21.4 minutes or 4 years - you decide

This is my 100th blog post and it may be one of the most important I have written (some might argue that none up until now were important, so at least I am marking the 100th milestone by upping my game). 


Many people feel that they don't have adequate time to eat properly (i.e., eat real, actual food, not the latest cure-all supplement or meal replacement) or to exercise (read: move your body). Well, in a new study reported on today, that 21.4 minutes per day that you save not exercising (they recommend a paltry 150 minutes a week or 21.4 minutes a day) will cost you 4 years that you could have lived. It's your choice: 21.4 minutes per day of some form of activity, or meet your maker 4 years sooner. Moreover, consuming 5 or more servings per day of fruits and vegetables can also add an extra 1.3 years on average to your life. The arithmetic is simple: a little investment now will pay dividends later.

St. Albert Deliveries: Big Coulee Farms

Here is the content of the new delivery leaflet from Big Coulee Farms (BCF).

Please call to order: (780) 675-9458

We are coming to St. Albert Centre parking lot near Hwy. #2 in front of the Bay on the following dates from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. with orders only.

(Chicken, Turkey, Beef, Pork and Eggs)

October: 22
November: 5, 19
December: 4 & 17
January: 7, 21
February: 4, 18
March: 3, 17, 31
April: 14, 28
May: 5, 19
June: 2, 16, 30
July: 14, 28
August: 4, 18
September: 1, 15, 29
October: 6, 20
November: 3, 17
December 1, 15, 22

While product is available.

Please pay with cheque or exact cash. You will be contacted thre Friday before delivery with the amount of your order.

Stand UP!

Here's my most recent "invention" - a stand-up workstation in my departmental office. I have been using this for about a month and really enjoy it. I encourage all to give this a whirl. There have been recent studies related to the perils of all the sitting we do each day (see Mark Sisson's post here, for instance), so, I got off my keester, literally, and did something about it.

 I finally got around to posting this after seeing similar posts on Richard Nikoley's blog on John Durant's blog and with some prodding from one of my students (thanks to AM for that!).

Another reason to *not* sit too much. And here too (and the pressures between work and life).

Ethical livestock: Big Coulee Farms

This is the brochure for the family who raises our eggs and meat. Click on the following images for details of pricing and products available. You can check them out at the St. Albert Farmer's Market Starting in June. They also have bi-weekly deliveries available to St. Albert and also to Edmonton. Call Vicky for details.

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. 

sturdyteam registered for the MS Walk 2011!

sturdyteam at the 2011 St. Albert Enerflex MS Walk

It is time to start building an increased awareness of multiple sclerosis and to start fundraising again as the 2011 MS Walk is only 2 months away (15 May 2011). This year, we are participating in the Edmonton Enerflex MS Walk instead of the St. Albert MS Walk because of conflicts with the girls' dancing schedules. Like last year, we'll be doing the 10 km walk. Please click here to donate to sturdyteam or our individual members.

I was diagnosed with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis in May 2009. I am currently taking Copaxone, a standard MS disease modifying drug (DMD), via daily injections. Before this I was on Rebif for two stints, but it caused nasty side effects so I moved over to Copaxone (Glatiramer acetate is its generic name - Copaxone is the trade name used by Teva Pharmaceuticals).

Although there are many new therapies being researched and introduced all the time (here's a new pill-based therapy introduced in Canada just two days ago), my goal/hope is that research will be directed towards uncovering what causes MS so that people can avoid "modifying their disease" through DMDs and instead live a long, healthy life, free of MS. Here is an example of the direction I think we need to be pursuing more vigorously, especially the dietary suggestions that are in line with a Paleolithic diet (and related to a recent blog post of mine).

100 rep challenge

It's been a long time since I posted. One recent thing of interest (perhaps) is that I stumbled across this 100 rep challenge on the Conditioning Research Blog and decided to give it a shot. So, for the past 3 or 4 days (I'd have to check my log, I don't recall) I have been doing 100 reps, usually 50 push ups and 50 prisoner squats and a few pull ups for good measure (like today). This takes about 5 minutes  and fits nicely into the business that is back to school time and this bodyweight routine complements my approximately one hour or walking with the dogs that I do each day.  My knee is much better compared to how it was in June when I initially noted the pain and scaled back my workouts (no LHT/HIT/SS, LHT, HIIT, sprinting or yoga since then, so now for almost 2 months) but I don't want to be stupid and rush back into everything and re-injure it. Interestingly my body mass is right where it was when I cut back. I am not sure if there was any redistribution of muscle and adipose tissue, but my unscientific assessment (looking in the mirror) tells me that if there is any change, it is undetectable to me. At least I can walk up the stairs now without wincing.

Summer Vacation and Primal Grannie

Here is a recent dessert; blueberries, grapes, walnuts and cream.

We are on vacation for the next little while so my posting will be limited. My knee is healing up, but still a bit twingy here and there. My fitness has mostly been walking and some limited bodyweight exercises. Also of note/interest: My 99 year old grandmother just joined me for a primal lunch of mixed greens, avocado, cold grilled strip loin with apple in a olive oil and red wine vinegar dressing! More posts may or may not follow in the next few days.

Get yer sleep!

In case you thought you were getting enough sleep by skimping and only getting 6-ish hours of sleep a night, think again. Recent results from a two week sleep study show that there are many problems displayed by subjects who were deprived, and that these were worse than the subjects themselves were even aware of. 

For years I skimped on my sleep, but in the past year or so (since my MS diagnosis) I have made a real effort to get enough sleep (i.e., more than 7 hours a night). So far it has gone pretty well and I feel good. This study makes me think I had better keep at it.

Where I'm at

I haven't posted in a while; too busy with work, home renos, and a lack of interesting workouts for the past bit as I am nursing a sore knee. Because of this, I started a new joint formula supplement called SierraSil that is supposed to decrease inflammation by providing trace minerals that we are deficient in. I'll post later on how that works out.

I have received Mark Sisson's "Primal Cookbook" recently though, and tried his indirect method to grill steak (to help keep the free radicals and charring down). It worked great, and had our top sirloin about medium in around 20 minutes. Very tender, too. Unfortunately, the camera was not located in time to snap a photo! Next time...

Here's the deal as usual for the first bit and then the start of recovery week(s?) with mostly walking and swiming:

Monday 7 June: Walk 20 min; Swim 1,000 yds, 20:11
Tuesday 8 June: Walks X 2, 45, 20 min; Walk up 9 flights of stairs to an appointment (maybe the problem with my knee)
Wed 9 June: Walks X 2, 20, 45 min; LHT/Wicked Awesome Dumbbell Workout
Thursday 10 June: Walks X 2, 25 min each; Ashtanga Yoga at University, 50 min
Friday 11 June: Walks X 2, 20 min each; Mowed lawn; Started removing baseboards and acasing
Saturday 12 June: Walks X 2, 20, 25 mins; Remove baseboards and casing
Sunday 13 June: Walks X 3, 20, 30, 20 mins
Monday 14 June: Walks X 3, 25, 15, 25 mins; Painting
Tuesday 15 June: Walks X 2, 20, 45 mins; Swim 1,000 m, 24:15
Wednesday 16 June: Walks X 2, 20, 15 min
Thursday 17 June: Walks X 2, 20, 40 min; Swim sprints (500 yd warm up in 9:57, 6 X 25 yds in 18 s on 60 s gos, 200 yds cool down)

I hope that between resting the knee from weight, yoga and sprinting combined with the mineral supplement, that the pain will subside and I can resume some more vigorous activities. I'll just have to wait and see.

Out with the old

Yummy omelet and mixed greens salad; nasty picture. I think the lens on my Treo Pro has gone south.

Yummy sautéed European wiener (preservative and filler free, from the Grapevine Deli), mushroom and green onion with mixed green salad; amazing picture from my 9 year old's Sony Cyber Shot! I think I'll have to keep using Junior's camera from now on. I haven't been doing my food shots justice.

Excellent bacon and eggs; terrible hazy shot.

Same meal as above, still excellent even with no flash!

Workout round up

Where does the time go? Here is an abbreviated version of my week (and then some) of fitness activities. Here's the deal:
Wednesday 19 May: Walks X 2, 20 min each Thursday 20 May: Walks X 3, 20-25 min each Friday 21 May: Walks, 15 and 30 min; Eoin Finn Magically Hips Yoga, 57 min Saturday 22 May: Walks X 2, 25 min each Sunday 23 May: Walk 25 min Monday 24 May: Walks X 2, 35 and 25 min; LHT/Wicked Awesome Barbell Workout; Mowed Lawn Tuesday 25 May: Swim Sprints; Walks, 20 and 35 min Wednesday 26 May: Walks X 3, 20, 20, 25 min Thursday 27 May: Walks X 2, 25 and 30 min; Ashtanga Yoga at the University, 55 min

Well, there you have it. Not too many details, but you get the idea. I took it a bit easy this week as I wasn't feeling 100%. Until next time.

Back on track

I have been very remiss in posting these, so for the sake of brevity and catching up, I'll get right to it.

Sunday 9 May

• LHT/Wicked Awesome Dumbbell Workout: 
• 10 X push ups
• One arm (right) neutral grip dead lift, biceps curl up to standing overhead press, Turkish getup, standing overhead press and biceps curl down to one arm deadlift down; repeat on left side
• Two arm deadlift up, lunge left/right, split squat left/right, two leg squat, two arm biceps curl to standing overhead press, biceps curl down, neutral grip deadlift down
• Repeated this X 6, first 2 with 2 X 20 lbs dumbbells and the last 4 with 25 lbs dumbbells; TULs between about 1:48 to 2:00
• Walk, 1 hr 35 min (with > 60 min walking) to the pet store (via Starbucks!) with the whole family on a nice sunny day!

Monday 10 May

• Walks X 2, 20 min each
• Swim sprints; 250 yd warm up in 4:40, 6 X 25 yds in ~ 16-18 s with about 60 s rest between each, 250 yd cool down in 5:14
  
  
  

One way, or another

I started taking Rebif (interferon beta-1a) as a disease modifying drug (DMD) for treatment of my MS in July 2009. Injecting myself thrice weekly was no joy, but then again neither is the prospect of MS progression, so I learned to work it into my routine. Unfortunately, Rebif and I did not agree with one another. I came off Rebif in late November, and then back on it again in January 2010. That lasted only until about the end of March when I came off it for the second time, again because my lab work showed that Rebif was affecting my bone marrow and blood counts.

At this point my neurologist suggested I switch over to Copaxone (Glatiramer acetate) because it is not associated with the same side effects as Rebif (fever, aches, chills, headaches) and because it doesn't typically affect the same things that the interferon was affecting in my lab work. The downside, of course (there always is a downside) is that you need to inject Copaxone every day, not three times per week like Rebif, and Copaxone can cause skin irritation, lipoatraphy (damage to subcutaneous fat so that you develop "pits" in your skin) and it can cause muscle spasms if injected into or too close to a muscle.

I have had few to no skin issues so far, but this may happen in time. On the other hand the muscle spasms have been an issue when injecting my legs and arms because I have almost no fat to inject into (contrary to the training nurse who visited me a week and a half ago who claimed I could use an 8 mm injection depth on all sites - wrongo!). Using the automatic injector (autoject) in my legs and arms also turns out to be a nonstarter and part of the problem because controlling the depth of the injection is tricky. When the spasms start, your muscle dances as if it were hooked to a car battery and feels as if the meanest, biggest guy you know just gave you a charleyhorse. Then  did it again just for fun. The stiffness lasts through the next day.

The support nurse from Shared Solutions (who is very helpful) suggested that I manually inject at a 45 degree angle into my arms and legs to avoid the spasm issue. Two nights ago the injection into my arm was much better done manually than the previous night with the autoject, and involved much less swearing post injection. Other than some burning, all was basically fine. The manual leg injection last night was another story. I did not manage to get it into the tissue at 45 and the muscle was jumping before even half way into the injection. My SO couldn't watch it was so intense. Rah! I sent an e-mail to my support nurse and she suggested to dump using the legs and to use my abdomen as two areas to give me a total of 6 areas (abdomen X 2, butt X 2, arms X 2). Good call.

Spring is here! (For now, at least)

Here's the view from my front window about one week ago.

And here's the view on my walk this morning.

Needless to say the weather has had a hard time making up its mind lately, but it looks like spring is actually here to  stay. I have a fair bit to post about, but for now will just stick to an update on my workouts, post back tweak. I modified my exercise routines and took it easy when my back was stiff/sore and changed my LHT workout to one with dumbbells instead of a barbell. I also took a pass at sprinting on land and instead did a swim sprint workout and skipped my HIIT/Bodyweight workout (lots of jumping around in it). Other than that, and having a couple of extra easy days, all was as normal and now my back is, well, back (to normal). And with no ibuprofen or other meds.

Here's the deal.

Saturday 1 May

• made some vitamin D on the deck
• Walk about 1 hr 40 min to the lake (above, different day) and back

Sunday 2 May

• Walk ~ 30 min
• PM Yoga ~ 25 min

Monday 3 May

• Walk 20 min

Tuesday 4 May

• Yoga, 45 min, Rodney Yee's Energy Balance
• Walk, 25 min
• PM Yoga, freestyle ~ 25 min

Wednesday 5 May

• Walk, 20 min
• Swim, 1,000 m, 21:14 (much better than the last 2 weeks), 150 yd cool down
• Walk, 30 min

Thursday 6 May

• Walk, 20 min
• LHT/Wicked Awesome Dumbbell Workout
• One arm (right) neutral grip dead lift, biceps curl up to standing overhead press, Turkish getup, standing overhead press and biceps curl down to one arm deadlift down; repeat on left side
• Two arm deadlift up, lunge left/right, split squat left/right, two leg squat, two arm biceps curl to standing overhead press, biceps curl down, neutral grip deadlift down
• Repeated this X 10, first 2 with 2 X 20 lbs dumbbells and the last 8 wit 25 lbs dumbbells; TULs between about 1:30 to 1:50; need to keep really slow but a great workout; may need some heavier dumbbells!

Friday 7 May

• Walk, 25 min
• Swim, 1,000 m 21:10 (ish - watch FAIL stopping the timer) plus 50 yd cool down
• Walk, 25 min

Saturday 8 May

• Walks, 45 min, 20 min

That'll have to do for now...at least I am one less week behind. Soon I hope to turn to more posts about what I am up to or thinking about besides my workouts.