Meet Mr. Bike

Despite working four part time jobs during the summer (FOUR!), I am still making only enough money per month to pay for rent, hydro, phone and internet, and groceries (not eating out, only groceries). That's it. I don't even have the money to buy gas or TTC tokens to get to and from work!

So what's a girl to do? With gas prices soaring and the threat of yet another TTC fare increase always looming, I don't have much other choice...


Meet my bike.


This one isn't my actual bike, because mine is a lot dirtier. It has been living in the garage collecting dust, grime and cobwebs all winter. But, it's the same kind :)

I bought this bike 2 years ago when I moved to this area, because I hadn't owned a bike since I was 12 and figured that moving to High Park meant it was damn near time to get one. I also didn't realize at the time that I have an immense fear of going down hills, and riding on the road. Let's not even talk about riding down a hill in traffic O_O

I have decided that me and Mr. Bike need to be better friends. I still have a car available to me for the times that I need to go far away (e.g. Mississauga or North York) to work, but I think that the bike might be my main mode of transportation from now till it gets cold again. I've mapped out my routes to and from work at WW, yoga studios, and the place where I volunteer, and it looks like I'll be riding around 50+ km per week. Hmm... This doesn't sound like a lot for someone who rides their bike a lot. I have ridden my bike a total of 5 times since I bought it two years ago.

I'm starting slowly. Today me and bike went out to the local hardware store to pick up some last-minute needs for New Orleans. It was 4.5km, so 9km round trip. Of course, it started to rain while I was doing it. And of course, the route on the way back involved a) heavy traffic, b) a large downhill, and c) ripped up/crappy road conditions because that main road leading directly to High Park does not have a bike lane (thank you, Rob Ford). Despite thinking that I might die, I managed in the end and got home safe and sound.

Extra bonus - bike riding is free, and awesome exercise. Double win!

The Dukan Diet

So I was watching Dr. Oz the other day, and he and several of his doctor friends were discussing the "latest craze in weight loss" - the Dukan Diet. Apparently it's popular in France, and several celebrities have been known to use it, therefore it must be good for you!

The Dukan Diet claims that you can eat whatever you want 6 days of the week, but must be "good" for one day. Somehow by doing this, dieters can expect to lose large amounts of weight very quickly. Seems fishy.

Participants start in the Attack Phase for 1-10 days depending on how much weight they want to lose. In this phase, you eat almost no carbohydrates and an insane amount of protein. The only fat you get is from oily fish (e.g. salmon). Because you are not eating carbohydrates, this means that you are eating NO fruit or vegetables. You also must eat oat bran. Dukan claims that you can lose over 10lbs in a week doing this.

I have no doubt that this is true - the majority of the weight that will be lost in this phase will be water. I've posted before about the importance of carbohydrates, and how in the absense of carbs the body will resort to breaking down other stuff to make glucose instead (e.g. lipid and protein). The catch is that if your body isn't getting glucose in its preferred form - i.e. carbohydrates, it needs to break down other stuff and uses energy to do it. This process will also more than likely leave you dehydrated. Over an extended period of time (more than about a week), you run the risk of entering ketosis, where the pH of the blood declines (becomes more acidic), and is an incredibly dangerous consequence. Might I also add that cutting out fruits and veggies sounds like a really awful idea? What about all of the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fibre that these foods give the body? Duh.

The second phase of the Dukan diet is the "Cruise" phase, where you eat the same stuff as in the first phase, but lucky you! You're allowed to eat non-starchy veggies every other day! You stay on this phase until you reach your goal weight. I repeat my concern in phase 1: veggies are a food group. Seriously??

The third phase is the Consolidation phase, where you are allowed to eat "celebration" meals twice per week. You get to eat whatever you want! Wine, pizza, whatever. So long as one time per week, you eat nothing but lean protein. The entire day. Sigh.............

The final phase is Stabilization, where you must eat only protein one day per week, you must continue to eat oat bran for the rest of your life, and oh yeah, this phase introduces ACTIVITY for the very first time in your entire journey.

The doctors on the show had mixed opinions. One lady was all "Well, at least people are losing weight :D!", while the other, smarter sounding doctors said that it was incredibly dangerous to be eating in the attack/cruise ways for a long period of time due to the intense carbohydrate restrictions, that losing such a significant amount of weight so rapidly would set dieters up for yo-yo-ing, and that healthy changes in behaviour are a much more substantial indicator of success than the number on the scale.

I was very troubled by hearing about this diet. It sounds very much like another Atkins situation, which was devastating. I think that it's actually quite sad that our society is so determined to find a quick-fix or band aid solution to weight loss that we are willing to risk our health to do it. Since when does it sound like a healthy idea to cut out an entire food group (fruit and veg especially) in the name of weight loss?!? Since when does activity serve no purpose in weight loss until you're actually maintaining!!!

The best way to lose weight, avoid yo-yo-ing and achieve a healthy lifestyle that you can maintain for the rest of your life cannot be found in a book, pill, or supplement. The absolute best way is to simply eat a balanced diet with a proper ratio of carbohydrates, proteins and fats, and to find them mostly in whole or less-processed foods. Not all fats, proteins and carbs are created equal, e.g. the refined sugar in your cookie is not the same as the naturally-occurring sugar in your apple. I'm currently in the middle of reading Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, where the main motto of the book is "eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants". Sums it up nicely, I think.

If you do choose to go with a weight loss program (WW, Jenny, Herbal Magic, etc etc etc), do your homework first. Does the program encourage you to eat a balanced diet from all food groups? Does it focus heavily on consuming way more of one macronutrient (e.g. protein) than others (e.g. fats) in such a way that does not allow for a balanced diet? What kind of support does the program offer (online tools, in-person support)? Does the program encourage activity? What is their maintenance plan - do they teach you how to maintain your weight over the long term in such a way that you will actually be able to eat that way forever, or do they require that you continue to buy their supplements/books/products for the rest of your life?

I'm a little bit biased towards WW because that was the program that I chose after doing my research 5 years ago. I liked that WW allowed me to choose any foods that I wished, so long as I stuck with my Points target. I needed to learn what foods were good bargains for the Points that I had available (usually these were the whole and less-processed foods), and needed to fit in Good Health Guidelines (fruit and veggies, lean proteins, liquids, etc) to ensure that I wasn't spending my entire day's points on cake and ice cream instead of real food. I needed to learn how to grocery shop and cook healthy recipes, and what to choose when I went out to restaurants (because I could go out to restaurants rather than being restricted by my mail-order food menu!). I started to exercise, because it was encouraged on the program by giving me extra Points. It was WW that taught me the basics of nutrition all that time ago, and gave me the passion for food and health that I am now using to pursue a new career.

That being said, I have no doubt that people who choose Jenny or other programs have success as well - but like I said, I don't know the ins and outs of their program (e.g. their maintenance plans, costs of food/materials, etc)!

The bottom line: Eating a balanced diet and healthy changes in behaviour are much more important in the long run than rapid weight loss. Rather than looking for a quick fix, look for a lifestyle that you can maintain forever!

10k update

Sporting Life 10K number 2 - COMPLETE!

My original goal was to beat the time that I ran last year, which was 1:12:23.

As you may recall, this time last year was warm and sunny, so I was able to go out and train relatively well. The longest run that I had done before the 10K was 5.6km. Not great considering that I had hoped to be comfortable with 7k and up beforehand, but I had been sick in the weeks leading up to race day.

This year, Mother Nature had other plans. It has been cold, rainy, sometimes snowing, and WINDY for months. Unfortunately, this meant that up until recently I had not been training very regularly. I had also been running on a treadmill mostly, because it was so awful outside. Once I got properly equipped with warm weather running clothes it became easier to go out and run, but my longest pre-10K run was a mere 3.5km. Uh oh.

In addition, I recently went to a sports doctor to find out why my left knee always hurts. Turns out that my IT band is tight enough that it is actually pulling my kneecap out of place. My knee also hyperextends when I walk, leaving me feeling unstable and lots of pain in certain yoga poses. This prevented me from running for quite a while, though lately it has actually been ok, so I've been trying to work through it. The doc recommended that I go for a combination of physio, acupuncture and an RMT. Wheeeee!

Race recap:

• Pre-race: tummy wasn't feeling very well for some reason. I opted to have a pretty light breakfast of toast with peanut butter, a cup of herbal tea, and a bottle of water for the road to the start line. Tummy continued to protest, but seemed to settle itself reasonably well by the time the starting gun fired.
• Km 1-3: feeling pretty good, still running mostly downhill. The wind is beginning to pick up, but I'm wearing my rain-and-windproof jacket with zip-vents (that never opened during this run), plus a long-sleeved shirt underneath. Despite this, I'm a little chilly.
• Km 4-6: My muscles are beginning to cramp up a bit. I'm now past the longest pre-race run, and my body is not happy about it! First, my butt is cramping. Then my abdomen. The wind is now fierce as we enter downtown Toronto and the wind-tunnel effect of the tall buildings.
• Km 7-9: NOW I'm cold. I'm not even sweating anymore, despite wearing a non-breathable jacket because it is effing WINDY. I convince myself that I need to keep running to stay warm, because if I stop running I'll just freeze to death. My knees are angry about this decision and force me to stop for walk breaks more often than I'd like. We can see those annoying fast people who finished the race already, wearing their medals and finishing T-shirts, who decided that it wasn't enough to run the coldest 10K of my life, they also feel the need to run BACK. Jerks.
• Km 9-10: My stomach has begun to grumble. Loudly. Like, loud enough that I can actually hear it through my headphones and music. Should have eaten more for breakfast :( But look! There's the finish line! I keep running so that the photographers standing on the sidelines will still take photos of me that I can see on the website where I'm not walking. Alas, I'm pretty sure that I look like I'm going to die of hypothermia and exhaustion anyway.

So, by the time I reached km 8 or so, I knew that I wasn't going to beat my time from last year. I was a bit upset about that, because I had hoped to be able to see some improvement in my running. Given the weather complication and lack of training though, I was ok with it! I opted not to get hung up on a goal that I knew I wasn't going to make, and instead made a new deal with myself - aim to beat 1:20.

And you know what?

I did! 1:18:58 :)

I'm feeling happy about meeting my revised goal, and even happier that these extra challenges that I've dealt with have given me more knowledge to help me train a little bit more effectively for next time.

Assuming that my knee gets well soon, I'm still hoping to train for that 1/2 marathon!