Inspired Words for Today

Even though I am loving being in nursing school and thoroughly enjoying all the gifts and experiences that making this career-shift have brought me, I seem to struggle with getting through January.  This same phenomenon happened last year, too.

I don't know if it is the post-Christmas build-up let-down (if that makes any sense!) or simply the dark, freezing days.  It has been one of those weeks that happen in Canada -- where the temperatures plunge so cold, that it is truly impossible for average people like me to enjoy the outdoors. 

It is a week of being too cold to take the family skiing (like we do weekly), tobogganing, the snow is too crumbly to build anything with it, the kids are kept indoors every school recess because of the frostbite they'd get in a couple minutes.  I dread the thought of even having to go outside, as I know my nose and lungs will feel frozen in seconds.  Maybe this is the so-called "cabin fever" phenomenon, where people have simply been cooped up inside for too long...

Before anyone reads too much into this complaint, I must say this is not a clinical issue -- I just find it a wee bit harder to motivate myself to keep as active, energetic and eating well as I do the rest of the year.  It is frustrating to me to not have my usual energy and motivation levels, even if these moments are relatively brief.

However, the extreme deep-freeze of last week is over, and the days are getting noticeably less dark.  This is all good!  Apparently I don't do well in extremely cold, dark climates.  Give me palm trees and a beach any day....

All of that intro to say, that when I am feeling in a bit of a rut, I turn to several blogs I've discovered, and read the archived posts.  One of my favourite inspirational blogs is called "Smile With Your Heart", written by a Canadian nurse and fitness/adventure lover, Jenn Thiel.  (http://smilewithyourheart.com)

Today, as I was just wrapping up my "fun" computer time, before I turn it to school-related work, I read the following sentences.


"Combine your passions. Create your dream life. Who’s stopping you? If anyone, it’s only yourself. Toss that little voice out the window and keep on keepin’ on. Keep doing what you love. You’ll discover that it really is so much more possible than you thought."  (http://smilewithyourheart.com/2011/08/17/day-38-have-a-balanced-day/)

Those are the words I'm taking to heart today.  I'm off now to go for a run, as I contemplate with gratitude all the possibilities, people, opportunities, experiences and gifts I've been given in my life, and open my heart, mind and soul with further gratitude to any and all future amazing experiences.

Exercise - can you spare 10 minutes a day???

10 minutes a day.

 

Surely we all have 10 minutes a day to invest in ourselves. 

 

Surely our health is enough of a priority to dedicate 10 minutes a day to it.

 

Just ten minutes. 600 seconds. How many chunks of 10 minutes do we waste every day, checking email or FB for the upteenth time...I am guilty of that myself.  But I also have 10 minutes a day to dedicate to me (even 30 or 40 minutes!).



 

And I'm not even talking about exercise as intense as running.  I'm talking about a simple walk. Not a stroll, but a determined walk.  No exercise clothes are required.  No sweat build up. Just a simple brisk walk.

We all owe it to ourselves to dedicate 10 minutes a day to our health.  Most people take it for granted until it changes. 

10 minutes folks!  Give it a try!!!  Challenge yourselves. Your body will thank you.

:-)

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Source:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2012/11/07/physical-activity-life-expectancy.html

Exercising 10 minutes a day can boost life expectancy

Researchers pooled data on 650,000 people 40 and older in Sweden, U.S

Even as little as 75 minutes a week of physical activity can extend your life by nearly two years, according to U.S. researchers who found some benefits regardless of body weight.

The study by Steven Moore of the U.S. National Cancer Institute and his co-authors also suggests that regular activity would boost life expectancy even more.

The researchers pooled data on 650,000 men and women aged 40 and older in Sweden and the U.S. who reported their activity levels.

The findings show that 75 minutes a week — or just over 10 minutes a day — was associated with 1.8 years of added life expectancy, compared to getting no leisure-time activity.

As well, brisk walking for 450 minutes a week, just over an hour a day, was associated with living 4.5 years longer.

The researchers in the study in PLOS Medicine hope the findings convince sedentary people that even a modest physical activity program can boost health. (Nikki Carlson/Havre Daily News/Associated Press)

"More leisure-time physical activity was associated with longer life expectancy across a range of activity levels and body mass index groups," they said in the November issue of the journal PLOS Medicine, published by the Public Library of Science.

Investigators also considered weight categories:

• Being active and at a normal weight — the best-case scenario — were associated with a gain of 7.2 years of life, compared with being inactive and in the highest obese category.
• A normal-weight person who is inactive could face a loss of 4.7 years of life.

"This finding may help convince currently inactive persons that a modest physical activity program is 'worth it' for healthy benefits, even if it may not result in weight control."

Long-term cigarette smoking reduces life expectancy by about 10 years, notes the study, which was funded by the U.S. National Cancer Institute and U.S. National Institutes of Health.
 

Intensity rule of thumb

 

Between 2007 and 2009, only 15 per cent of adults were getting the recommended 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity to gain health benefits, according to Statistics Canada's Health Measures survey.

"As a good rule of thumb, if you're taking time and you have to think about your breathing and you feel that you're warm and sweaty afterwards, that's the type of activity we're looking at to get these health benefits," said Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky of the pediatrics department at McMaster University in Hamilton, where he studies how exercise helps metabolism such as repairing age-related damage.

What this study and others suggest is that it's the first 30 minutes of vigorous activity that gives the majority of benefits, Tarnopolsky added.

Lack of motivation is a common barrier to getting physical activity, says Tanya Berry. (CBC)

A journal editorial cautioned that participants self-reported their heights and weights and leisure-time physical activity, which may have been overestimated.

Other factors also could have influenced the findings in the observational study, although the researchers did take variables such as use of tobacco and alcohol into account.
 

Overcoming barriers to physical activity

"These findings reinforce the public health message that both a physically active lifestyle and a normal body weight are important for increasing longevity," the editors wrote.

The challenge is getting people to act on the knowledge that physical activity is important for health, said Spencer Moore, an assistant professor in the school of kinesiology and health studies at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont.

"In our work, we focus on the importance of having supportive social (e.g., active peers) and built (e.g., available parks, walkable neighbourhoods) environments," Moore said in an email.

"Individuals make the decision to be physically active or not. Having supportive environments around us, however, help to make the healthy choice the easy choice."

Tanya Berry, Canada Research Chair in physical activity promotion at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, studies barriers to physical activity. Time is the top reason cited for not exercising, said Berry.

In Toronto, Melissa Perugini, 20, said she gets no exercise. "Too busy with school and work. No time," she said.

But when people fill out diaries on how they spend their day, Berry adds, most would be able to carve out 35 or 40 minutes a day to at least go for a walk.

"When you're thinking about leisure-time physical activities, where are your priorities?" Berry said. "For a lot of people, physical activity isn't something they enjoy and it's not something that's a priority for them, so motivation becomes a big, big issue."

The immediate increases in energy levels and time spent together being active as a family can be motivating factors.

 

Operation Smile

There are times, like the present, when I just need a wee little bit extra motivation, or energy, to study.  The stack of information to learn for final exams seems very daunting at best, and time is quickly running out until the exams must be written.

It is times like these that I look at the bigger picture, and think (try to remember!!!) why I am putting myself through these extra years of university. 

Because I really want to be a nurse, that's why.  Because I genuinely want to help people, in small and large ways.  I want to feel like my work is making a difference to somebody.  I want a sense of satisfaction that I worked hard, and achieved something after a shift is done. 

And one more reason -- because I want to volunteer my time internationally, being part of medical teams.  One such medical volunteer team is Operation Smile.  Volunteer doctors and nurses travel to developing countries, to operate on children born with cleft palate and lip.  These children are usually shunned, hidden away from society, and rarely allowed to attend school.  It is such an easy operation (relatively speaking!) to fix the birth defect permanently. 

Talk about making a difference to somebody, and getting a feeling of satisfaction at the end of the day, when you've been part of a team that's operated on a half-dozen children in a day!!!

There are no words to describe that feeling (although, knowing myself, I'll probably try, when the time comes!). 

I look forward to experiencing that feeling, and that, is why I must do my absolute best on the upcoming final nursing exams. 

Here is a link to Operation Smile: http://www.operationsmile.org/