Giving Your All - Even When Your All Ain’t Much It’s two weeks tomorrow since I’ve been to the gym. Busy workdays, boards and teams, classes, workshops, travel and shopping – in addition to my family duties – have gobbled up my time. My house is a disaster zone. I’ve let my workout time slip. Afterall, my workouts are like housework. It is a committment. It requires discipline. It’s work. IT’S WORK to WORKOUT. So, I let myself be lazy and broke my workout habit. My membership expired on the 17th and haven’t made it back to the gym to...

“The bee is praised; the mosquito is swatted.” ~ Marie O’ Connor My good friend Valerie told me today at lunch that she’s sick of the B-word. Not that B-word.  The NEW B-WORD. BUSY. She’s sick of the word BUSY. I’m busy. You’re busy. She’s busy. He’s busy. We’re busy. Business is busy. Kids are busy. ENOUGH already. I’m tired of the B-word, too. Busy-ness is SELF-INFLICTED.  Don’t be a victim. If you don’t enjoy being busy, or you can recognize that you’re simply overwhelmed, make an executive decision in your...

Many traditional diets recommend eating seasonally. I personally prefer this style of eating. On a winter’s day, hardy stews and soups simmer in my crock pot. As darkness arrives early, their savoury scent fills the house, promising warmth for my body and spirit. When summer comes, the crock pot gets shelved and out comes my salad bowl. As the sun warms the earth and flowers blossom, bring on the crispy, light salads. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, said, ‘Let your food be your medicine.’ He must have been thinking of salads. Tossing up a rainbow of colours to feast on is one...

I should be at my “abs and ass”, or “guts and butts” class, or whatever the heck it’s called. Instead, I’m locked in my bedroom with green tea and books – the only thing that soothes me when I’ve reached this level of stress. If there is one thing that makes the step-monster come peering out, it’s the moment when I recognize that an opportunity for my new daughters to learn, grow and stretch has been squelched. My day started at 6:30 this morning with my husband calling loudly – for the third time – to the girls to get out of bed. The normal routine followed, except...

Catharine Freeman Jack Real Woman Guest Blog I became an expert at losing some weight and gaining more back in my early 20’s. I would ‘try’ anything, and ‘tried’ everything – except surgery – telling myself (and anyone who would listen) that I can’t lose weight – it’s my genetics – my metabolism is slow – blah, blah, blah (sound familiar?). The truth of the matter is that I was LAZY. If I didn’t see results in a day, then whatever I was doing just wasn’t going to work for me. If I had to put forth any effort, including exercise, my...

Danielle Klooster, Guest Contributor You can find Danielle at her blog Dani Has A Kloo But I Don’t Like The Broken Cookies Doesn’t everyone want to be good? What does that mean, though? Part of my inner exploration and journey of self-discovery is learning to recognize when I am compromising who I am in order to gain acceptance, to fit the cultural norm, or to try to “make” myself into “good”. As every youngster does, I grew up wanting to be good. In order to understand what that meant, I took cues from my environment and experiences,using them to draw conclusions about myself,...

Tools for Taping the Mouth Shut on Your Inner Critic Is a constant negative running commentary limiting your ability to enjoy your life? Love your job? Be positive in your relationships?  Treat yourself kindly? Research indicates that the average person’s brain receives about 60,000 thoughts per day. And according to those researchers 80% of those messages are negative. The script or recording that plays is habitual thinking. It is as second nature to us as breathing and is an unconscious habit. We are deeply conditioned to habitually provide a label and are unaware of our programming....

Photo: Dustin Rabin George Stroumboulopoulos Born: August 16, 1972 Where You’ll Find Him: George is a Canadian television and radio personality and the slick and saucy, handsome host of CBC Television’s The Hour, an award winning, late-night talk show featuring a solid mix of news, celebrity and world current events. Career: He studied radio broadcasting at Humber College and began his journalism career in Kelowna, BC. Other radio gigs included a sports station and a rock station in Toronto before making a switch to television and landing a role as producer and host of The NewMusic and...

Treading Water? Tips for Rescuing Your Mindset in Tough Times  My husband John and I operate our own business and, similar to all businesses, we’re not immune to the realities of the current worldwide financial fiasco. Acquaintances and clients and their staff are nervous and concerned, and with good reason. There is no crystal ball; even the so-called “experts” cannot agree on what the future holds. You may be facing major deadlines, starting a new promotion or campaign, trying to maintain a positive cash flow or re-evaluating your retirement and finding it difficult to focus, gain momentum,...

Guest Contributor, Dr. Mike Lowry, Dentist On average one-third of our lives are spent sleeping. Sleep is naturally designed as a built-in repair mechanism for our bodies. We repair, replace and regenerate our body systems, as well as, recover from fatigue. The question is, are our bodies getting the most benefit from the hours we spend sleeping? Sleep is divided into non‐REM (rapid eye movement) and REM components. Under normal conditions non‐REM sleep accounts for 75% of our rest and is divided into four stages. REM sleep accounts for the other 25%. Without REM sleep, our ability to recall...