Sacred Sharing

Friday evening we fly out to Haiti, to do medical clinics, for my third and Ian's second time. 

I am not going to go on about finding food in Haiti.  While in Haiti we will respectfully eat what is served to us while making the best choices possible.

Our ability to choose healthy options and eliminate certain foods as well as run or swim for exercise is put in perspective by a trip like this.

Healthy food should be a human right, but in practicality it is actually a luxury.  Food in any form is all most of the people we encounter could even hope to have.

When fundraising for this trip we did a race; 25km for me and 15km for Ian.  To explain this to one of the children there would be mind boggling for them.  "Why would you force yourself to run for 25km??  People paid you to do that???"  Even exercise for health (or the need for it as it is not supplied by our work) is foreign to the people we meet.  They hold on to their calories, they don't expend them . . . they don't even get enough to maintain their bodies.

All this to say; we are pursuing healthy living because we are blessed enough to have that option.

But, in Haiti, I will humbly and graciously accept every offering of hospitality with the awareness that they are giving me something huge, something profound.  When thinking of it; I feel teary eyed and am aware of something so much bigger than just shared food.  All meals held in community are so much more than a bowl of soup or a loaf of bread.  I am so blessed and privileged to go and give my time, my money, my energy to help, but to receive sustenance in return from someone who has so little overwhelms me.

I will be honoured to share a meal, any meal, with these generous people.
The only word I can find to describe this sustaining and overwhelming sharing . . .


Sacred

Functional Fitness: Shake 'em if you got 'em!

For both Ian and I sports and exercise have played a very large role in our lives.  Ian played sports throughout all of high school and most of University.  I have been a runner and swimmer for about 10 years now.  We both need physical activity to feel good and happy.

With busy lives getting to the gym regularly is near impossible so I usually do my workouts either on trails nearby or in my living room late at night.

One of the things Brenda Wollenberg taught on during the Adults in Balance program I participated in  was "functional fitness".  This is changing your daily routine ever so slightly to incorporate more physical activity without adding in a workout every day. 

Some of her suggestions were; parking your car further from the store in order to walk further and vigorously doing your daily chores.  Adding in ankle weights or wrist weights for washing a car or mowing the lawn could also help.  Functional fitness in this basic sense is very second nature to Ian and I, we walk everywhere, avoid elevators and escalators when stairs are available and must climb three flights of stairs just to get to our door, but I realize I need to find ways to add more.  Especially as we are preparing for Haiti and our evenings get fuller and fuller and my workouts down size from 5 nights a week to 3 or less. 

So . . .
I bought myself a skipping rope from the dollar store.  Last night as Ian and I walked our pooch I jumped rope the entire walk.  No, I'm not very good.  I tripped, dropped the rope, looked very silly and couldn't stop laughing but I also worked up a sweat.  I also added in a quick resistance workout before bed.  Lily (our puppy) needs a walk everyday for about 20 minutes, so on the nights when I am too busy to get a jog, swim or yoga in I will be looking like a fool skipping rope as she and Ian walk (slightly embarrassed) ahead. 

Be inspired to add in some functional fitness into your life.  If you have legs; relish in the fact that they are powerful and can propel you everywhere you go.  If you have arms; delight in the reality that you can reach, lift and push with them.  Both of these appendages and the whole rest of you can all be a part of my favorite exercise; dancing!  So shake 'em if you got 'em and feel good!

Watch this video to get your dance on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6oBeJJF1fI

We meet again Mongolian BBQ

In a previous post we discussed our trip to a Mongolian BBQ restaurant.  In general, the BBQ is a great place to eat while you have restrictions because you are able to choose all of your own ingredients from the ones provided.  These consist primarily of meats and vegetables.  The area we were less than good last time was in our selection of sauces.  We selected sauces based on deliciousness factor, and not on health factor and so we ingested sugars, glutens and other things.  This time we were determined to make better choices and avoid things that were not good for us.  We definitely did better.  I did use a bit of soy sauce (almost certainly contained gluten) and the ingredients of the sauces were not all known.  We chose the best ones we could and avoided BBQ Sauce, Teriyaki, Honey Lemon and other certain sugar containers. 
The previous night we returned to the Red Wagon Cafe (we had been there pre-1095 eats) where their signature dish is pulled pork pancakes with Jack Daniel's maple syrup.  We were able to avoid foods we could not eat (I didn't eat my cous cous, which I now recall is not similar to quinoa) in our orders.  We did use some ketchup and vinegar as a condiment, but the food choices were good (fries and chips are maybe not "good" but are mostly ok).  We even passed on the dinosours that came with the bill.
Overall we are getting used to eating at restaurants while making good choices.  We have not been perfect, but our choices are getting better.  The great thing about the city we live in is that there is a huge variety of ethnic foods available.  Some cultures use rice flour instead of wheat, sushi is good for us (some the fish/shrimp is not) and Ethiopian food uses teff flour (gluten free) for injera bread.  We are glad that the choices are becoming more natural for us and we look forward to new and exciting places that we can take this journey.

Ian

PS - Kayaking trip this weekend.