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Be healthier in 2014 with these “revolutionary” treatments

January 7, 2014

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From the Globe and Mail article on Jan. 5, Fifteen things Canadians can do to be healthier this year, here are two fantastic suggestions by two experts in mental and physical wellness; get outside and walk more! Living a healthy lifestyle is pretty simple stuff.

Try a revolutionary ‘new’ treatment

There is a super expensive new drug coming out. It reduces heart disease by 60 per cent, cancer by 27 per cent, Alzheimer’s by 50 per cent and arthritis by 47 per cent. It’s now our best treatment for fatigue and low back pain. It cures a third of erectile dysfunction, and cuts anxiety and depression by 48 per cent. People even lose weight on this stuff … Okay, it’s not new or expensive or even a pill. It’s walking. If I had to pick one thing, I’d say movement is the best medicine.

Mike Evans, staff physician at St. Michael’s Hospital, associate professor of family medicine and public health at the University of Toronto

Take it outside

Go for a noontime walk outside, especially in winter. Why? You get at least five times as much light as the brightest office (even on dark, stormy days). You get exercise (well, at least some activity). And you avoid big lunches (or at least have less time to eat). All of which helps your mood, memory and weight.

Raymond Lam, professor of psychiatry at the University of British Columbia and director of the Mood Disorders Centre, UBC Hospital

Merry, snowy Christmas!

December 21, 2013

lori

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Merry Christmas!

I hope you will join us on the snowy trails this winter! The snowshoeing and cross-country skiing is fantastic right now in the Alberta and British Columbia Rocky Mountains. The urban hikes in Calgary are great year-round. Come on out for a fresh walk and cup of coffee at unique local coffee shops in Calgary.

Check our calendar of events, the winter programs begin on January 7th. Come once or get a membership for the winter session.

Join us for a fresh, outdoor, active New Year!

Hope to see you on the trails in 2014,

– Lori

Where to hike in the Rockies and Calgary after the Alberta flood?

August 15, 2013

lori

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Helen Lake Trail, Banff National Park

I have been researching trails to hike after the June flooding and thought I would share my findings. The most up-to-date information on where to hike after the flood can be found at this link . It is a wonderful resource of all the post-flood trail conditions in Kananaskis and Banff National Park. Thanks to Rachel for putting this together!

Douglas Fir Trail, Edworthy Park, Calgary

And for those of you who want to hit the urban trails, most routes from my guidebook, Calgary’s Best Hikes and Walks, are doable. The major changes to the pathway system that affect urban hikes are the three missing pedestrian bridges over the Elbow River in the southwest. The bridge at Sandy Beach Park is the most inconvenient change since it is a critical link. It is easy to navigate around the other two missing bridges by using the road bridges.

I’ll continue to provide updates as I work on my new book, Calgary’s Best Urban Hikes, and as I hike the mountain trails!

Enjoy the wonderful weather out there! Lori

Snowshoe the Rockies (with the kids!)

January 17, 2013

lori

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It’s time to play in the snow! Grab your friends and your family, a duffel bag full of clothes, your backpacks, some snowshoes, a crazy carpet, a shovel (for building snow forts at the trailhead!) and a heck of a lot of yummy food and thermoses of hot drinks; you are going snowshoeing in the Rockies!

Snowshoeing is as easy as walking! It’s simply left, right and repeat. There is no skill needed, no technique. But you do need to have some cardiovascular fitness because it can be challenging when you step off the beaten trail. And that, by the way, if the best part (the whole point) of snowshoeing! Get into the deep, powdery snow! Play, fall down and pounce. Snowshoeing generally follows some well know hiking trails, but snowshoeing is not as much about destination as it is about playing in snow.

There are some wonderful snowshoe routes in the Kananaskis Rockies as well as in Banff National Park and Yoho National Park. The main thing to know about choosing a wonderful snowshoe route is to be aware of and to avoid avalanche terrain and to ensure that you have the topographical maps (and know how to use them!) so you do not get lost or end up in avalanche terrain. And remember, cellphones rarely work in the the mountains so the motto, “BE PREPARED” is a good one to follow.

Our next snowshoe day is this weekend, January 20th and our next FAMILY FUN club Fit Frog snowshoe is on Saturday, Feb. 9th! Both outings will be full of powder pouncing and route finding and having fun in the snow. And if you are keen to take a weekend away, join us for a Family Fun getaway in YOHO National Park based in tiny Field, BC on February 15-17, 2013.

SNOWSHOE PRESENTATION
If you want to know more, or see a slide presentation to help you learn all you need to know to get started snowshoeing, get in touch and I can come and speak to your group!

Come on out and join us! Make winter your new favourite season!

“Alberta Walkability Roadshow” research missed the big picture and won’t get people to walk more

November 12, 2012

lori

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We have all heard that walking is good for us for a whole bunch of reasons. And in case you have not heard why walking is the best acitvity for your health, then check out one of my favourite presentations on why you need to walk more by Doc Mike Evans. The bigger question is why do people walk? Or better still, why don’t people walk, or exercise, more? Active living, or incorporating activity into your every day, is the goal of all health advocates. The active living message has a hard time competing with our multi-tasking car culture. Living in an active way is a no brainer as far as health goes, but for most people, driving to and getting cheap stuff at Costco or Walmart, is a bigger priority than the health benefits of walking to the local store.

So, what’s a health advocate to do? How do we get people to focus in on their health while they are rushing from one activity to the next, eating prepared meals, sometimes while driving?

In my 20 years of leading people on thousands of urban and wilderness walks in Calgary and Alberta, writing guidebooks on urban walking and biking in Calgary, promoting active living through through presentations, and through my magazine and newspaper articles, I have learned why people walk.

Why people walk

The majority of people who choose to walk, to be active daily, do so for these reasons:

1. For fitness and health

2. For friendship (mostly women)

3. To attain a goal or reach a destination (mostly men)

The Alberta Walkability Roadshow project launched by Alberta Health Services in 2011, is, on the surface, admirable. Their goal is to help Albertans integrate activity into their day-to-day lives; a fantastic idea. The problem with their research is that the initiative leads to a lot of long term, built environment talk as a way to get people to walk. There is a lot of focus on making it nicer for people to walk, on signage for walkers, infrastructure to encourage walking, and having useful things for people to walk to in their communities. Don’t get me wrong, I do agree that all of this would be wonderful. I would love all communities in Canada to be set up for walkers and cyclists. I would love it if more people would walk for transportation as I do everyday in Calgary. However, this is not a reasonable, immediate goal for most of Canada. With the exception of high density cities like Vancouver and Montreal, most communities are being built or redesigned for cars. Small towns and cities across Canada are losing their main street life due to the Walmart fungus. Walmart is always on the outskirts of communities and once it gets a hold, all other services, like the supermarkets, the liquor store, the McDonalds, the Tim Horton’s, follow.

The Walmart phenomenon: my on foot research in Woodstock, New Brunswick

My research on this Walmart phenomenom was done in Woodstock, the oldest town in the province of New Brunswick. I grew up in Woodstock, a town of 5000 people, and now my family and I spend our summers there. The little town situated along the Saint John River, is historic and picturesque. Unfortunately the town and the province moved ALL services out the downtown core. And I do blame the town and province for the death of Woodstock’s downtown core since it was the shortsightedness of the town that allowed Walmart to locate on the TransCanada Highway, away from all neighbourhoods. The province then moved the liquor store out to be close to Walmart. The supermarkets, fast food outlets and movie theatre are also nearby. The location of these services means that most people need to drive to get groceries. And since cheap food is a priority pretty much everywhere nowadays, including Woodstock, the McDonald’s drive-through always has a line up at lunch.The built environment is set in Woodstock and in many small towns across Canada and it is not set up for active transport.

Get people walking right now: A Grassroots Initiative

In order to get people to start walking today, right now, there needs to be more grassroots initiatives in all villages, towns and cities across Canada.There needs to be a lot less talk of built environment, walkable communities and walking for transportation and a lot more encouragement for people to just walk for recreation, for fun and for fitness. And once people start enjoying more walking, get hooked on healthy behaviours, then perhaps these people will begin to recognize the value in having a walkable community.

How to get people to WALK MORE

Through my hands on, grassroots workshops, I help recreation departments in all cities and towns create walking programs and that easy to operate, and inexpensive. The goal? Get community members walking, right now!

1. Start of “Walking for Fitness” program with walking guides. Research and create a variety of routes in and around the town or city. Provide route maps!

2. Make it social and fun! Create a variety of walks to attract a diverse group; “Coffee shop hikes” or “Family Treks“

3. Provide a goal or add some brainwork! Create a program called “Hiking Training” to attract the goal oriented people to the group. Work towards the goal of doing longer hikes and add these hikes to the ongoing walking program. For example, in Woodstock , NB, the town walks could build fitness for the upcoming trek to Mount Carleton.

4. Create walking maps! Many people may like to head out on walks independently.

Creating a walking culture

Or better yet, create a culture of self-propelled living! Waiting for a community to become more walkable, to have the infrastructure to make walking or cycling pleasant and easy, is not a short term goal for most communities. And most communities need to make a change now, get people moving now, in order to combat the health decline of its citizens. It is critical that more people see the value in walking, the benefits to active living. Once they are hooked on an active lifestyle, then and only then will they start to make a push for more walkable communities. A walking culture is created when people just start walking more. Get out there!!

Glaciers, lakes and waterfalls! Hiking the Iceline Trail and ratatouille at Takkakaw Falls

September 19, 2012

lori

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In Yoho National Park, BC, there is a hike that has it all. The Iceline Trail is a switch-back climb to glaciers, water features spreading across glacier scraped rocks, lakes and views of Takkakaw Falls, Canada’s highest waterfall, pouring off the Daly Glacier. We hiked the Iceline last weekend, on a spectacular blue sky fall day. We’ll repeat this fantastic getaway next summer, on August 23-25, 2013. It will be a lodge based catered getaway! Great hikes and great food. Hard to beat that.

So, back to our recent adventure. We arrived at Takkakaw Falls campground the evening before the hike and set up camp. The campground is a walk-in camping area and carts are provided at the parking area so that you can wheel your supplies in. Our kids LOVE camping! What kid wouldn’t love a campfire, a swiss army knife for carving marshmallow roasting sticks and getting good and dirty in the fresh mountain air and ending the day with sleeping in a tent.

Cool weather camping tip: The temperatures last weekend reached high 20’s in the daytime and then dropped below freezing at night so we had to bring extra sleeping bags to put on top of our Thermarest sleeping pad to stop the cold from the ground from reaching us. We also need more covers throughout the night as the condensation from our warm bodies and breathing froze on top of our down-filled sleeping bags. Wet or damp down is not as warm as dry down. Be sure to shake off the frost before it melts or, if the bag is already damp on top, put it out in the daytime sun to dry off.

We met up with some Club Fit Frog hikers and headed up the Iceline Trail early on Saturday morning. We climbed well above Takkakaw Falls and enjoyed sunshine the entire day. My kids are 10 and 8 years and are used to hiking for many hours at a time. One question I often get from friends is “how the heck do we get our kids to hike for 6 hours without whining?”

Don’t focus on the destination! We are not destination focussed hiking family. It turns out that kids are much better at enjoying the journey and are not so caught up in the goal, the end point, the destination. So change your approach to hiking and make it fun. Explore more. Check out the rocks, scrambling through creeks and over boulders. Carry lots of tasty snacks, treats that only come out on the hiking trail, and encourage kids to eat and drink. Food keeps them full of energy! And talk lots as you walk. Discuss things, enjoy being together, sing songs.

After a great day on the trail we headed to the campground to start preparing dinner. Ahh, a cold beer! Our chicken was marinating and we needed to chop veggies for ratatouille. New potatoes from our little backyard garden finished the meal (okay, chocolate brownies was the ultimate finish).

The campfire was stoked and dinner was soon on the grill. The kids worked on carving sticks and we enjoyed a cold drink in the sun. After dinner, we went for a walk to get closer to Takkakaw Falls and throw rocks in the river. The sun was setting, the temperature dropped and so we moved in closer to the fire. Soon the sky was full of stars. Another fun, active outdoor weekend. Join us next August as we explore the area once again!

An active cross-Canada summer (with no blogs!)

September 3, 2012

lori

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I have discovered that enjoying the slower pace of summer means I spend a lot less time on the computer and therefore this is my first blog since June. I think everyone should have a social media holiday. A break from constant updates allows you to focus on the moment without thinking about how to write about it later.

My family and I spent 7 weeks visiting the Maritimes and Eastern Canada. When we returned to Calgary, we hung out and relaxed, walked the city and hiked and camped in the Rockies.

It was a summer full of long hot days and warm nights. There was lots of time for the kids to get bored and then start to explore and create, to read a book, to be useful and help with dinner, and then set the table and to wash the dishes. We did a lot but nothing was rushed because every day was a clean slate. It was just what the doctor ordered after 10 months of structure.

I’ll try to sum it all up with this stream of consciousness approach, here it goes:

Hot and humid, outdoor dinners every night, the neighbours pool and sprinklers, Popsicles and strawberry shortcake, warm evenings, tree forts, fireflies, crickets, Ontario peaches, lobster dinners, Maritime molasses brown bread, my son driving the riding lawnmower at his grandparents.

My daughter playing piano with my mum, going for coffee in small town NB every morning with Grammie’s friends, walking and running on the rail trail along the Saint John River in Woodstock, NB’s oldest town, a phenomenal Anne of Green Gables play in Charlottetown, PEI, walking the Charlottetown waterfront, a 10 km road race (5 km for the kids), catching up with a few high-school friends.

Picnics on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec, speaking French, eating gelato and ice cream, staying in and walking Quebec City, all day, every day for a week, tasty Quebec cheeses and fresh baguettes for lunch.

A swim in the free public pool along the Saint Lawrence River and then climbing 400 stairs from the Saint Lawrence to the Plains of Abraham, moules frites, hand-made gelato at Tutto Gelato on Rue Saint Jean.

Strolling the back streets searching for fountains to cool us, farmer’s markets and fresh produce from l’Ile d’Orleans, enjoying a glass of wine in the park, legally (Calgary take note).

ICE CREAM in Quebec City!!

Cooler packed picnics amongst the tourists at the road-side highway turnoffs, a hike in the parched Gateneau’s, 34 degrees and high humidity (water!!), another outdoor pool, watching the Olympics in the air conditioning.

Walks along Lake Ontario in Kingston, a train ride to Montreal, energy and life on Rue St. Denis, the success of Montreal’s Bixie bike program (oh, when the kids are a bit bigger…), traveling the underground, walks to the Atwater and Jean Talon markets, a picnic on Mont Royal, lots and lots of gelato and ice cream.

Back in Calgary, relaxing, packing and cooking for camping, my daughter catching up with her stuffies, my son catching up with his friends, going camping in the Rockies with friends and their kids, we all hiked 15 km and 700 meters to Rockbound Lake, Banff National Park and the next day 11 km and 500 meters to Stanley Glacier in Kootenay National Park.

Hot, sweaty, horseflies and mosquitoes, dunking our bodies and heads in the creeks and waterfalls pouring off the Stanley Glacier, the 6 and 8 year old having running races in the campground after 7 hours of hiking.

Camp fires and marshmallows, double chocolate layer cake, beer!, Greek lamb burgers and spaghetti with fresh basil tomato sauce, BC peaches and blueberries from DJ’s market in Calgary (the only REAL not a rip-off farmer’s market in the city).

More camping on the Icefields Parkway, burr, our morning wake-up to ice in the water bottles on the last weekend in August, a black bear running into the campsite, Helen Lake Hike, purple rock and fuchsia Indian Paintbrush, vibrant green moss in the stream.

Scrambling on boulders, marmots and pikas and glaciers, dinners with friends to hear about their summer, hikes with Club Fit Frog, family hikes with lots of kids (and lots of snacks!), can’t jam in anything else. Labour day is here.

And that pretty much sums it up. We had a fantastic summer exploring the east and west of Canada. We are lucky and life is good. It’s back to school and to some routine, but we’ll be sure to leave lots of free time for spontaneity and fun; for exploration and creativity.

Fall is one of my favourite seasons, the air is fresh, the colours emerge and the hiking is wonderful.

More adventures await!

Rocky Mountain Birthday Cake Hike!

June 14, 2012

lori

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I think that a hike that ends with a homemade cake is one of the best hikes ever. My friend Carmen makes THE BEST cakes in the world. This is a 6th year that I have enjoyed one of her post-hike cakes on my birthday, in the mountains. My regular Club Fit Frog hikers start asking about the June birthday hike date in the winter. Yesterday, after a mostly sunny (slightly rainy) hike in the Elbow Valley area of the Kananakis Rockies, we enjoyed this decadent creation.

The hike was a colourful trek through fields of wildflowers. June is the rainy month and the foothills are lush and green. The lower elevation hikes are the best spots to be immersed in wildflowers in the late spring.

Prairie Creek Trail, on Hwy. 66/Elbow Falls Trail Kananaskis, is a nice 4 ish hour, 10 km rolling terrain hike that is perfect on a day when the clouds are low and thunder storms forecasted (like they were yesterday!). Make sure you wear your waterproof boots.The creek is high right now and we had to ford it at the end of the hike, on Prairie Link Trail.

Wilderness adventures

Try a revolutionary ‘new’ treatment

Take it outside

Merry Christmas!