You Only Have Enough Energy For One Choice

   Often I see new clients at a crossroad. Out of trepidation they stand with one foot firmly in the past and the other in their future. Two choices, two possible outcomes that require all your energy, time and resources. I don’t mean your financial or material resources but your inner resources. Undertaking personal change, self-improvement or self-evolution demands much, deserves much. No matter the goal be it healthy eating, improved fitness, meeting a physical challenge of any kind requires something no one really discusses. It requires brass, chutzpah. You need to boldly turn away from your former self and embrace the new you that has not yet materialized. You only have enough energy for one choice.

Make that decision and own it. Be a lazy person that sleeps in and shuns physical exercise. BE that if your choice is to skip training sessions, fail to complete the homework or neglect to bring 100% of your effort each and every time you train. Be overweight, plump, big-boned whatever you want to refer to yourself as if you choose to over-indulge in food, soda pop or what have you. If you are truly a foodie and as a result eat more than your person can utilize then the outcome is weight gain. Without compensating for the input with output you have made the choice silently. If you choose to eat and not workout be happy with what you have. The choice, after all, is yours.

These choices I refer to are more than temporary ideals, fancy ways to spend 12 weeks then revert back to your old ways. What I am really asking of you is to dig deeper. Consider that your personal values those core beliefs you espouse to follow are what drive your daily choices. Therefore, rather than state you will lose weight through exercise check your values. Do you value your health and the way you represent yourself in life? Are you affronted by others that do not care for themselves yet feel you are immune? Do you value a balanced life that embraces great food and a great health? Are you proud of how you look and feel?
If you quietly assess your true motivation your honest goals you will find that the choices are simple. Do what you must to up hold your values. If you have been lax in the physical fitness department and gotten a little soft admit it, accept it, forgive yourself and get back to your beliefs. The guilt people complain about feeling when they gain weight or give up a hobby is not necessarily about the physical results but the emotional and self-conceptual ones. You just don’t like yourself that much when you offend your own value system. You let yourself down.

The best thing about this soul-searching and value defining exercise is that it is much more motivating than all the other empty things we do in order to “change”. Looking for the best workouts, buying new workout gear, new gym memberships, fitness magazines… and on and on. We find we have all the intrinsic motivation we need when we calibrate our life with our values.Motivation begets desire and desire begets action which leads to results and it self perpetuates. You only have enough energy for one choice. Either make a change that reflects who you really are or don’t and live that life instead. Standing with one foot in the lazy life and one foot in the active life will lead nowhere you want to be and you will be drained when you get there. Choose wisely.

Shameless Self Promotion

The new year is here! When Saskatchewanites become shut-ins due to the wrath of Old Man Winter. Nothing but time to reflect and watch Netflix. The large majority of folks also contemplate getting in shape or losing weight or both. Years of gaining weight solved in 6 weeks or less. (Sheesh!) Well, I am here to tell you that isn’t going to happen but give me 6 weeks and your best effort and we will be on the right track.

I am excited about my new opportunity. My Personal Training Practice has partnered with Brownstone Health, a group of medical health professionals; Physiotherapists, Registered Massage Therapists, Chiropractic Doctors, Acupuncture Therapists, Sport Therapists, Nutritionists and ME an Exercise Therapist .We are NOT a gym as people think of gyms. Rather we offer one on one and group training but no “open gym time hours”. Therefore, no fees in addition to your training investments. Simple. Yeah for simple!

Here is all you need to know in order to become a client of mine!

You will thrive as my client if you want to:

• Remodel your overall health and body shape
• Desire to workout HARD
• Make a lifestyle shift
• Learn as you get fit
• Work around an old or new injury that keeps down

I train individuals and buddies. Just let us know when you sign up!

http://www.brownstonehealth.ca/future-appointments

http://www.brownstonehealth.ca/

ADDRESS

Brownstone Plaza: 102-1275 Broad Street, Regina, SK

Phone 306.779.1275

Fax 306.779.1276

HOURS

Mon – Thu: 8:30am – 5:00pm

Fri: 8:30am – 12:30pm

Weekdays upon request for Personal Training Clients.

You HAVE Fat, You’re NOT Fat.

Yikes, unless your body composition measurement states otherwise. If you weigh 300lbs and 250lbs of it is fat, then well, you are mostly fat. Sorry. Today’s blog rant is not focused on the total weight of anyone. I am ranting on “How“. How did you become 300lbs? How long did that take? How did you not notice? How do you expect to lose the weight? How did you decide that ONE MONTH would be about the right amount of time for this epic endeavor?

Okay, settle down, this is not going in the direction you think. I am on the good side. I want people to be their version of healthy, happy and fit. Whatever that is for them. I don’t care what size someone is. I don’t care what level of fitness they are at and might want in the future. What I care about, what ticks me off, what makes me crazy is unrealistic expectations. The world of health science is on my side. Dr. Len Kravitz wrote in his paper titled, Exercise Motivation: What starts and Keeps People Exercising, that, “… 50% of persons starting an exercise program will drop out in the first 6 months…” He said further,

People who over-estimate their expectancies from exercise are most likely to drop
out (Whaley and Schrider, 2005). Thus a person who expects to lose a lot of weight from
exercise, and does not, is likely to drop out from the exercise program. The message here
denotes how pivotal ‘realistic’ weight loss goals presented in an ‘attainable’ ‘timeline’
(See Figure 1 for all S.M.A.R.T. goals) are imperative to helping a person stay with the
exercise program.

Let’s look at an example in the numbers.

Can anyone reduce their daily calorie intake by 3850 calories? Nope. Could they use a combination of exercise and diet to achieve this daily deficit? Not likely. But, I gave an example of a 100-day weight loss goal that is reasonable and achievable. Not 30-days, not 60-days but 100-days just over 3 months to lose 33 pounds. Oh, my, that looks like a sensible 8-10 pounds per month! Well, haven’t you heard that somewhere, as in EVERY where, before? The reasons I am skeptical of client proposed timelines are as follows:

• In this example I assumed a female of 30 years at the average height of 5’6″.
• At a weight of 212 pounds this woman requires about 2100 calories just to maintain her lifestyle.
• If she were a regular Jane eating kind of awful yet lying about it to her trainer. She likely eats around 3500 calories daily.
• In an ideal fantasy world she would reduce her intake like this 3500-2100 = 1400! 1400 calories less daily!
• Then she would expend 3850-1400 = 2450 calories performing various exercise daily. DAILY people!
• Come ON!

Here are more numbers to boggle and amaze. Same woman, performing 30 minutes of various exercises could expect to burn 165-547 calories. Even if she had nothing to do BUT lose weight and could spare 2 hours a day in the gym she would still be shy of 2450 daily calories burned. Remember my “Realistic” version, odd how the elliptical plus skipping dessert would achieve the deficit required. Hummmmm. Take a look!

A couple more things to consider when you decide to dump fat in an alarmingly irresponsible short amount of time. You will quit. You will give up on the goal. Not because the goal is a dumb goal. More because you were dumb to set a timeline so ridiculous, so childish that you set yourself up to fail. You. Not your spouse. Not your friends and family. And definitely not your fitness trainer. You. You. You.

One last bit of caution. Just because you are eating healthy food fat doesn’t magically melt off your body. I selected one of the many “Eat This Not That” charts on the web to give you some idea of what I mean. Just because you eat only one Whopper instead of two doesn’t mean you are eating “better“. Having a dressing soaked salad with buffalo chicken wings isn’t going to produce a six-pack of abs. If you eat too much or not enough in some cases, you’ll have a tough time losing weight.

In order to not get trapped in the “I can’t lose weight” forest of excuses, here is something to consider. Take your doctor’s, trainer’s and nutritionist’s advice. Set a timeline that is reasonable. Respect the fact that you did not gain the weight in 30 days so why on earth would you expect to lose it in that amount of time?

I’m not dense. I know what clients really mean when they say, “I want to be more fit and lose some weight…. by December 2nd.” Don’t snow me or your trainer. When you throw out a timeline you’re busted.

I watch a ton of COPS reruns. Yeah, judge me if you like, I don’t care. When the cops roll up behind the bad guys its always the same. The bad guys slow down only to squeal off and make a break for it. Then end up in cuffs with gravel on their face and bruises all over from a rough take down.

When you visit the gym and speak to your trainer about your fitness and weight lose goals it’s a little like the COPS show. You know you did something wrong (fat, out of shape) and now you are singing like a canary. Telling a great story about wanting to be fit but only if that can happen by a certain date (running from the cops). Bargaining with your training and your health by setting a time limit is still running away from the difficult task of getting fit and healthy. Simply, you are lying to yourself. When it comes assessment time with your trainer and the numbers aren’t dropping, the cuffs come out. Your trainer, hopefully, will tell you straight. Your goals are not realistic. Now you are face down in the gravel.

You don’t want to rehabilitate your lifestyle if you put a ridiculous timeline on your health goals. You are no better than a gang-banger on her third arrest saying she really, really, really wants to get a job but the life sucks her back in. December 2nd, February 14th or whatever date you select in your wishful mind will come and go. The only difference is whether you’ve quit or are still on the path to a healthy weight, realistic fitness level and a new life?

The choice is yours. The red and blue lights are flashing in the vehicle behind you. Slow down, do what your told and it will all be okay. Happy Holidays, make sensible New Years Resolutions everyone!

Fraud in the Fitness Industry?

Of course there is fraud in the fitness industry. Why should you care? Because the fraudulent aspect of the fitness industry is stealing your money, robbing you of a positive self-concept and promoting unrealistic fitness expectations. No different from the beauty and banking industry, real estate and stock market sector even, gasp, politics. The lies and deception are intrinsic to these economic sectors to the degree that it is expected, even if that expectation is subconscious. Let me illustrate this. No one really believes that a fitness model developed her body by performing the exercises in the pictures that accompany a workout article, or supplement advertisement. The same can be assumed in the banking and financial world. No one truly thinks one bank over another, this one investment, stock or mutual fund is the answer to all their financial dreams. Your “dream home”, really? And a politician that tells the truth is the longest standing joke second only to, “Knock, Knock”. So why am I so disturbed by the fitness industry and the hoard of undereducated, over publicized rip off artists in it? At home training videos have a place in an individual’s fitness experience, I agree! Why do the “stars” of these videos have to be such frauds? Isn’t it possible to sell really great videos featuring fitness professionals with excellent credentials and not just “stars” or “models” lying their faces off after, at best, a weekend crash course in exercise?

The big names in the industry don’t have big education credentials. The results people achieve in their living rooms has more to do with the individual effort and food choices than the “expert” trainer in the videos. Jane Fonda, Richard Simmons, Jillian Michaels, and Tony Horton do not have degrees in Kinesiology, Exercise Physiology. One doesn’t have a degree at all the others hold Arts or Marketing degrees. I especially like when trainers hold Psychology degrees, how exactly does Freud help my Erector Spinae? In each of their biographies name dropping and extensive past performance details substitute for educational clout. That said, we all have heard that some people are “book smart” but can’t apply the knowledge to practise. The same idea when people say, “those who can ‘do’ and those who can’t ‘teach’. In the fitness world, as it should be in my opinion, great fitness education would be the independent variable for successful personal training. As it is now, media has put the whammy on public logic. Holding out celebrities and movie stars as fitness gurus has effectively convinced the public that educated personal trainers and physical fitness results are mutually exclusive. They cannot exist together. You need a “star” to succeed. In fact, the value of a personal trainer has become their “star” quality. How famous are they? Do they look the part of a personal trainer?

Not only is this dangerous to people in a physical way it is unhealthy emotionally for everyone. Trainers are not allowed to be anything but toned, tanned and beautiful. Clients are still pressured to become toned, tanned and beautiful. All of this is ridiculous. Everyone is different. Some of us have previous injuries that changed our bodies and our potential. Women and men have different body fat needs. We are all basically the same in our DNA and physiology but the expression of that DNA and physiology is very different. Anatomical structure variances can be nonpathologic as can biochemical differences. Our 12 systems of the body all work in concert until they don’t then having a trainer with specific knowledge, experience and expertise is essential to your health and progress.

 

The hard scientific facts are these, when you hire a professional personal trainer you achieve better results. Period. Research studies have found the following interesting trends when comparing the results of supervised and unsupervised training:

• you choose heavier weights. In a study conducted in 2008 with 46 women, those with a PT (Personal Trainer) selected up to 57.4%  heavier weights than when training alone. Heavier weights produce better results, faster.
• you are more likely to stick to your fitness schedule. Again, a group women were studied in 2011 for the purpose of evaluating adherence to physical activity while supervised and unsupervised. A near perfect attendance of 95.4% when supervised versus 64.5% when unsupervised.
• if you have a low-work ethic, a strong work ethic can be taught through high-effort training. In a 1985 related study, the psychological make-up of a person may determine their results in the classroom and the gym. Participants in this study were given supervised high-effort training for mental testing. The group of people with strong work ethics resisted cheating on the exams for a greater length of time than the low work ethic group. However, the low work ethic group attempted to solve the test problems for a much greater amount of time after receiving high-effort training. Work ethic improves when we are challenged! PT’s challenge you to work hard, you learn to appreciate the results that stem from a stronger work ethic.

On a personal note, I see work ethic, adherence and intensity improvements in every client I work with. They start out reaching for the 5 pound weights. After I slap their hands and hand them the 10 pound weights they begin to see the light. Here are just a few select situations from my time with my clients.

1. A young female client accepted the 8 pound dumbbell and said she did not believe she could raise it above her head. My response was to take the weight away and give her a 10 pound weight instead and drive her to raise it above her head 5 times. From that day onward she marvelled at each progressively heavier weight she lifted. She never again reached for anything lighter than 10 pounds. When she squat pressed a 30 pound barbell she could not stop smiling. Her results: improved overall strength, reduced body fat, increased lean mass, improved self-concept.
2. A lovely new mom came to see me around the same time each session. Each time we met she looked longingly at the group training session that was ongoing. I asked what was so intriguing. Her response was to ask me if I thought she could do that. What she meant was lift these heavy looking barbells the class participants were using. She didn’t realize that the bars only held about 25 pounds so I rigged an exact match up for her and handed it to her with one hand. For effect you see, just to let her know it was not scary. Her response to lifting it over her head in a clean was to laugh. Once again, she never reached for a light weight again. She continues to ask for “hard” workouts and “heavy” weights.
3. A larger female client of mine was shy about the gym floor. She stuck to the private areas and I wondered why. Middle way through a session I asked her if she had any “unbelieveable” goals. She said she wanted to walk down into the weight lifting area but was intimidated. My response was to say, “Let’s go!”. I marched her through the area and invited her to “pick up a weight any weight at all” but it had to be from the heavy section. Her response was to reach for a surprising 55 pound dumbbell. I encouraged her to bend her knees, straighten her back, harden her core, use two hands and pull quickly and steadily. The smile on her face was beautiful. No more shyness in the weight room area, she dominated the squat rack and Olympic press rack for weeks afterward.

I am not a fan of videos when the viewer is able bodied, has enough discretionary funds for a gym and has the motivation to start with a Personal Trainer. Its called Personal Training because it is personal, its about you. Not about money, flashy outfits, white teeth and a ridiculous tan – you and your body and how it operates. I recommend pushing yourself harder and harder each time you workout. Your personal integrity, work ethic and motivation sometimes are not enough. You need a professional that will take you to your limit, safely drive you to be better, stronger and faster. Setting the goal of “getting in shape” is vague and useless. Committing yourself to a new lifestyle full of rewarding personal challenges requires a partner and leader that knows you, can see your work and struggle and guide you to be better every day. There is no video for that.

Walk Away! Fat, just walk away!

I walk. A lot. Walking is one of my favorite things to do given rain or shine. I adopted a dog just so I would have a ready-made excuse to go for LONG walks. Walking is the reason that I am not as big as a house and loaded up on painkillers. Walking saved my health, maybe my life. Research studies are finding that walking could be just the thing to save many lives. Do you know how to walk? Or more to the point do you know there is a proper way to walk-train for health benefits?

The Canadian physical activity guidelines from the Canadian Society of Exercise Physiologists provide these healthy tips for average adults.

Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines (18-64 years) 
To achieve health benefits, adults aged 18-64 years should accumulate at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity per week, in bouts of 10 minutes or more.
It is also beneficial to add muscle and bone strengthening activities using major muscle groups, at least 2 days per week.
More daily physical activity provides greater health benefits.

It is possible to achieve this level of activity easily and effectively. To understand what is being asked of Canadians, let’s break this healthy advice down into bite size chunks. The per week requirement of 150 minutes is only 30 minutes 5 days a week or 21 minutes 7 days a week. That is achievable! For these minutes to count toward a healthy level of activity they need to consist of moderate intensity, 50-70% of your maximum heart rate and/or, vigorous intensity, 70-90% of your maximum heart rate. Here is that formula for you: 220-[age]=MaxHr then calculate the percentage by multiplying that number by your target heart rate goal. For example, I like walk my dog quick enough that I reach 90-100 heart beats per minute. 100=(220-41)*(x percent) the answer is 55% of my maximum heart rate. Boom! I just barely manage to meet the threshold. Yeah, me.

That’s all it takes. My dog walks are brisk enough that I receive a health benefit from the routine daily walks. Now, how to walk-train properly and reap the benefits. My guideline for anyone that is just starting out, is overweight by more than 50 pounds and sedentary the majority of the day or someone who is skinny-fat. Skinny-fat being that unhealthy condition where you look fine to other people but if I poke you in the belly I feel a squishy lack of resistance like the Pillsbury Dough Boy.

1. Start with just 10-15 minutes of walking a day. Aim for moderate intensity and eventually 30 minutes of walking. If you are numbers driven, aim for 3000 steps in 30 minutes. Buying a Pedometer or requesting one from the Heart and Stroke Foundation is also a good idea. You can also try one of the many fitness and lifestyle Apps available for your cellphone or personal technology device in order to track your distance or count your steps.
2. Use your sense of thirsty as a guide to how much water to consume. Start with the standard 8 glasses a day.
3. Do wear proper sneakers or runners, too old and you will likely experience lower leg pain or hip pain.
4. Properly warm up and perform range of motion stretches. Walking in place, rotating your arms, high knees, mild lunges, toe raises and taps, reach to place your hands on your knees or shins a few times.
5. Eat a light meal prior, not eating is not an option. A general rule to follow is this, within an hour of waking up eat a protein and a complex carbohydrate, seeds or legumes.
6. Ankle weights seem like a great way to increase the difficulty and burn calories. They also are responsible for repetitive strain injuries, abnormal gate patterns from poor posture. Better to invest in fitness walking poles to move your arms more and increase the intensity of your walk in this way.
7. Use a map or GPS (refer to suggestion #1).
8. Don’t pet the dogs. Just say, “Nice dog!” and keep walking! Trust me. 🙂

I am very lucky. I experience chronic low back pain due to a condition called spondylolisthesis. I spent a few weeks a couple of summers ago on Morphine. I was a healthy active woman before I injured my congenitally weak back. Walking training was the first step, pun intended, then gentle rejuvenating yoga. It took several months to get back running and working out. The condition demands a certain respect, walking is mandatory in my life. I wish everyone could find a less painful nudge to take up walking as a lifestyle habit but it seems we wait for something serious to affect us before we take action. Walking saved me again when I tore the medial collateral ligament in my right knee. Once I was past the initial swelling, pain and tenderness I began one leg biking, then tippy toes cycling (the range of motion in my affected knee was limited to 90-100 degrees). Walking was a must and a good therapy for me. After physical therapy I took to walking regularly and again turned to yoga, Yin class twice a week.

Walking helped me stay within 8 pounds of my normal weight range each time I became injured. Walking helped me get out of the house, be with my dog and family. Walking gave me freedom and fitness. If you are not already a fan of a brisk walk, take the time to try it. Gather some friends together and get outside! All you have to lose is a worn out sofa, some fat and maybe a blue mood!

I wanted to be a helicopter pilot that delivered flowers.

I used to journal. When I was 8 or 9 years old I had a small book I wrote in. In my journal I found wish lists and blueprints for happiness, at least in the eyes of a 9 year old. There was no mention of being a health enthusiast, just the opposite. In a fit of childish rage against my mom for not bringing home Longjohn donuts with the groceries I wrote how when I was 23 years old I would go on lots of dates and live in an apartment and always have donuts! I can’t remember the last time I had a donut, I am 41 years old and I don’t really want a donut. Who needs that much dough and chocolate? The apartment happened. The dates, not so much in my twenties, it took another decade. What I noticed was a distinct lack of concern for health, activity or food choices. Why? I was kid who had yet to take Home Economics Class or Health Class but it was more because someone else was concerned about those things for me!

That is the whole point! Health for the sake of health is our goal, adults make great choices for their families and friends but not themselves. What we need is Responsibility Outsourcing. If you need to get more active, join a fitness class, hire a Personal Trainer and someone tells you what to do for an hour. Need to eat better, join Weight Watchers, see a Nutritionist watch Biggest Loser (actually don’t do that, really, ever). My mom, my figure skating instructor, gym teacher, lunchroom monitor and heros took care of my choices for me. Guess what, it worked! I didn’t eat unhealthy food, I was super active and fit. I felt strong and accomplished. No wonder I wrote about what I wanted in my journal, because I was happy with my health. So happy in fact that I NEVER thought about it, it was MY Lifestyle. Isn’t that what we all want again? To never have to think about what we eat, whether we exercise enough. A truly healthy lifestyle is the ability to take those things for granted in the best way possible. Outsource that shit right now! Give the responsibility to a friend, a trainer, a blog, a website, a support group anything that makes it seem as if you are not doing all the heavy lifting.

My career aspirations changed much like my focus. I’m in charge of my own health as we all are. No one is anxiously rerunning the vegetable selections for the day in their head making sure there were at least 5 colors and the right portions. No one is shooing me outside with this loving parting yell, “I don’t want to see or hear from you for an hour, but don’t you dare be late for supper young lady!”. Times have changed in more ways than I can count. Now we count calories, pesticides, additives and sugar grams. I suggest we get back to basics, the way it was when we were kids and someone loved us enough to care for our health. Only this time, we love ourselves enough and outsource what we don’t understand and surround ourselves with our favorite things once again. A great meal, awesome friends, a health attitude and fantastic dreams.

I dreamed about what I wanted to be when I grew up, not what I was afraid of or what I thought I should do. Those ideas did not appear until I was the age I wrote about, 23.  As a young girl I wanted to do fantastic things! I really liked flowers and I really liked GI Joe because my three brothers liked GI Joe. I thought there was nothing wrong with combining the two things into a career. My business model was a florist shop that delivered orders by helicopter. Try to picture a helicopter hovering above an office tower, a terrified young assistant dangling from a cable while clutching a bouquet with an invoice for $395.61 stapled to the plastic wrap.  I am not sure this is a sustainable business model. Just like the health and fitness goals we set as adults. If you gained 25 lbs in 15 years and then decided/wished to lose them in 8 weeks. Unachievable and unsustainable. Or, going from eating every meal in your car from fast food drive-thrus to a Paleo diet, harsh and very likely a recipe for disaster. Just because the thought is there and it seems like it “could” happen doesn’t mean it should or it will. Be reasonable, be careful and be sensible with your healthy lifestyle choices. Set practical goals and love yourself along the way.

Psst, I am cheating and I cannot stop!

The Thirst

I have a good thing going in my life, healthy stable relationship. Yet, when I want to relax, unwind, my illicit love is what I reach for. The feel, taste and smell are all so seductive and sensual. The smoothness, the surprising changes over time keep me coming back for more. Sometimes I need more, two or three times in a night. At the table, in the living room, even in the backyard. Everyone knows about us, even my fiance.

I love wine. There. Phew! That feels so good to confess.I cheat on my healthy lifestyle with WINE. I have a favorite stemmed glass from Riedel I caress as I toy with my wine during dinner.  I think about wine in the middle of the day, not in a weird way, but fleeting ways. Just yesterday I was pondering how 2014 vintages will taste given this incredible autumn we are having. The heat and humidity are bound to yield interesting grapes! I can’t wait! The question is, why? What happened in my life that turned me on to wine and away from hard liquors? What is it about wine? How can I be a healthy lifestyle mascot and still drink wine like I am going to the electric chair in mere moments?

What Drove Me to it?

My affair with wine did not begin easily. I tried wine for the first time after sneaking down into the cellar while my parents were out curling at the local rink. It was Wild Chokecherry Wine and it was terrible. Key phrase here, choke. Oh I drank it anyway and so did my girl chums that were with me. Mistake. Some time later my parents distilled the wine (because it was awful) into hooch, burned in a teaspoon it was bright blue. Hooch that I stole and mixed with anything I thought would make it tolerable. Nothing worked. Let me stand as an example for you here!

This leads me to the potential reason I become a wino.  Turn to your co-workers, family, friends or a stranger and ask them this one question, “Do you remember ever having a bad experience with alcohol?” I might add here, when I said strangers I did not mean street people who likely are having a bad experience with alcohol right now. The answer to this question inevitably begins with how they swiped booze from their folk’s liquor cabinet or a friend from grade 8 who matured early complete with a full beard pulled booze for them. Then “The Moment of Debacle” either vomiting out the window, removing paint from the vehicle door or stumbling drunk right into a moving RCMP vehicle. Either way, the ending is always the same, “And that’s why to this day I cannot even stand the smell of – – – – – – [insert your poisonous liquor here].” I had that experience too. After a rather sideways night courtesy of a bad news character named “Scotch” I made the switch. Wine. Red. Delicious.

 

What is it about wine?

 

When you see music videos, especially those ridiculous rapper videos, wine and champagne are props in the fairy tale life of luxury. Not by mistake or unconsciously. The wine industry comes from meager beginnings with the monks, priests and farmers but don’t feel bad for wine! Wine has made it big. In fact, the Canadian wine industry is a 6.8 billion dollar industry.

Every alcohol seems to have a social group associated with it. Beer is the working man’s drink and the cool girl drink. Hard liquor is most often linked to the bar scene and business deals. Wine though is reserved for the sophisticated, refined and wealthy world of business and leisure. It is no coincidence as I got older and had more business meetings than bar nights that I rekindled my relationship with wine with a far better outcome.

I thrill at the “life” of wine. Here is a quote that I really appreciate and it says it all from The California Winery Advisor (www.californiawineryadvisor.com):

To begin to share why I love wine, I ponder over some lines from the movie, Sideways(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375063/). In Sideways, I especially enjoyed a quote where Maya is describing why she loves wine to Miles the first time:

Maya: No, I- I like to think about the life of wine.

Miles Raymond: Yeah.

Maya: How it’s a living thing. I like to think about what was going on the year the grapes were growing; how the sun was shining; if it rained. I like to think about all the people who tended and picked the grapes. And if it’s an old wine, how many of them must be dead by now. I like how wine continues to evolve, like if I opened a bottle of wine today it would taste different than if I’d opened it on any other day, because a bottle of wine is actually alive. And it’s constantly evolving and gaining complexity. That is, until it peaks, like your ’61. And then it begins its steady, inevitable decline. (http://www.californiawineryadvisor.com/articles/view/Why_I_love_Wine)

I have in the past researched my wines. I used to have a storage cellar with a former boyfriend. One winter day I spent the entire day labeling the wines we had for their correct food pairings and vintage peak age years. We laid down some wines for the experience of the deepening flavour and color. It was fun. Other alcohol can be fun this way too, scotch and whiskey come to mind. For me, it was wine.

Blending Health and Wine

So much is said about wine, in particular the antioxidant/anti-aging properties of resveratrol found commonly in the skin of grapes, peanuts and cocoa. Recently three studies were completed where the concentration of resveratrol in urine was measured as well as healthy markers like blood pressure and cardiovascular function. One group was Italian men in the Chianti region, one out of Copenhagen and another was rodents. I am not of man nor rodent, hey that’s a catchy title for a novel, and therefore I don’t care what these studies tell me. Besides, these were not performed with statistically significant sample populations. Either way, here is the evidence in a nutshell. There was no reliable link between high levels of resveratrol reducing atherosclerosis or improving cardiovascular performance. However, this evidence is isolated and more research with the same outcomes would present a compelling argument against my red wine habit. Isolating one particular nutrient in this manner results in a myopic view of a person’s entire diet and exercise habit. I have difficulty believing that being otherwise healthy in almost every aspect of my life that my wine will be my downfall. Jeez that sounds like I have a problem!

While I am discussing how I am not quitting my affair with liquified fermented grapes, let’s address the hoax “Wine Shortage“. Not happening. It was a purposefully misleading news item presenting to the Australian population to artificially inflate or drive demand for wine. A simple tweak of the statistics and a short fall was on the horizon.

What Wine When?

Is wine healthy? Can you have your wine and your healthy lifestyle too? Absolutely! Wine improves social situations by elevating the spirits, improving the taste of foods and encouraging conversations that spark! People who drink wine tend to be happy people. Okay that is not scientific in the slightest. But, think on this, wine is a safe subject. Politics and Religion are party poopers but people in social settings can discuss wine taste and preference with relatively little blood shed. Wine promotes healthy food choices. Hear me out on this one, “Ya know, I could go for a foot long hotdog and a bright Merlot”, or “My taste buds crave greasy nachos and a sparkling wine who’s with me?” said no one I know. But you have likely enjoyed, strawberries, goat cheese, nuts, salads, vegetables, AAA meat in some form with your wine. Its a stretch argument I get that. I have been known to order pizza with a Cab-Sauv and nosh on Doritos with a Zin, oh dear, but those are the exceptions and not the rule.

What do you serve when your best friend’s marriage is on the rocks? Well Ben and Jerry’s or maybe Tequila but I think most often its wine and sympathy. How do you celebrate big life events? Wine my friends! (Unless you are on a CFL team then it’s Gatorade but it’s not consumed so much as worn.) Wine promotes good feels. It’s difficult to sit with a wine and be bluesy and full of angst, that’s reserved for dark liquors in short glasses. Wine is part of my ritual, my habit. I love it. I love sharing it. I hope you too enjoy a terrific flirtation with wine this weekend as the summer winds down. Create a juicy memory inside that shapely glass. Cheers!

(Editor Note: I am not endorsing the abuse of alcohol. This is a humour piece not a promotional one.)

3,2,1 Start the Blog!

You, yes, you are fantastic for checking out this blog. Thanks, really. Its about healthy choices. Healthy choices and healthy lifestyles without a whole lot of weird, trendy, confusing information. My reason for starting this site is to help reach people that maybe don’t know enough about eating healthy, active living and generally being in a healthy state of mind. Stay tuned for more and once again, thanks for being part of the community of active, healthy living.