

Thursday night hockey

Not for me, but as per usual there was a game going at the neighborhood outdoor rink so I snapped a pick on my nightly stroll with my furry buds (about 33 minutes in the perfect -2 C weather).

Other than the walking I took it easy on the fitness front with just a short nearly 30 minute Rodney Yee yoga practice (for flexibility, nominally) done this morning after the SO left for work and before the kids were awake. I got them off to school and took a bit of a walk (30-40 minutes) and upon returning home I taught the remainder of the Indonesian Parcamara who was boss (delicious) whist completing some work at "Campus St. Albert" as I like to call our house. I went into the office following this for more work, teaching, meeting etc. When I returned home I cooked a great coho salmon steak (baked with butter, garlic and dill) and ate it with a large mixed green salad with olive oil and balsamic. No pics this time, I was too busy eating it!

A small step

Well, here I go. I finally got around to setting up a blog.

(Maybe this time I will save my post before moving to a different tab, therefore not losing my writing in the process!)

What is the point of this. That is, me setting up and (hopefully) maintaining an (active) blog? Mainly to have one, central repository for keeping thoughts and blurbs about whatever is top of mind for me at the moment. This should, theoretically, be simpler than chasing documents down on different computers and USB drives.

The plan is to post about things that are capturing my attention at the moment. These will range from current events, politics, diet, lifestyle, health, fitness, family, and of course, random thoughts, to name a few that I can think of at the moment.

Well, after all of that, I think I am done for now. I hope to get into a rhythm with writing and posting but who knows. Stay tuned to find out...