The 75min yoga practice ended;
"Place your hands to your heart for compassion, patience and love for yourself and others;
Then, to your lips for kind and mindful speech;
And to your forehead for mental clarity"
Namaste.
Namaste means "the goodness within me reaches out to the goodness within you." Mental awareness and mindful positive thinking is not an easy task and it takes great amounts of courage to show ourselves and others acts of love. As I waited for the train I read an ad that stated, "make it happen!" I realized my sense of urgency to change. However, I reminded myself that change is a gradual process that we normally envision to happen quickly. In my opinion, the process of meaningful change occurs at a pace similar to sedimentation in rocks. Rocks undergo changes through processes like weathering.
Imagine that there are drops of water falling onto a rock. Each drop takes focus, concentration, determination and strength for momentum. However, the rock eventually begins to respond and take shape. I will to keep up those acts of love.
Workout:
80minutes Easy Running (8miles)
30minutes Weights Circuit
75minutes Yoga
Friday, 6 January 2012
Thursday, 5 January 2012
CBC Talk Describing Health At Every Size
Jacqui Gingras, of the Ryerson School of Nutrition is an advocate of "Health at Every Size". She says we need to take the focus off weight and put it on well-being
http://www.cbc.ca/ontariomorning/episodes/2012/01/03/healthy-at-every-size/
http://www.cbc.ca/ontariomorning/episodes/2012/01/03/healthy-at-every-size/
Turning your Fitness Resolutions into a lifestyle Revolution
I am an avid runner and fitness enthusiast eager to test the new paradigm shift of HAES (Health at Every Size)! Health at Every Size is a holistic approach to fitness that focuses on intuitive eating and pleasurable physical activity. HAES is a movement of individuals changing their attitudes towards "Othering" fat as undesirable. It entertains the possibility for a more inclusive society where some people are not viewed through a bias lens that sugar coats thinness, while negatively discriminating against "fat."
This current lens is generating a "fat" stereotype and feeding into a greater social stigma. A social stigma is the severe disapproval of or discontent with a person on the grounds of characteristics that distinguish them from other members of a society. These types of "fat" labels act to fuel self-hatred towards our own bodies and indirectly, or directly, towards people that we are attaching these derogatory associations to. It's time to think outside our current box.
HAES encourages that we love others and ourself without labelling one body-type as inferior or more "able." Thus, dieting and exercising is encouraged to be done for reasons that are free from intention to achieve unrealistic weight loss or unsustainable body size alteration. Instead, one can use HAES to be more open to positive lifestyle changes that will effectively prevent chronic diseases or adverse health problems on the long-term without unsustainable diet or exercise regimes. However, do not be mistaken this is not a movement promoting complacency with inactivity, but one that is geared towards societal enlightenment.
There are several focuses of this movement that extend beyond self-acceptance and mental happiness. Re-defining the concept of a "healthy lifestyle" is done here so that exercise and healthy eating habits are used to achieve our goals without dipping into chronic dieting, over exercising or unsustainable high injury risk cycles of training. Albert Einstein stated that "Insanity is defined as repeating the same behaviour and expecting a different result." Several weight-loss methods often create an unsustainable cycle of weight loss and gain, with the potential for serious long-term physical and psychological health risks! As I mentioned before they continue to contributing a large social lens that views one body type as inferior fuelling massive amounts of people towards body hatred, dangerous eating disorders, and exercise addiction.
I am training for my fourth marathon this September 2012 and I have been personally struggling with ideas of accepting my body and weight during training for these athletic events. I always feel that with every mile I am hoping to alter my body shape, while changing my diet, through restriction and rigour, so that I may drop pounds for faster finishes and in turn personal acceptance. I have gone through unsuccessful and expensive personal training; boot camps and exercise classes only to still be judging the areas of my body that I feel are not "athletic enough" or "strong enough." I always end up back where I started --recovering from some kind of injury and with a few more pounds to lose through intense amounts of running clinging onto a calorie counting emotional roller-coaster.
It's time to turn this year's resolution into a revolution where I can achieve a healthy weight and a great marathon time without an injury! I will be doing this with enlightened eating and building confidence through positive thinking. Enlightened eating is eating meals with intense awareness to what you are putting into your body and how much at once --appropriate portion sizes are key such as those outlined in the Canadian Food Guide.
I will be using this space to blog about my different training routines and realizations I make through exercising for reasons other than achieving weight-loss/desired "athletic image" and enlightened eating using the HAES method. These conclusions are not absolutes and they may not exactly be accurate or real. However, they will be for me at the time that I make them, while still searching for the greatest truth and happiness.
Peace and Love,
Olivia
This current lens is generating a "fat" stereotype and feeding into a greater social stigma. A social stigma is the severe disapproval of or discontent with a person on the grounds of characteristics that distinguish them from other members of a society. These types of "fat" labels act to fuel self-hatred towards our own bodies and indirectly, or directly, towards people that we are attaching these derogatory associations to. It's time to think outside our current box.
HAES encourages that we love others and ourself without labelling one body-type as inferior or more "able." Thus, dieting and exercising is encouraged to be done for reasons that are free from intention to achieve unrealistic weight loss or unsustainable body size alteration. Instead, one can use HAES to be more open to positive lifestyle changes that will effectively prevent chronic diseases or adverse health problems on the long-term without unsustainable diet or exercise regimes. However, do not be mistaken this is not a movement promoting complacency with inactivity, but one that is geared towards societal enlightenment.
There are several focuses of this movement that extend beyond self-acceptance and mental happiness. Re-defining the concept of a "healthy lifestyle" is done here so that exercise and healthy eating habits are used to achieve our goals without dipping into chronic dieting, over exercising or unsustainable high injury risk cycles of training. Albert Einstein stated that "Insanity is defined as repeating the same behaviour and expecting a different result." Several weight-loss methods often create an unsustainable cycle of weight loss and gain, with the potential for serious long-term physical and psychological health risks! As I mentioned before they continue to contributing a large social lens that views one body type as inferior fuelling massive amounts of people towards body hatred, dangerous eating disorders, and exercise addiction.
I am training for my fourth marathon this September 2012 and I have been personally struggling with ideas of accepting my body and weight during training for these athletic events. I always feel that with every mile I am hoping to alter my body shape, while changing my diet, through restriction and rigour, so that I may drop pounds for faster finishes and in turn personal acceptance. I have gone through unsuccessful and expensive personal training; boot camps and exercise classes only to still be judging the areas of my body that I feel are not "athletic enough" or "strong enough." I always end up back where I started --recovering from some kind of injury and with a few more pounds to lose through intense amounts of running clinging onto a calorie counting emotional roller-coaster.
It's time to turn this year's resolution into a revolution where I can achieve a healthy weight and a great marathon time without an injury! I will be doing this with enlightened eating and building confidence through positive thinking. Enlightened eating is eating meals with intense awareness to what you are putting into your body and how much at once --appropriate portion sizes are key such as those outlined in the Canadian Food Guide.
I will be using this space to blog about my different training routines and realizations I make through exercising for reasons other than achieving weight-loss/desired "athletic image" and enlightened eating using the HAES method. These conclusions are not absolutes and they may not exactly be accurate or real. However, they will be for me at the time that I make them, while still searching for the greatest truth and happiness.
Peace and Love,
Olivia
 |
| Running for a greater purpose of happiness and love towards others and one-self |
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