8 Tips for Keeping the Family Healthy

By Carole Cousineau

1. Plan Healthy Meals Ahead
 – When you know the week will be hectic: take a day to plan a few healthy meals that can be put in the freezer. Then during the week add salad and serve. Make larger portions so you have leftovers and pack them up for lunches.
2. Make Healthy Snacks More Convenient – As soon as you come home with groceries spend some time to make healthy foods easy to grab. Cut up and wash your strawberries and leave them in a bowl so your family can eat them instead of popcorn. Pre-portion and package a mix of vegetables so when you’re planning the kids lunches you have a quick and healthy grab. We all want munchy snacks so keep the chocolates in an area out of reach and away from the kitchen so it is a weekly treat rather than a daily afternoon snack.
3. Don’t Force Dinners
 – Give your family choices when you are cooking. Children hate having broccoli on their plate with no notification. So ask them if they would like broccoli or celery, this gives them a few healthy options and then they wont feel like they have to eat the worst food ever.
4. Be Careful of Portion Sizes – Since 1975 child obesity has tripled. So please don’t starve the kids but watch the portion you are feeding them. Consider the age and sex of your children, these are factors that determine how much your children should be eating. If you find that your family gets very hungry make sure they are getting snacks between meals. This will speed up their metabolism and large portion sizes will be easier to downsize.
5. Watch Out for “Healthy” Versions 
- Most of these options that are sugar free or fat free or sodium free usually have another substance that can often times be just as bad for you.  Instead, splurge on tiny portions of the real thing. Don’t drink a bottle of Coke Zero, split a can of Coke with someone as a treat instead of a drink with lunch.
6. Offer a Challenge 
- Instead of the usual post-dinner leap to the TV room suggest an active game of charades, go for a bike ride, or play in the park. Trade in the high-calorie dessert for a fun and healthy alternative, like dipping fruit in yogurt or making fruit smoothies.
7. Use Your Feet
 - Walk with your kids to the store, or if you have to drive, park at the back of the lot. In those extra steps, you’ll unlearn lazy habits and learn more about your kids.
8. Plan a Family Fitness Activity – This can include an outdoor adventure, playing soccer, or trying a group fitness class together; you’ll be surprised how much fun fitness can be.

New Sports Camp on the West Island

If you have children who love being outdoors and playing sports, you may want to check out the new multi-sport day camp offered by Le Club West Island sport and fitness club in Beaconsfield.

Geared towards kids ages 6 to 14, the camp will offer instruction in lacrosse, ball hockey, football, soccer, Ultimate Frisbee and basketball, as well as swimming at a local pool. There will an emphasis placed on good sportsmanship, teamwork, leadership, and conflict resolution. Sports are taught by skilled instructors and the club has indoor facilities, so activities will take place rain or shine.

The following article by Jennifer Braun, appeared in the May 2012 issue of Montreal Families.

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Congratulations on a Successful Kayak Racing Season

We would like to congratulate Le Club West Island members Arthur Cory and Lisa Spour for their outstanding racing accomplishments during this summer’s Kayak season. Both Arthur and Lisa are proud members of the Pointe Claire Canoe Club Masters team and it’s no surprise to us that their hard work and dedication paid-off at the finish line.

We’ve seen them both in-action on the weight room floor AND in a variety of our group conditioning classes.  They are two individuals who are truly dedicated to training to become better athletes in their chosen sports!

Despite being a relative newcomer to the sport, Arthur collected some pretty impressive results this season:

Arthur’s results:

• 1st place (novice) 500 m k1 at Ottawa
• 1st place (novice) 200 m k1 at Ottawa
• 6th place (age group 60-64) 500 m K1 at the Canadian Master Championships in Welland
• Bronze medal (age group 60-64) 500 m K4 at the Canadian Master Championships in Welland
• Bronze medal (age group 60-64) 500 m K2 at the Canadian Master Championships in Welland
• 3rd Place (age group 60-64) in the 16 kilometer Chateauguay River Race.

Arthur’s success comes as no surprise to Lisa; “I watched him almost every day at lunch out on the water.  He and his K2 partner would go out in their kayak and tip repeatedly, and I mean repeatedly! But they swam back to the dock and got right back in the boat to try again and again.  The team was so proud of them to win the Bronze medal at Nationals.”

Lisa also enjoyed phenomenal success and placed top 3 in 16 of her races.  While she’s definitely proud of all her accomplishments, she is especially thrilled with her placements at the National and Provincial level races as well as the Ottawa Regatta.

Lisa’s results:

• 1st place mixed K2 500m at the Rideau Canoe Club Regatta in Ottawa, Ontario
• Silver medal Women’s K4 500m at Canadian Master Championships in Welland, Ontario
• Bronze medal K1 2000m at Provincial Championship in Shawinigan, Quebec
• Bronze medal K1 10,000m at Provincial Championship in Shawinigan, Quebec

Lisa attributes part of her success to her participation in Terri’s cycle class at Le Club and says; “I am sure that Terri’s indoor cycle class, focusing on endurance, truly helped me have the energy to push through the long distance races. The longest race was 16km and I won it!”

Congratulations on a great season, we’re very proud of you!

10 Tips for Fall Fitness

With 10 easy tips, you can stay fit without even knowing that you’re exercising. Simply get outside and enjoy the crisp, fall air and gorgeous scenery.

1) Take a walk. With the heat of the summer long gone, fall is the perfect time to take a brisk walk through your neighborhood. You could even drive to a nearby hiking trail. Bring a bottle of water and your camera.

2) Rake up your leaves. Just one hour of raking the leaves from your lawn can burn 275 calories. If you’re feeling ambitious and want more fitness, do your neighbor’s lawn too.

3) Take your kids trick or treating. Try going to a neighborhood a few blocks from your own, and walk the entire way. You’ll get to see the scary decorations and sneak in some fitness. When you return home, have your children pick 10 pieces of candy, and then store the rest of the goodies for later, somewhere where it won’t be tempting for you to have a bite.

4) Infuse your fall television lineup with some much-needed fitness. Get down on the floor and do an activity for each commercial; crunches, push-ups, jumping jacks. And try a healthy snack like carrots and hummus instead of chips and popcorn.

5) Don’t indulge only because it’s the holidays. It can be tempting to go for that second helping of candied sweet potatoes, but keep your goals in mind. You can always take leftovers home, so pace yourself at Thanksgiving, Eat slowly and pay attention to your body cues to tell you when you’re full, not stuffed.

6) Take advantage of a fall harvest and purchase fresh produce from a farmer’s market. Apples, cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, corn and other seasonal treats taste great and are easy on your waistline.

7) Walk your children to school instead of driving them. Not only is it great for your fitness level, it’s a good way to keep your kids active

8) Choose a new group conditioning class offered by Le Club West Island.  We offer fun and challenging muscle circuit classes, group indoor cycle, Pilates and yoga. Try something new for your fitness level.

9) If you don’t like working out alone, recruit some friends to come along. Chances are with the children in school, your friends may have some extra free time to walk, run, head to the gym or do a fitness video.

10) Place a picture of you in the summer, at the beach or pool somewhere where you’ll see it often, to remind yourself that although the cooler weather has you more covered up, another summer will soon be here. It may be the push you need to stay fit even though you’re wearing coats and sweaters instead of shorts and tank tops.

The Heat is ON!

If you love to exercise outside in the fresh air, this time of year can be downright hot and sticky. Harsh summer conditions may mean it’s challenging to exercise outdoors.

Knowing how to handle these outdoor conditions will protect you from fatigue and heat-related diseases. Jason R. Karp, PhD, exercise physiologist and owner of RunCoachJason.com, discusses what you can do to prepare yourself for the summer heat.

Hydrate

Beginning a workout fully hydrated or even “hyperhydrating” (hydrating to a greater degree than normal) before a workout can delay dehydration during exercise, maintain exercise performance and decrease the risk for heat-related illnesses.

Pre-exercise fluid intake enhances your ability to control body temperature and increases plasma volume to maintain cardiac output. You should drink enough fluids before exercising in the heat to begin every workout fully hydrated, and you should continue to drink during workouts longer than 1 hour (see next section for specific guidelines of what to drink.)

A good indicator of your hydration levels is urine color. The lighter the urine color, the better the level of hydration. Your urine should look like lemonade rather than apple juice.

What Should You Drink?

Fluid Before Exercise. Drink 500 milliliters (ml) 2 hours before exercise.

During Exercise. Drink about 200 ml every 15–20 minutes, aiming to match fluid intake to sweat loss. Maintain 400–600 ml of fluid in the stomach to optimize gastric emptying.

After Exercise. Drink 1 liter (L) per kilogram (kg) of weight lost during exercise.

Sodium

Sodium intake is necessary only if exercise lasts more than 60 minutes or if you have a sodium deficiency. Before, during and after exercise, consume 0.5–0.7 gram (g) per L of fluid.

Glycerol

Drinks that contain glycerol cause fluid retention. This effect facilitates hyperhydration, protects against dehydration and maintains core body temperature.

Before Exercise. Ingest 1.2 g per kg of body weight in a 20% glycerol solution within a 30-minute period, followed by 26 ml of water per kg of body weight, distributed over the 90 minutes prior to exercise.

During Exercise. Ingest 0.125 g per kg of body weight mixed in 5 ml of fluid per kg of body weight.

After Exercise. Ingest 1.0 g per kg of body weight mixed in 1.5 L of fluid.

Acclimatize

Chronically exposing yourself to a hot and humid environment simulates adaptations that lesson the stress. Cardiovascular adaptations to exercising in the heat are nearly complete within 3–6 days. Full acclimatization becomes complete after 2 weeks as the increased sweating response catches up to the other adaptations. Therefore, take 2 weeks of slowly introducing yourself to the heat to be fully acclimatized and prepared for prolonged continuous exercise.

Recommendations For Heat Acclimatization

1. Attain adequate fitness in cool environments before attempting to acclimatize to the heat.
2. Exercise at intensities > 50% VO2max, and gradually increase the duration (up to 90–100 minutes per day) and intensity of the workouts during the first 2 weeks.
3. Perform highest-intensity workouts during the cooler morning or evening hours and other training during the hotter times of the day.
4. Monitor body weight to ensure that proper hydration is maintained as sweat rate increases.
5. If you must train during the hotter part of the day, do so in the shade and wear loose-fitting, moisture-wicking, light- coloured clothes that reflect the sunlight.