2011 is the year I start running again.  I took 2010 off and focused on building strength and flexibility with regular yoga, which worked beautifully. March 20 will mark the first day of spring, and the day I hit the trails.

For anyone interested in an organized running group, check out Maximum Physiotherapy’s Spring Running Clinic in Collingwood. Sue and Brock offer a great program.  It starts March 22, 2011.  To learn more, visit http://www.maximumphysiotherapy.com/News-And-Events/Spring-2011-Running-Clinic/a~2481–c~344601/article.html

If you don’t fancy running but like to read, check out Born to Run by Chris MacDougall. Yes, it may seem strange to read a book about running if you don’t run, but if you’re not even a little intrigued to put on running shoes after reading it, I’ll treat you to an organic energy bar at the clinic…

-Tara

Last week was “Fat Talk Free Week” in the US, a a campaign to bring awareness to how common conversations can contribute to poor body image, low self-esteem, and eating disorders.. What a great idea! During the week, participants at 35 college campuses across the US tray to eliminate statements about weight, fat, clothes, and other negative self-image topics.

There’s good reason for the campaign. Statistics show that body dissatisfaction leads to eating fewer fruits and vegetables, and even doing less exercise – it seems we really are what we believe. Focusing on your weight and how much you hate yourself for it will never get a carrot in your month (or at least not one that isn’t followed by a bag of cookies). Focusing on health, and your right to be healthy and vibrant, is the only way help facilitate healthy lifestyle choices.

If you need a more compelling reason to not trash talk yourself, read the book, Like Mother, Like Daughter by Debra Waterhouse.  It’s an eye opener and will very much change how you talk about yourself, your weight and your choices. And check out the video below (or click here to view).

-Tara

In Healthy at 100, John Robbins explores the lifestyles of four of the world’s longest living cultures: the Abkhasians of Southern Russia, the Vilcabambans of Ecuador, the Hunza of Northern Pakistan, and the Okinawans of Japan. The cultures all share an extraordinarily high number of centenarians, and a low incidence of most of the chronic diseases of Western culture.

The essence of the book is an effort to discover what these four long-living cultures have in common. While the discoveries may not be entirely surprising, they way they’re delivered is inspiring nonetheless – this was an insightful read.

Some of the common traits among the cultures that Robbins uncovered during his research include:

Plenty of Moderate Exercise

These are active people, in terms of their lifestyle. Three of the four cultures, in fact, live in mountainous terrain. The daily exercise that they get simply from going about their lives is very high.

High Vegetable Diet

Robbins is a big proponent of the vegan lifestyle, so he may be showing his bias, but all of the cultures ate a diet extremely high in vegetables. Many added dairy or small amounts of meat or fish, but their diet was predominantly plant-based, and in most cases seemed to be moderately low in overall calories.

Love and Connection

Each culture fostered strong familial and communal bonds, with multi-generational homes, and close interaction among people. Even as the elders of society age, they stay engaged with their communities through these close connections. That engagement keeps the older members of society mentally and physically healthy even into their advanced years.

Healthy Attitude Toward Aging and the Aged

This is clearly Robbins’ core message, that our attitude towards the elderly in our culture, and towards our own aging, plays a dramatic role in how well we age physically. By marginalizing the older members of our society and viewing our own aging as a curse, rather than an increase in wisdom and life experience, we reduce our expectations of the elderly, and in doing so speed up their decline.

I listened to the audio version of this book early this year, and the simplicity of the “secrets” of aging well resonated with me. The biggest downside? It’s a little sad that many of these happy, healthy cultures are losing their simple, natural edge as the world changes.

-Tara

PS If you’re interested in other cultures, you might want to join Amanda and Terry from the clinic as they share stories, photos and videos from their mission trip to Senegal, Africa. The presentation will be at The Collingwood Public Library on Wednesday, February 24, 6-8:30 PM. Admission is free, and so are the snacks!

If you’re a resolution maker, you know that it can be painful to make a commitment and not keep it. In fact, those with a trail of unkept resolutions behind them often find that they now resolve to…well, to never resolve again.

The problem, though, isn’t with the idea of making changes for the better in your life. The problem lies in how the changes are made.

Enter Leo Babauta of ZenHabits.net. In his Definitive Guide to Sticking to Your New Year’s Resolutions, he sums up the problems with resolutions:

New Year’s Resolutions usually fail because of a combination of some of these reasons:

• We try to do too many resolutions at once, and that spreads our focus and energies too thin. It’s much less effective to do many habits at once (read more).
• We only have a certain amount of enthusiasm and motivation, and it runs out because we try to do too much, too soon. We spend all that energy in the beginning and then run out of steam.
• We try to do really tough habits right away, which means it’s difficult and we become overwhelmed or intimidated by the difficulty and quit.
• We try to be “disciplined” and do very unpleasant habits, but our nature won’t allow that to last for long. If we really don’t want to do something, we won’t be able to force ourselves to do it for long.
• Life gets in the way. Things come up unexpectedly that get in the way of us sticking with a habit.
• Resolutions are often vague – I’m going to exercise! – but don’t contain a concrete action plan and don’t use proven habit techniques. That’s a recipe for failure.

Leo’s solution? Leo’s 6 Changes Method, which involves choosing one thing at a time to change, and making the changes very slowly. It’s about finding success by building habits in small steps, as opposed to one giant quit-smoking-lose-weight-eat-better-start-exercising-on-the-same-day plan that has a high risk of failure.

This approach of gradual, sustainable success is a great one that we’ve seen work time and time again for patients trying to make challenging lifestyle shifts. If resolutions are your thing, a quick look at Leo’s strategy, or his book The Power of Less, is time well spent.

And if your resolution is just to be happier? Pay a visit to Gretchen Rubin’s blog The Happiness Project for help. Her book by the same name hits the shelves this week – just in time to kick off 2010 the right way!

One of my favorite health books of the past few years is Younger Next Year: A Guide to Living Like 50 Until 80 and Beyond. I first listened to the audiobook, which is also fantastic.

The book alternates between 70-something Chris Crowley, and Henry Lodge, MD, his doctor. The combination of the two perspectives keeps you engaged, and makes the content all the more compelling. The book is centered around “Harry’s Rules” – seven rules for the reader to follow. They include such things as “Quit eating crap” or “Exercise six days a week for the rest of your life.” Not exactly earth-shattering, I know, but the delivery is what makes it stick. Crowley claims he can ski better now than he could 20 years ago, and I believe him.

Younger Next Year contains one of the most compelling arguments for exercise and eating well (among other things) that I’ve come across. If a book exists that can get you to move your body, this is it. If you’ve always wanted to take control of your health, but never quite felt motivated enough, this one’s for you.

(PS – There’s also a Younger Next Year for Women. While the information in the original applies to everyone, some of you might enjoy the version tailored for women. )