Michelle's Many Musings

We have no excuse for drinking bottled water...

2008-02-26T21:55:00.000-08:00

It's official. Vancouver has some of the tastiest tap water around. No more excuses for drinking bottled water, which is often tap water from other municipalities! See the article here.

Astute Cartoon

2008-02-22T21:58:00.000-08:00

Very astute cartoon here about the nature of PE teachers. I think this guy must have had some of the same as I did in junior high!

Have a Coke and a...

2008-02-08T14:41:00.000-08:00

... brain meltdown. I haven’t had any Coke in a very long time; it has been so long that I don’t even remember how many years ago it was that I last “enjoyed” a glass of the stuff. Today, I foolishly had a glass of Coke and afterwards it was an interesting experience, to say the very least.

First, my head got all fuzzy as the sugar rushed straight to my veins and into my poor defenseless brain. Once the fuzziness started to quell, it hit the rest of me like a runaway freight train. The explosion of sugar and chemicals, mixed with caffeine (of which I rarely indulge), was like a supersonic magic potion of Asterix proportions. To say I’m currently a little hyper would be so understated as to be ludicrous.

It’s now time for a 5km run just to get me back halfway to “normal.” I wonder if I’ll sleep at all this weekend?

2008 Resolution Run

2008-01-01T20:54:00.001-08:00

Oh what fun, the 2008 Running Room Resolution Run. It was freaking cold in Stanley Park today, the wind whipping off the water and all that. It felt like I was running with bricks for legs, and I berated myself the entire time for not running much in the past month. When I finished I was shocked! that I run a personal best. Ah, that's why I was really feeling it... and I thought it was the recent cold and onset of laziness of late. I guess I have to constantly learn lessons about self-talk; namely, that emotionally flogging myself is a waste of time and unhelpful.

I can NEVER gain weight again!

2007-12-01T16:41:00.000-08:00

Not ever! Not that it was even an option, really. Why, you may ask?

Ted Loo Fitness website has me as a "featured client" this month, and my face is all over the place. It's fun, but also a little sobering.

2.5 years ago I could not have imagined I would be where I am now, but that 2.5 years would have passed irrespective of whether I was making healthy choices or not. I'm glad I went down the road to health this time.

Redeemed

2007-07-29T21:59:00.000-07:00

Probably seven or eight years ago, Topher and I decided we’d try to hike to and camp at Garbaldi Lake near Squamish. People said, “it’s an easy hike.” Hah! When you’re as out of shape as we were and as completely overpacked, it's all bad. We turned around about 3.5 km in near the end of the switchbacks, and came home defeated, exhausted and in pain.

Today we redeemed ourselves. We hiked the 9km up to Garbaldi Lake with friends; it was a pleasant hike and we did fine. It’s amazing what being fit will do!

Second Anniversary

2007-06-15T13:07:00.000-07:00

Today is my second anniversary of starting my fitness journey, at least it's the second anniversary of setting foot in the gym to workout with a trainer. It feels great to be able to say I've not only stuck with it this long, but that I don't foresee not doing this for a long time to come. In these two years, I've:

* gone from 205 lbs (no muscle tone to speak of) to 142 lbs (a decent amount of muscle tone)
* gone from a size 16 (well, I had a couple of outfits size 18 and the 16s were getting a bit tight) to a size 6. I had never been a size 6 before!
* integrated exercise - including running and strength training mostly - into my life.
* really looked at my nutrition and made "tweaks" so my food consumption is much healthier now, especially adding breakfast every day.

This journey has been populated with a lot of great supporters - family, friends, trainer, naturopath, co-workers, sparkies - and I'm thankful for every encouragement along the way.

I still haven't figured out what I'm going to do for myself for my second anniversary, but Ted Loo Fitness (the trainers I workout with) is paying for some professional photos for me as a "success story" on the website. Ted & Warren have been instrumental in my fitness successes.

I am very happy today.

Sparkpeople

2007-05-27T17:52:00.000-07:00

Where on earth have I been lately? Turns out I've been hanging out in an online FREE health and fitness support community called Sparkpeople. It's pretty great there; I've met people from all over the world who are getting fit and healthy too. Some have just started, others are midway along their journey and some have met a lot of their goals and are now setting new ones. There's information and resources, discussion forums and teams, nutrition and fitness trackers, and all kinds of good will and encouragement. If you do check it out, I'm MHOULE on the boards and you can go look for me there. You'll find me either hanging out with the shorties (5'3" & under), the rookie runners, 40 something's, tea drinkers or the iron maidens (women lifting weights to get fit - great name, eh?)... or the plethora of other teams I've joined. And yes, I do get off my duff and actually still exercise, but now I do so with lots of others cheering me on.

Fractal Quilts

2007-05-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

I was using Stumble Upon to coast around on the internet the other day, and came across this amazing art quilt site featuring Fractal Art Quilts. I've put them in my links, and you can see her gallery at http://www.roserushbrooke.com/fractal-art-quilts-1.html. The artist really shows a fantastic intersection between mathematics and quilting.

Vancouver Sun Run - What a lot of FUN!

2007-04-16T20:57:00.001-07:00

I did it! I joined with more than 54,000 people and ran the Vancouver Sun Run. That's a whole lot of people! And it was a lot of fun to be in a moving crowd with that much positive energy. I did much better than usual, so that tells me that I really get spurred on in a crowd (oh, that competitive spirit!) despite having to weave around people who suddenly stop to walk in the middle of the course. I have to say I'm really hooked.

Wade Davis & Phil Borges

2007-04-04T20:22:00.000-07:00

Wade Davis & Phil Borges are joining with Atira in an evening fundraiser at the Firehall Arts Centre Theatre on April 12th in support of Atira's Digital Storytelling Project, which is inspired by Bridges to Understanding (a program founded by Phil in 2001). Wade Davis is the National Geographic Explorer in Residence, an ethnobotanist, author and above all else an extraordinary storyteller (and fellow British Columbian!). Wade will be joined by Phil Borges, a master photographer and recognized humanitarian whose portraits are collected and exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide. Call 604-689-0926 for tickets.

On April 13th at the Diane Farris Gallery, Phil will be launching his new book, Women Empowered. Phil will be joined by Michael Bednar, an award winning Vancouver-based photographer who will be showing images from his recent trip to Mongolia. A percentages of Michael's sales will be donated to Atira's Digital Storytelling Project. Call 604-531-9143 to RSVP

For more information, go to www.atira.bc.ca. Both nights are extraordinary opportunities to both hear and see profoundly moving and amazing art.

Turning 40

2007-04-02T20:18:00.000-07:00

I turned 40 on Saturday, March 31st. It's hard to believe that two years ago I was more than 55 lbs heavier and wondering what had happened to my 30s. I sure made up for that with a vengeance these past two years! Turns out, the later part of my 30s was the time where I became more fit than I've ever been. I look forward to an even fitter 4th decade.

During the weekend I was loved, loved, loved by my family, friends, co-workers and neighbours; it's wonderful to have the people in life intersect like that. I'm very thankful to have a husband who spent the time to organize such a memorable day. And it's pretty heady stuff finding out that the hard work I've done in these past two years has inspired family and friends to make healthy changes in their own lives.

So here I am, 40 years old and more fit than I ever thought possible, and getting moreso every day (especially the days I decide the weather or the stuff going on in life don't dictate whether or not I make healthy choices - I just do because it needs to be done). So thank you, my friends, family and everyone who has encouraged me along. It has made a big difference having a group of people cheering me on.

Shared Vision Visionary

2007-03-03T13:51:00.000-08:00

Walking down the street yesterday, I picked up a copy of the March 2007 Shared Vision magazine (a local free alternative magazine, with a new age flare) and who should adorn the cover but Janice Abbott, the Executive Director & CEO of the two Atiras. It was weird - wherever I looked there was Janice! Anyway, I have seen first-hand how hard she works to ensure Atira provides barrier-free innovative services to women in the community. And she has grown the organization from six of us in 1992 to 120 now between our not-for-profit society and for-profit business venture. With a dynamic board and staff, she continues to ensure programs for women, and their children, are created in the community despite government cutbacks and a lack of funding. Her passion for the work is inspiring.

Click here to read the article.

Strong Women, Strong Music

2007-02-22T20:33:00.000-08:00

When? Thursday, March 8th, 2007
7p.m. - 10 p.m.
Ironworks Studios
235 Alexander Street
Vancouver

"Six of the Westcoast’s most prominent women musicians perform March 8 in a benefit to raise money for Atira, B.C.’s largest provider of housing for women in need. The March 8th concert features six of Vancouver’s leading women musicians in a celebration of International Women’s Day. Westcoast leaders Karin Plato, Laura Crema, and Jennifer Scott, will head a band featuring Sharon Minemoto on piano, Wendy Solloway on bass and Shadikka on drums."

Tickets are $30 and limited so please contact me if you want tickets, or go straight to the source: Caithlin at 604-531-9143.

Do I talk too much? Don't answer that!!

2007-02-09T19:19:00.000-08:00

Ted Loo, the owner of Ted Loo Fitness, had an appreciation party the other evening for clients and others in his life. It was a lot of fun to be able to talk with other people who completely understood the whole workout thing; Topher was amused to hear others say the same kinds of things I say about it. I work out with Ted’s colleague Warren and the words “Warren” and “damn treadmill” were used in the same sentence more than once let me tell you. And I found out I’m not the only person who detests burpies, but I caused a bit of a stir when I said Warren had me do them with a barbell once; I think I scared the hell out of more than one person with that piece of information. Oops! We also all agreed we keep coming back for more because we reach our goals; there's nothing like the thrill of success in my fitness journey after what feels like a lifetime of defeats.

Anyway, in my enthusiasm for my new-found fitness, it appears I inspired others. Read Ted’s blog entry at www.tedloo.com to find out more. I’m not used to being the subject of someone else's blog entry! Oh, and for the record, I’ve lost just over 50 lbs not 60; BUT, one day soon though I’ll be able to say I’m over 60 lbs lighter than when I started!!

I'm now going to be working out with Warren once every two weeks instead of once every week, with the idea that I'll keep up with the workouts on non-Warren weeks. It's a bit daunting thinking about doing this all on my own, but Warren did indeed point out today that I started and continue to run on my own. I hadn't actually thought of that.

Getting Sick

2007-01-26T11:58:00.000-08:00

My dad was visiting last weekend and brought a nasty cold with him. Of course my sister and I caught it. Drat! I’ve been cold-free for a long time and was not happy about the impending snot-fest. Fearing the worst, I got lots of sleep and didn’t go running in the rain and cold this week. I also canceled my usual Friday workout in the gym; the last thing I want is to be responsible for making a gym full of people really unhappy! Anyway, the cold ended up being a bit of a no show; just some sniffles, stuffy head and minor aches. Nothing worth writing home about. My dad got hit like a truck, but in retrospect I shouldn’t be surprised because he is after all a heavy smoker. So today, feeling a bit like a wimp for canceling my workout, I went for a fabulous run in the sunshine (watched for the black ice though – sheesh!). Then I did a short workout and some stretching at home, and am feeling like a million bucks. So perhaps I’m not such a wimp after all. And I had better get used to doing a good workout on Fridays, as I’m going to be working out with Warren on alternating Fridays now as I wean myself off of the training-wheels.

Chalk One Up for Warren

2007-01-10T19:01:00.000-08:00

Do you ever wonder where I get motivation to run in all kinds of weather, run uphill even when I don't particularly want to and workout even when it could hurt like hell afterwards? Well wonder no more. My trainer Warren wrote the following article for Testosterone Nation (an online magazine) that I think shows a bit about who I'm learning about fitness from. Warren gets out there and does what it takes to stay fit; it's not like he's asking me to do anything he wouldn't do or hasn't done himself, so I can't very well wimp out and feel justified in doing so. How's that for motivating?

Part 1: http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1393948
Part 2: http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1395292

In the comments section, he responded to one writer as follows:

Ok, so what's worse for the obese? A minor ankle sprain or heart attack? I've trained a lot of obese people over the years and, while I don't have them doing sprints on the first day, I don't baby them either. The body can handle a lot.

Let me tell you, he's not kidding when he says he doesn't baby his clients. In fact, I would have left a long time ago if I ever thought he was babying me or letting me off the hook. My dear mother-in-law has been known to cry more than once, "couldn't you drop dead from running?" I respond, "I'm more likely to drop dead from not running".

I walked the 4km home today despite the snow because I know if I start giving myself silly excuses like the weather, the excuse file will just continue to grow. As my friend's mom says, "There's no such a thing as bad weather, just bad clothing choices." After a lifetime of fat, I have no intention of ever letting myself "go there" again.

Great job on the article Warren! And I get more than a small amount of satisfaction seeing you in the photos working your ass off!

Resolution Run 2007

2007-01-07T18:49:00.000-08:00

I went on my first organized run on January 1st – the Running Room’s annual Resolution Run. It was a 5 km easy run around Stanley Park. The rain wasn’t the most wonderful way to enjoy the first day of the new year, but the run went well and I learned quite a bit about myself and other runners. Things like:

Running alone in a big group kind of sucks.
Being rather competitive, it really spurred me on when a woman passed me and was talking about her current pregnancy; that really stuck in my not-pregnant craw let me tell you. In fact, I now know I push myself quite a bit faster when running in a group; something about not wanting so many people passing me dammit! Now, I have to figure out how to push myself more when I'm running alone.
The definition of the word “hill” is different for everyone – the two women behind me were worried about The Big Hill and I was wondering where this mystery hill could possibly be. Turns out, I was on it. It was a gradual rise and a slow descent; a bump really. My trainer would have scowled at me if I had dared to call that a hill!
Few people stretch after a run. Having learned my lesson after my first 10 km run about the necessity of stretching (my back went kaplooey the next day after not stretching), I always stretch. Some days, I enjoy the feeling of stretching after my run more than the run itself usually.

So these are a few of the things I learned about myself and others as I ran January 1st. I think that group runs may very well be seeing more of me in the future.

Size Does Count

2006-12-01T16:10:00.000-08:00

Today I wanted to buy a dress for the holiday season; I'm going to a couple of celebrations and a concert this month and I want to wear something that doesn't make me look like I'm wearing a potato sack. Problem is, none of my very few dresses fit me any longer.

Now that I'm able to go to "regular" stores instead of just plus-size ones, I decided to take a stroll down Commercial Drive and see what there was. Retro or vintage? Nope, not for me. Hippy-ish? Uh-uh. Cutesy, nope again. I ended up at Riot Clothing & Accessories down by Cafe du Soliel (not Deux) and saw they had a small selection of rather nice looking black dresses. So I started to look through them and the saleswoman came by to make a few helpful suggestions. We settled on one that was form fitting and had a black lace overlay and a rather shockingingly low neckline; she took a size 8 off the rack and I suggested we also take a 10 because I doubted I'd fit into an 8. My size 12 clothes are too loose, but surely there was no way I would fit into an 8. What would she know anyway? I had a winter jacket and baggy jeans on for crying out loud!

So I tried on the 10 and it was too loose in the bodice, which isn't a big surprise considering my rather minimally endowed chest. So I decided, "What the hell?" and tried on the size 8. And it fit. Really well. I have never fit into a size 8 in my life. Ever. I went from a chunky pre-teen to a very overweight teen in a short period of time (I weighed 175 lbs at age 13). And although I lost some of that in high-school and university, I was barely able to stuff myself into a size 10 at my smallest (which is 15 lbs lighter than I am now, but I didn't have any muscle back then). So here I am at the store feeling completely speechless that a size 8 dress not only fit me perfectly, but that it looked good on me. For the first time in my life, I have a "little black dress" and a half-decent body to go with it. Nothing in this world compares to the feeling that all this hard work has been worth it.

The Bay, a Soldier and a Caring Gift

2006-11-26T19:04:00.000-08:00

Background: My friend's brother Vince is in Kandahar Afghanistan with the Canadian military. His wife Melanie lives in Ontario and has many health problems, not the least of which is a very bad back (making driving and getting around in an Ontario winter very difficult). The two of them live on an army wage, so things are pretty tight financially. Melanie used to be a model and make-up is something in her life that makes her feel good about herself; but with their limited income and her health problems, she just couldn't bring herself to go out and buy this one brand of mascara she really likes but is out of.

To the Story: Vincent caught wind of Melanie being out of mascara and decided to call the local Bay to ask if they would send it to her and just charge it to his credit card. Her birthday was coming up and he thought it would be a nice surprise for her. The workers at the Bay were really touched by the story and thrilled to get a call from a soldier in Kandahar, so they went around to all the make-up counters and accepted donations of make-up for Melanie. Coincidentally, Melanie was on the phone with Vince when the package arrived - a 10"x10" box of make-up all for the price of a mascara. They were both touched and very happy with the generosity of the people at the Bay, and the moral support their gift implied.

Moral: If there's a moral here, it's simply that even if we don't support the war in Afghanistan, we can nevertheless treat the soldiers and their families with dignity and respect. That and, sometimes it's the simple things that make the biggest difference; like a bit of make-up for a former model who is feeling unwell and alone.

Free Hugs

2006-10-22T19:03:00.000-07:00

I was just at a website called Free Hugs, about a movement to reach out and (you guess it) hug people. From the website,
"Sometimes, a hug is all what we need. Free hugs is a real life controversial story of Juan Mann, A man whose sole mission was to reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their lives." Check out the video on the site; it's very heartwarming.

Additional background information can also be found at Sydney Morning Herald website.

10 km

2006-10-15T18:47:00.000-07:00

Today... (huff, puff)... I ran... (gasp, wheeze)... 10 km... (pant, puff)... for the first time. Oh my god!

To be honest I actually wasn't huffing and puffing (except on the hills), but my legs were pretty jello-like when I was done. I had originally set a goal in June or so to do this by the spring of 2007, then when I reached 7km this summer I revised my goal to the end of the year. Here it is mid-October and I reached it! Yeah for me!!

Landes (Southwest France)

2006-10-13T13:46:00.000-07:00

The last roll of photos from our trip to France is finally developed. Oh, how I wish I had taken more of the coast!

Bordeaux
We spent a day in Bordeaux, which is a city we really enjoyed visiting. The entire downtown area is either car-free or has extremely limited car access. As a result, throngs of people are out on the streets and it was wonderful to be a part of that. Vancouver has a lot to learn from Bordeaux; our local government and merchants don't seem to understand that pedestrian-only zones create a sense of community and dramatically increase the shopping in the areas where it exists (I saw it myself in Bordeaux!).

Moliets
The surf in the Moliets area was spectacular, but it's really hard to be able to provide perspective when taking photos of the wonderful waves. The photo of the sunset I took shows a little bit of it, as does the one of me playing at the beach, but doesn't really capture just how fabulous the pounding surf was. There were times that the drag created when the waves were receding was shocking; more than once I went ass-over-teakettle, which was undignified but a helluva lot of fun really.

Landes Forest
I have not found a photo online or on a postcard that captures the feeling I have for the Landes Forest. I wish I would have taken a few hours and trapsed through one of the nearby pine groves for a good photo or two.

I recognized instantly upon seeing the forests here that they are planted and not natural; in fact, it was planted over 150 years ago to tame the swamp lands and sand dunes for human usage (a nearby river would change its course as much as 35 km in a given year, so it was impossible to build here). The huge monoculture pine forest is almost eerie - the trees are all the same type and about the same age, they're all carefully spaced, the undergrowth has a limited ecology with only two or three species of ground cover. It felt devoid of life in many ways, but it was also captivating at the same time.

Vancity $1 Million Award

2006-10-07T13:45:00.000-07:00

Atira Women's Resource Society has been nominated for the Vancity $1 Million award. I encourage (beg!) everyone here (and their families, friends, colleagues, etc.) who are Vancity members to please go to Vancity's website before October 13, 2006 and vote for Atira.

From Atira's Website:

The Vancity Award will enable Atira to construct a new building for the Maxxine Wright Community Health Centre, located in Surrey, including an emergency daycare, 36 units of transitional housing for women and their children (0-6 years), and a community kitchen. The Community Health Centre, open since September 2005, provides accessible pre- and post-natal health care and social supports for pregnant women and women with babies/young children considered to be at-risk due to their struggles with substance use, mental health diagnoses, and experiences of violence/abuse. Prior to its opening, many women facing these issues in Surrey 'fell through the cracks', with many never receiving any pre-natal health care. The Community Health Centre is currently operating out of a very small building on the property purchased by Atira in 2005 in order to develop this project. We are already bursting at the seams due to the enormous need for comprehensive women-centred health and social services and the planned daycare and housing.

Vote for a Healthier Future!

Remembering Naomi, Anna, Marian, Mary and Lena

2006-10-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

I am overwhelmed with sadness today. Again a man separated girls from the adults and boys and systemically killed the girls. Again.

I remember December 6th well; I was a young university student here in BC and it happened just as we were going into final exams. I remember the fear and realization that this could happen anywhere, merely because we were girls and women. I wasn't even a feminist yet, just a young woman who understood that 14 women died because of their gender. I remember being at my university and feeling very, very frightened.

Many people say about men who do this, "He was crazy" or ask "How could this happen?" In a society where violence against women is so commonplace it doesn't usually make the headlines, why should this come as a surprise? Where transition houses have to turn women and their children away because there is no space available, how can anyone ask if he was crazy? Are they all crazy? Whether it's the missing women in the Downtown Eastside, the December 6th Montreal Massacre, the recent killings of girls in the US, or the everyday violence that women face, the acts are premediated and thought out. A society that doesn't value women and girls shouldn't be surprised when women and girls die violent deaths. Let's not give these men an excuse; "He was crazy" should be replaced with "He knew exactly what he was doing," and then "How can we create a society where this doesn't happen anymore?"

Will the work I do ever be made redundant? I wish I could say an enthusiastic "Yes!", but I have to be honest and say it feels like it will never end.