Invest in yourself at Canyon Ranch

When you make an investment what sort of return are you expecting? You may have invested in your education, career, portfolio, house, children, there are so many considerations. What is the long term vision that comes with these different investments? Do you expect modest, incremental changes to a successful future? Or are you more the get in/get out quick and …

For best results, believe.

How you feel about exercise makes a difference. Your mind and your body aren’t separate.  If you haven’t given it much thought, now might be the time to change your mind. New research has shown that you can think yourself fit. Don’t get too excited you still have to be active, but how you think about it can make a big …

What if you were a vegan for one day?

Do you follow a plant-based, whole foods diet? Would you consider yourself a vegan? Do you eat more plant-based meals during the week than any other type? How would you describe your regular eating habits? What you eat is one of the most important ways that you can influence your health. Your health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is a significant …

High fat infection

Your guts don’t like high-fat foods. New research has shown that when you eat high-fat foods your intestines react as if they were fighting a virus. They increase production of immune cells and increase inflammation in your body. We know that being overweight can cause inflammation in the liver and fat cells which also leads to type 2 diabetes and …

An hour a week

Are you getting to the gym? Why not? With only one hour a week, you can see some amazing benefits.  Going to the gym twice a week for 30 minutes each time you can reduce your risk of metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a collection of symptoms that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. These symptoms include being overweight, high …

Start with the why.

Thanks for the great responses to my question about exercise.  “Why do you think more people don’t exercise enough? What stops you from turning up the dial on your exercise intensity? Why is this one thing, that has more benefits than any pill you could take, so hard to do regularly?” F said I’ve got lots of ideas why some …

Sit less. Move more.

Are you sitting down? Because I don’t recommend it. ​Last week I attended the Canadian Association of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Prevention and I found two things particularly interesting. But, you could sum up most of the conference in 4 words. Sit Less. Move More.  A few other interesting facts were highlighted more than once. First, every speaker said that Cardiac Rehab wasn’t …

Full Disclosure

Last week I attended the Canadian Association of Cardiac Prevention and Rehabilitation conference. The focus was on exercise, not nutrition, and I will discuss some of the interesting findings in my next Fit Fact, but one aspect really stood out. Every speaker started their presentation with, “here are the companies I work with/for and these may be areas where I …

Can you eat too much fruit?

  Can you eat too much fruit? If you have pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes you may have been told to limit your fruit consumption, maybe not the best advice. We know that people who eat more fruit and vegetables are healthier than people who don’t eat unprocessed fruits and vegetables. But, is it the vegetables or the fruit? What …

Don’t touch that

Fast food. Don’t eat it and don’t touch the package it came in. In fact, I can’t tell you which would be worse, the “food” or the packaging. Most fast food is wrapped in sandwich wrappers, pastry bags, beverage cups and containers and they are poisoning you just as much as the food. Researchers recently published their findings in the …