Posts Tagged ‘Ph.D’

Congratulations to jentam, who has won our Day 6 contest by telling us about her  favourite non-workout way to get exercise.

jentam says:
"This may sound strange but I enjoy cleaning the house and getting exercise doing so. I move quickly when I clean and I try and stretch as I reach to clean windows or sweep under the bed. It feels great to have a clean house *and* feel like I’ve been working out."

Ooh, extra points for multitasking! Nice work. Your prize is a copy of Move a Little, Lose a Lot: New NEAT science reveals how to be thinner, happier and smarter by James A. Levine, MD, PhD.

In other news, today is World Hypertension Day. Who knew? Not I. But to help . . . celebrate . . . wait, I don't know if we're meant to 'celebrate' World Hypertension Day, but anyway, to help 'mark the occasion', we're giving away a great prize pack from Mrs. Dash. It contains all 12 flavours of Canada's favourite salt-free, flavour-full seasoning plus a step counter and a jump rope. The folks at Mrs. Dash say that using Mrs. Dash instead of salt is a great way to cut down on your sodium intake.

Mmm. Sodium. I confess that I put salt on everything. It's a habit I really have to break. Is there something that you put salt on even when you know you really shouldn't? Do you add salt to your food before you even taste it? Do you ever add a visible layer of salt to your food? If someone served you a bowl of salt, would you proceed to put salt on it? For a chance to WIN this fab Mrs. Dash prize, just Subscribe To This Blog and post a reply telling us about your bad salt habit.

You have until Sunday, May 31 to let us know. I'll announce the winner here on June 1.

Congratulations to Susan, who is the winner of our March 20 contest. Susan has won a whole whack of books, including:

1. The New Mediterranean Diet Cookbook: A delicious alternative for lifelong health, by Nancy Harmon Jenkings
2. The Diet Detective’s Count Down: 7500 of your favorite food counts with their exercise equivalents for walking, running, biking, swimming, yoga and dance, by Charles Stuart Platkin
3. Fat Proof Your Family: God’s way to forming healthy habits for life, by J. Ron Eaker, MD
4. Happiness: How to find it and keep it, by Joan Duncan Oliver
5. The Source: Beat fatigue, power up your health and feel 10 years younger, by Woodson Merrell, M.D
6. Jaime Brenkus’ Get Lean in 15 — 15 ways in 15 days to shape up and slim down . . .  fast!
7. The Instinct Diet: Use your five food instincts to lose weight and keep it off, by Susan B. Roberts, Ph.D.

For our March 20 contest, I asked you to share your sports clutz story with us.

Susan told us:
"The idea of taking gym in high school terrified me (and we needed one credit in Phys Ed to graduate). Every year it conflicted with another course and I would put it off until finally, in Grade 12, I had no other choice but to take Phys. Ed. And it was awful! We had to learn “social dance” (which is not great if you are self-conscious, have two left feet and are forced to dance with guys you don’t know!)and aerobics (she forced us to do Susan Powder videos), which also are not a great idea if you aren’t coordinated. My redemption came from my realization that everyone in my class was having a horrible time! After one session of aerobics (during which I fell over), I started talking about how much I hated the class…and found out that EVERYONE hated it as much as me! After that, with a shared comradery, the class actually became fun! I still have a Far Side “Aerobics in Hell” card one of the girls gave me! The experience made me realize that I would never be a Solid Gold dancer but that sharing common experiences with people can help you form real bonds (even if it is in Gym class)!"

Congratulations, Susan!

I am a terrible athlete. I don't even think I could call myself a terrible athlete.

I am a non-athlete.

And my lack of skill applies to all sports — from hockey to bowling.

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "How do you know you're bad at hockey? I bet you've never even played!"

That's where you're wrong. I totally play. This is my rookie season. Full equipment. Costly enrolment. Weekly humiliation. The whole deal.

Also — I bowled last Saturday. Despite the "turkey" (that's three strikes in a row!) I warmly recall bowling in my parents' living room at Christmastime, it seems my Wii skills do not translate into the real game. I bowled at 38.

(For those of you unfamiliar with bowling scoring, that is a terrible score. That's the score of a first-timer. A toddler first-timer.)

I can't help but think that if I excelled at sports, I would be in better shape because I would enjoy staying active.

What do you think? Are you sporty? Does it help you stay in shape? Or maybe, like me, you were humiliated in elementary school gym class to the point where the idea of even throwing darts or playing badminton makes you feel a little sick. Do you subject yourself to sports despite your shortcomings in an attempt to stay fit?

The New Mediterranean Diet Cookbook

I know — no one wants to leave a reply spilling their guts about how their Grade 4 gym teacher made them cry in the middle of their gymnastics routine and how, even now, the thought of spandex makes them weep a little bit on the inside.

But it's cathartic. You'll see. You are not alone. And to sweeten the deal and encourage you to confess, I have a huge book giveaway for you. The person with the sorriest story — or sweetest story of perseverance — will win:

1. The New Mediterranean Diet Cookbook: A delicious alternative for lifelong health by Nancy Harmon Jenkings
2. The Diet Detective's Count Down: 7500 of your favorite food counts with their exercise equivalents for walking, running, biking, swimming, yoga and dance, by Charles Stuart Platkin
3. Fat Proof Your Family: God's way to forming healthy habits for life, by J. Ron Eaker, MD
4. Happiness: How to find it and keep it, by Joan Duncan Oliver
5. The Source: Beat fatigue, power up your health and feel 10 years younger, by Woodson Merrell, M.D
6. Jaime Brenkus' Get Lean in 15 — 15 ways in 15 days to shape up and slim down . . .  fast!
7. The Instinct Diet: Use your five food instincts to lose weight and keep it off, by Susan B. Roberts, Ph.D.

That is a huge, fabulous prize. For a chance to WIN, just Subscribe to This Blog and then leave a reply, telling us your story.

Let us know by Monday, April 6. I'll announce the big winner here on Tuesday, April 7.