Wellness and realizations in mid- 30’s

It is definitely important to watch what we eat and exercise, but I think it is equally important to feel good in your own skin.  My perspective on life changes as I get older. Now that I am in my mid 30’s, I see life differently.

I remember when I was a teenager.  I was shy, I liked to spend time by myself, I took care of my studies, and I had only couple of friends.  I loved dancing, but I had no idea what to do with my hands.  I was concerned that others will notice my awkwardness.  I still have parts of this 18 year old girl with me.  When I remember about her, I embrace her, and I smile.

Here are some of my realizations:

1)      The concept of home is much broader for me nowadays.  Home can be Bulgaria, Las Vegas (where I spent eight years as an international student) or Winnipeg.  At this point, home can be anywhere as long as I feel at home with myself, comfortable in my own skin.

2)      Nothing is the end of the world.  I used to think that some events in my life would pretty much finish me.  We all go through challenging times when we wonder how we are going to make it to the other side.  Now I know and tell myself “this too shall pass.”

3)      When we are younger or when we are vulnerable due to personal struggles, we might take comments or feedback personally.  As I get older, I realize that a comment is just an opinion.  It is up to me to decide if I want an opinion to matter to me or not or how much for it to matter.

4)      We are more alike than we are unalike.  We are together in this adventure or journey called life.  We all share the same human foibles.  We tend to hide our imperfections because we don’t want others to think we have weaknesses or worries.  How about sharing our genuine self with each other?  When I am genuine, you will feel comfortable to be genuine as well.  We cheer up, we become less judgmental and more forgiving.  We find ourselves among friends.

How about your life lessons or realizations? I would love to hear about them.

Do you like granola or granola bars? I love granola.  I have been experimenting lately at home, making different kinds of granola cereals.  You can eat granola with milk for breakfast or on some yogurt as a snack.

Fruit and pecan granola bars

16 bars

Active time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

1 large egg

1 large egg white

1 cup light brown sugar

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups oats

2/3 cup chopped dried cranberries, or golden raisins (raisins are cheaper)

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Line an 8-by-11-inch pan with foil. Coat with cooking spray.
2. Whisk egg, egg white, sugar, oil, cinnamon, salt and vanilla in a large bowl. Stir in oats, cranberries (or raisins),  pecans and flour. Spread in prepared pan.
3. Bake until golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool; cut into bars with a lightly oiled knife.

Per serving:    119 calories;                3 g fat         (    0 g sat          ,       1 g mono        );    13 mg cholesterol;     22 g carbohydrates;           2 g protein;      1 g fiber;     44 mg sodium;     17 mg potassium.

Carbohydrate Servings: 1 1/2

Exchanges: 1 1/2 starch, 1 1/2 other carbohydrate, 1/2 fat

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/fruit_pecan_granola_bars.html

Beautiful Spring Staff Picnic Event at Notre Dame Campus on June 8, 2012: Isn’t the weather gorgeous or what?

The Wellness Committee is organizing a Lunch-Hour spring picnic event for all Departments at the Notre Dame Campus.  The idea is for departments to bring their own lunch, spend some time together outside, enjoy the nice weather, and share some yummy healthy food. There will be games provided for those who are interested in participating.

There will be a raffle for the participants.  We are also encouraging the participants to bring a small donation or non-perishable food item to support the RRC Food Bank. Come and join the festivities!

The picnic will be soon advertised in the Staff News.

We can’t ignore the fact that the weather has been absolutely wonderful, amazing, and beautiful lately. This past weekend was probably one of the best weekends ever! Happy Belated Mother’s Day to all mothers at Red River College!

I don’t know about you, but once the weather is nice, I have to be outside to soak the sun, feel the warmth, get a nice walk, and feel the breeze on my face. As my lunch break was approaching yesterday, I faced a dilemma: Do I go to the gym or do I go outside for a walk. I got my gym bag and headed to the North Gym, Notre Dame Campus. Well, the gym was closed. I smiled and said “thank you”, the decision was already made for me. I was definitely going outside for a walk. I noticed the green grass, the leaves and blossoms on the trees, the pink, white, yellow flowers in the bushes. I sat by the water and watched a family of geese. The little ones were still having their yellow fur! I had a fantastic lunch walk in the cemetery and I came back to work completely refreshed. Unbelievable what a nice walk and some sunshine can do for me!

Let me share with you one of my wellness practices which does wonders for me: Every two hours, I leave my office and go outside to feel the sunshine on my face. I find a place to sit outside, close my eyes, and just feel the warmth. I can’t help but smile when I do that. It might seem silly, but this little moment of sunshine on my face is one little way of taking care of me.

On Sunday, Mother’s Day, I spent four hours at the Assiniboia Park with my son, Alec. I will never forget this Sunday. My son played at the Children’s Garden and we had to do our usual visit to see The Turtles and the Fishes (Conservatory). We took a walk from there to the Duck Pond where Alec and I sat on one of the hills and had a snack while we watched the geese and the ducks. Well, this past Sunday, was extraordinary special. My son saw 12 ducklings eating bread at the duck pond and he was absolutely fascinated. He wouldn’t leave the ducklings out of sight. It was fun watching him enjoy the cute, little, baby ducks. This moment at the Assiniboia Park is so simple and natural. I was reminded how our ordinary life can become an extraordinary adventure. I feel a tremendous amount of gratitude for moments like this one.

I will end my post with one of my favorite quotes by Joseph Campbell:

“People say that what we’re seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive. ”

Yes, I know….this snack sounds too good to be true.  Well, I am going to make it and let you know if it is actually yummy.  The ingredients are by themselves tasty, so I would assume that the combination is delicious as well.   I found this recipe in the Chatelaine magazine I get on line every day and I thougth to share it with you:

Five-minute, no-bake, vegan chocolate almond butter chews

Yield: 7 golf-ball sized chews

 Ingredients:

1/4 cup chunky all-natural almond butter

3 tbsp organic brown rice syrup

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup rice crisp cereal

1 tbsp cacao nibs or chopped dark chocolate
Directions:

1. Line a plate with parchment paper.

2. In a medium sized bowl, stir together the almond butter, brown rice syrup, and vanilla. Microwave on high for 35-45 seconds or heat on the stovetop until simmering. Stir well and immediately add in the rice crisp cereal and cacao nibs or chopped chocolate until combined.

3. Wet hands thoroughly and shape the mixture into ‘golf-balls’. Press mixture together firmly so it will hold. Wet hands after each ball is formed so the mixture will not stick to your hands.

4. Place the balls onto parchment paper lined plate and freeze for 5 minutes. You can keep these chews in the freezer in a sealed container. They remain nice and chewy even straight from the freezer.

The original recipe can be found at the following link: http://www.chatelaine.com/en/blog/post/37696–100-calorie-snack-dairy-free-chocolate-almond-butter-chews-ready-in-five-minutes

Bunn's Creek Trail

If you live in EK or Elmwood, you have to check this out!

• 7:00: Sturgeon Creek (from a Westwood start)
• 7:20: Assiniboine Riverwalk
• 7:25: Forks view of the Esplanade;
• 7:45: Discovery of the week! Just over the pedestrian bridge at Chief Peguis and before McIvor on the Northeast Pioneers Gateway is the start of the Bunn’s Creek Trail: a hidden 2.2 km swath of green and blue that cuts through an otherwise ordinary residential area between Raleigh and Henderson Hwy.  Urban paradise!
• 8:15: reward at the venerable Mountain Bean. It doesn’t get much better than this!

The ride back home wasn’t quite as spectacular, but 5.3 km of my route through St. James was over the fully paved Silver Ave bike path that runs all the way from Ferry Rd. past the airport, the Assiniboine Golf Course, and the airbase to Sturgeon Road (and beyond, but that’s for another day).

rrrr... Fearless Leader

rrrr… Profile: Guy Dugas

It crossed my mind that you avid Red River Rebel Riders (rrrr…) supporters (hi Mom) might like to learn a bit more about this year’s team members. We were six last year, and registered so far are Roxanne Hildebrandt, Mike Poitras, Wayne Ferguson, and me, Guy Dugas, the team captain. 15 of my 16 years at RRC have been with Accounting & Computer Education (at both NDC and EDC) with 1 year as Manager Learning Technologies in 2001. I have a sister-in-law with MS and I hope to personally raise $1,000 again (the team raises $3-6,000 each year). Michael Whalen (also expected to ride this year) and I are two of the original three rrrr…(the other was our first captain, Mark Walc). For all 9 years I have ridden the same old clunker of a hybrid bike that probably weighs as much as the rest of the team’s combined. But it is tough and certainly helps keep me in shape. I figure it now has about 25,000 km on it, my longest ride being a mid-life crisis run from Vancouver to Calgary when I turned 50 in 2002. All I  have had to replace are one chain, a set of brake pads and cables, and its rear gears once. It has also helped me support my eating habit.

 With summer fast approaching, many College staff are welcoming the warm rays of the sun. But before you head out for that lunch-hour walk, take proper precautions to protect your skin.

Most of us grew up in an age when a tan was considered a healthy glow. In fact, a tan is a sign of damage, your skin’s effort to protect itself. The thinning ozone layer and our continued quest for that tanned look are making us more susceptible than ever. These days, skin cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in Canada, and will affect one in five people.

There is no such thing as a healthy tan. Always use sunscreen. (MS-Office ClipArt)

The Canadian Cancer Society’s top five killer facts about tanning and skin cancer are:

1. There is no safe tan. Tanning beds cause skin cancer, and a gradual early season tan does not protect you.
2. Melanoma skin cancer is one of the most common and deadliest forms of cancer in those 15 to 29 years of age.
3. Tanning bed use before the age of 35 increases your risk of developing skin cancer by 75%.
4. UV rays from tanning beds can be five times stronger than the mid-day summer sun.
5. Tanned skin is damaged skin. Even when the tan fades, the damage is still there.

We all know that prevention is key. Take precautions and be proactive.

• Reduce your sun exposure. Avoid the sun especially between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., when UV rays are the strongest. Up to 80% of the sun’s rays can penetrate light clouds, and you can still get a sunburn on a cloudy day.
• Cover up. Use a broad spectrum sunscreen of at least 15 SPF to protect against UVA and UVB rays. Wear hats, sunglasses and clothing to protect your skin. Apply 20 minutes before going outdoors, and reapply at least every two hours. Remember that sunscreen cannot totally protect you.
• Know your skin. See your health care provider immediately if you notice changes in a mole or discolouration; a sore that does not heal; or red and bumpy areas of skin that are itchy or bleed.

Know the facts. Learn more at: http://www.cancer.ca or http://www.cancercare.mb.ca .

Here’s a very interesting talk by mycologist Paul Stammets, which came to me via my mushroom hunting father (Steve) and his colleague Alex.  Now that mushrooms have begun popping up, it seems timely to look at some of the farther reaching applications for mushrooms in bio-technology – inlcuding a possible solution for cleaning up oil spills.  It’s a fascinating chat.

Here’s the author’s bio from the TED talks site.

Entrepreneurial mycologist Paul Stamets seeks to rescue the study of mushrooms from forest gourmets and psychedelic warlords. The focus of Stamets’ research is the Northwest’s native fungal genome, mycelium, but along the way he has filed 22 patents for mushroom-related technologies, including pesticidal fungi that trick insects into eating them, and mushrooms that can break down the neurotoxins used in nerve gas.

There are cosmic implications as well. Stamets believes we could terraform other worlds in our galaxy by sowing a mix of fungal spores and other seeds to create an ecological footprint on a new planet.

This one is for is for Sara MacArthur (our Sustainability Officer). Yes, rrrr… stands for Red River Rebel Riders, your team in the Sept. MS Riding Mountain Challenge. But as I was reminded at a sustainability symposium last Friday, rrrr also stands for Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Recharge (OK, I added the last one).

• Reduce: Is your bike out yet? Riding will help you to reduce weight, greenhouse emissions, and stress. Reading signs while you ride can also reduce time. And of course there’s the sticky bun factor. The farther and harder you ride, the more you reduce the guilt of indulging in that little sweetie at the end, Like my cinnamon bun after 41 km at Darakeh, the little Persian restaurant  (yes, Persian) in St. Adolphe last week, or my 4,327.13 calorie berry crumble (now I’m salivating) at the Mountain Bean.
• Reuse: You don’t have to reuse the same old routes to get a good ride. A recurring theme at the symposium was that reclaiming, re-purposing, and restoring are central to sustainability: Both new and improved trails are transforming Winnipeg into an increasingly bike-friendly city.Take the new bridge over the Chief Peguis Trail on the recently resurfaced reclaimed Raleigh rail-bed (rrrrr…). This is one route that I do reuse a lot, and a prefect example of reclamation. The only difference between a bike route and a regular street used to be the signs. Not any more. Only 2 of the 30 km from my doorstep in Westwood to the Mountain Bean on Henderson are not over bike routes. And most of that distance is over dedicated paths, from the pedestrian bridge over Sturgeon Creek, past busy Moray through Assiniboine Park, past the bears on the Riverwalk and Gandhi at the Forks, Stephen Juba park, Higgins, and Raleigh.
• ReCYCLE: As in cycle again and again and again. The more you do, the easier it gets to do longer and longer distances. Like my Saturday ride, my previous 82 km run to St. Adolphe was mainly on bike routes, this time through Assiniboine Park and the Assiniboine Forest, along the Sterling Lyon Parkway, up Waverly to Bishop Grandin, and  Red River Drive. What a great way to start the day!
• Recharge: Great… I forgot my water bottle again. So recharging was top of mind on last Saturday’s ride. Come to think of it, recharging is pretty well always top of my mind (lattes, sticky buns, black bottom cupcakes, berry crumble). Or, Bud, Spud, and Steak! As in this Friday at the Palomino to recharge our Dragon Boat Team. And speaking of recharge, what a lift the Rockwell show at the WAG gave me this week! It’s only here until the end of May, so if you haven’t yet taken it in, cycle on down! This has been the biggest show for the WAG since Andy Warhol (who said, in the spirit of sustainability, “I think having land and not ruining it is the most beautiful art that anybody could ever want to own.”).

Norman Rockwell Triple Self-Portrait

At Red River College, we value a healthy environment: through promotion of creativity, wellness, flexibility, safety, and sustainable learning. RRC President Stephanie Forsyth is a strong proponent of health, wellness, and life balance.

She recently provided some insight into her personal beliefs, attitudes, and activities on the subject. In addition to elaborating on some of the ways she likes to relax while enjoying precious downtime, Stephanie also shared her thoughts on community, ideas about wellness at the College – and even her favorite snack.

This is the second of a two-part series featuring a Q+A with Red River College’s chief executive.

Missed part one? Read it here.

Read More →