ottawa foodies

Since there has been a lot of talk lately about a healthy lifestyle, I thought I'd venture into what I suppose is officially off-topic : exercise. But it's sort of on topic, too, because in my view you cannot have a healthy lifestyle without 2 things : diet and exercise. They go hand in hand.

Just curious what folks here do for the other half of that balance.

My own history goes something like this. I was never in shape as a kid - didn't do sports or exercise in any real way other than general running around. Genetics weren't working in my favour either. In my early/mid teens (early 80s) my dad signed me up for Karate, which I stayed with a few years but never took seriously. By my late teens, early 20s, weight had started to become an issue for me. That's when I made my first stumblings into "healthy living"

For a few years I tried a number of different things, including several variations on diet, and exercise. But oddly enough, never at the same time. I'd try diet alone to manage weight for 8 or 10 months, with no luck. Then I'd try exercise alone. No luck. Then diet again. Same results. I don't really recall what finally clued me in that I had to do them both at the same time, but once I did, bingo! Weight management!

That epiphany came in the mid / late 80s - probably I'd guess around 1986 or 1987. And I guess it would have coincided with all my reading into Macrobiotics, as well as my first big ventures into cooking. I started out doing a lot of swimming at the pool at university. Every weekday morning at 7am as I recall. I also got into x-country skiing around that time, which is something my father introduced me to at a young age, and an interest which came and went over the years since then. In the late 80s / early 90s I did a fair bit of weight training and cycling. Mother necessity forced me into jogging at times simply because I had no other means of getting exercise, and it's an easy fall-back position that requires next to no special equipment nor special training place. Oh, and bad knees got me experimenting with power walking for a while, as well, which I really enjoyed.

By the early 2000s I was out of any sort of exercise again, and my waistline showed it! But in 2004 I finally tried out an Aikido class. I had several friends training, so there was some peer pressure. I'd also heard about the the spiritual side of Aikido, which got me interested too. And even though I never really got "into" Karate when I'd done it as a teenager, I always had this romantic interest in martial arts.

My first Aikido dojo fell apart about a year after I'd joined, so I moved over to the Ottawa Aikikai on Catherine street. It turned out to be better anyway since they have a morning class, and I always found that exercising was best done first thing in the morning. So these days you can find me 5 days a week at 203 Catherine St (conveniently located right around the corner from the Clocktower Brewpub!) at 6am. www.ottawaaikikai.ca

Anyway, I'm still a strong believer that neither diet nor exercise alone can result in a healthy lifestyle. You have to have both. I'm really glad that I'm so hooked on Aikido because it should mean that I will have no trouble for the rest of my life getting lots of great exercise. Coincidentally, Aikido is also strongly linked with Macrobiotics, and it's founder Master Morehei Ueshiba was said to have been a close friend to George Ohsawa, who founded the Macrobiotic diet and philosophy (to bring it back on topic!). Double-coincidence, perhaps, but Ohsawa was also of direct Samurai lineage.

p.s. my old username on this site was "bushidoka", which is what I use most everywhere else. It means "one who trains in the martial arts". But I changed my username to my other hobby since it was clearly more food-related :-)

I powereat, does that count?

Seriously though, I walk my dog... a lot. I also lift weights, kayak, golf, swim, bike, hit the treadmill (sometimes literally), etc. I used to box at Beaver Boxing until I blew apart my ankle, ah well!

I do Ashtanga yoga and run. I bike a fair bit in the summer. I also rarely drive anywhere so I get in a lot of walking in a typical day. In fact, about a month ago I was bored one nice Sunday afternoon so I did a 7km walk, just wandering around the city.

My job is physical, so that helps too.

I cycle during the summer and skate during the winter. Especially on the canal after work when it's dark and you can't see the holes in the ice - I have unintentionally done a few triple axle sow cows that way LOL! And definitely walking. I live and work downtown and walk everywhere. I sometimes bus it to Billings and walk home from there with a coffee break at Starbucks.

I actually used to be severely obese. Funnily enough I was eating a ton of crap (processed) foods (a litre of chocolate milk, a big mac, supersize fries and a whole big bag of cool ranch doritoes used to be a regular dinner for me). I moved to Montreal after I finished college and I like say I rebooted my relationship with food. Food became something to savour and enjoy, and I began choosing whole grains, fruits, vegetables and lean meats. I completely cut out fast food, butter and other sauces/fats. I lost 30lbs in the first month and I haven't looked back since - although I do allow myself to have butter and sauces once in a while now :) Fast food is very rare except for my weakness, Pizza Hut...something about that pan crust!

A couple of years ago I realised that the diet-only approach was no longer doing it and I took up weightlifting. I was soon pretty bored with that and last summer I took up running. I love running and can't wait to get back into it when the snow melts...next year I'll buy a treadmill (now that we have somewhere to put it!) so I don't fall off the wagon in the winter again.

Ha! I do absolutely nothing right now, and it sucks. Once the snow clears I'm looking forward to my "exercise" of "walking everywhere to go shopping."

Because, really, I don't think that I eat too unhealthily (depending on how one defines that). I'm just not that active in the winter, that's all!

Not enough :-(

Never been a big fan of exercise (but clearly a BIG fan of food & wine). Tend to do more in the summer than the winter, so I'm hoping the good weather will get here soon.

what Momomoto & F&T say. I have taken up a bit of tobogganing, though. Definitely not the most dignified form of exercise :) ... but it beats staying in all winter.

In the summer I'm pretty active when I'm not working.
Normally soccer, some badminton, I have a cottage up near Charleston Lake so I'm always swimming, kneeboarding or wakeboarding. + tanning. I used to bike a lot when I first moved to Hull/Ottawa, but my bike got stolen :( and I haven't found the $$ or energy to buy another bike yet.

In the winter.... DDR or I play Wii Tenis! hahaha.

OK, this is the part where I admit that I had a bit of an alterior motive when starting this thread : I was hoping to generate some interest in Aikido, especially amongst anyone who might be an early bird and interested in coming out at 6am to get some exercise with us. Our morning class is in danger of being cancelled unless we get some more interest.

In any case, if you are interested, private message me here on the site. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have about Aikido. It's very different from other martial arts and so if you have tried something else and didn't like it, that won't necessarily mean you won't like Aikido. This art is all about cooperation, not competition. And every class is different so you don't have those boring drills to repeat over and over.

I can tell you that Aikido is a great full-body workout. You get excellent cardio, excellent muscular workout, and if I might add an excellent mental and spiritual workout! A friend of mine started about 8 months ago. About a month ago his wife commented to me what great shape he'd gotten into thanks to Aikido (3 classes a week in his case). She is a professional personal trainer, so she knows what she is talking about :-)

Here is a video of a demo we did last spring at Asian Health Day at the Bronson Center.

video.google.ca

My sincere apologies to Fresh Foodie - but I'm really getting desperate wanting to save my morning class. So I've been pumping everyone I know - which includes you guys :-(

If I was still in Ottawa I might take you up on that, zymurgist. I've been interested in Aikido for a few years now and would like to give it a shot.

Fortunately I have a friend here in Toronto who does Aikido and can recommend where to go.

I hope you are able to save your morning class!

I also know the Toronto scene very well - there is a celebrity who teaches the morning class at one dojo, in fact :-)

Now I'm curious: Which dojo?

My friend practices here: aikidotendokai.com but if I do try Aikido, that may not be where I go.

shugyo.com/times.html

Twice a week in the morning you get your celebrity - but I'm not going to tell you who it is so you'll have to go there to find out :-)

Thanks for the info! :)

haha... sneaky zymurgist! :-)

I honestly wasn't planning the "direct approach" but this morning's class seemed particularly grim. But since posting that above I spoke to Sensei and it's not as bad as I thought. So we have a bit of a reprieve with morning class. My apologies. I really would still like to hear about how others get their exercise. I'm actually very interested in Yoga and am curious as to the different types. Perhaps Candice can tell us something about what Astanga is.

I'm glad your morning class may not be in danger after all, zym!

As for Ashtanga Yoga: It's a physically challenging type of yoga that gives you a good cardio workout along with your stretching and relaxation exercises. You are taken through a set series of poses within a class, linking your breath to the movements. If you're doing it right, you should work up a good sweat.

Also an FYI: Ashtanga is sometimes is called 'power yoga'. However, not all power yoga is Ashtanga! Some power yoga classes are just a 'sped up' Hatha yoga class, or some other type of yoga done at a more vigorous pace. Which is great, if that's what you want, but can be frustrating to Ashtanga practitioners looking for a class. ;)

More on Ashtanga: www.ashtangayogashala.ca

To tie the 2 halves together, i was reading one of my Aikido books tonight and hit upon this quote from George Ohsawa, the father of Macrobiotics :

"Aikido constitutes a principle underlying all religion, philosophy and science and it can, therefore, help to solve the ideologicial problems of the world. Through practical movements which require judgement, reasoning, and instant action, it teaches respect for others, the superiority of softness and adaptability over strength and unreasonableness, and a view of life based on harmony and natural order"

Ohsawa wrote a great deal about Aikido. And in the book I'm reading (www.amazon.ca/dp/0892815086) it very clearly states that Master Ueshiba (the founder of Aikido) ate a macrobiotic diet, and considered this to be a basic 'non-starter' for Aikido practice. i.e. a basic assumption that you cannot do one without the other.