Making a Connection 2 (it’s almost over…)
It’s now been a month since we started this program and we had our final workout with Jeff Johnson and Fabian Rayne last night… in the cold and the rain and the mud of the Argonaut’s practice field. It wasn’t a hugely strenuous workout (mainly due to the weather I think), but we ended up soaked and muddy from head to toe – to the point where rolling in the mud and puddles wouldn’t have made a difference. It was a lot of fun (except for the push-ups in the mud…), and both gentlemen remarked at the huge change in us over the past 4 weeks – both in terms of our “form” (ability to do lunges without falling over, etc) and our stamina. We compared the end of the 2 workouts as well … the first one (which I think was not as strenuous as last nights’ workout) where we limped off the field and were stiff, sore and achy for 3 days afterwards, to last night where we sauntered off quite happily into the evening.
We have both lost some weight – sensibly and slowly, but the progress is there, and we both feel that we’ve achieved a lot of muscle development and started some wonderful habits. We also had our youngest son with us last night and he was right there with us – running, stretching, doing chin-ups from the centre of the uprights and push-ups in the mud. He had a great time!! It was also very fitting that he was with us as it illustrated to me very clearly how much these changes we are making for ourselves are positively affecting our children. As we eat better, so do they; as we exercise and incorporate fitness into our daily lives, so do they. When we had our consultation with Rita the dietician, she remarked that teaching and demonstrating these positive habits for our children would inevitably result in them continuing those habits as a matter of course once they are grown and on their own.
The dietician consultation also resulted in us fine-tuning our dietary habits a bit more – using different oils for different purposes in our recipes (cold-pressed olive oil in anything that won’t be heated for it’s cancer-preventing properties as well as its cardiovascular benefits, and canola oil for anything that will be heated for its health benefits (here is what Wikipedia had to say about Canola oil:
“Canola oil has been claimed to promote good health due to its very low saturated fat and high monounsaturated fat content, and beneficial omega-3 fatty acid profile. The Canola Council of Canada states that it is completely safe and is the “healthiest” of all commonly used cooking oils.[12]It has well established heart health benefits [13] and is recognized by many health professional organizations including the American Dietetics Association, and American Heart Association, among others.[14] Canola oil has been authorized a qualified health claim from the US Food and Drug Administration [15] based on its ability to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease due to its unsaturated fat content.”
So we’re paying more attention to WHICH oils and fats we consume as much as the quantities. We’ll be eating even more fish and keeping up our habit of having home-made foods as much as possible rather than pre-packaged foods.
With only a few days to go before the end of the contest (but definitely NOT the end of our new lifestyle habits), we’re feeling terrific and seeing tangible positive benefits of the program in ourselves and in our children!!
