From the French....

Our health unit included this information in this week's newsletter.  I find it interesting and hilarious.  I also wonder if there truly are 40,000 runners who die each year from sudden cardiac arrest.  My favorite part is not to sprint at the end of workouts to impress our friends since that promotes plaque breakup.

The French are strange runners.  It is not normal for them to run all the time regularly (so I've heard).  This makes it interesting when they prepare for marathons.  I've also been told they don't train up for 20 weeks...they only train up for 12 and still make their way from basically nothing to running a marathon.  I also wonder if they factor in the numbers of people who smoke here ;-)

In a recent article (―Quotidien du Médecin‖) cardiologist
Professor Carré explained the physiopathology of the
sudden cardiac arrest (responsible for 40 000 deaths per
year in France). In most cases, the heart is under a big
stress. Suddenly it starts to accelerate at such a rate
that the blood cannot properly fill the heart chambers.
The heart no longer ejects the blood effectively,
eventually leading to ventricular fibrillation (life-
threatening heart arrhythmia). The brain is no longer
receiving oxygenated blood and the heart stops
functioning. The whole process takes a few seconds to a
few minutes.

Disruption of Unstable Plaque

An important thing to know is that one may develop
coronary plaque – basically deposits of lipids, or collagen-
in the heart circulation system – as early as age 15-18
and the risk of cardiovascular accident increases onward
from age 35. Sporty people are not exempted. The
problem lies in they often feel they are ―safe‖ as a result
of practicing an activity. ‖ While there are fewer
cardiovascular accidents in trained athletes, practicing in
poor conditions can be a trigger and the accident rate is
not zero. A sudden death occurring within hours
after intensive exercising/sports is not due to a long
term condition, such as a narrowing of the arteries. What
happens is that a plaque ruptures during an intense
exercise, leading to a clot later on, thus blocking a heart
vessel. What follows is a body’s physiological response,
leading to a trouble of the heart rhythm, later on
aggravated by ventricular fibrillation. Prior stress tests
and coronary scans are often negative; they may show
plaques but not their instability or erosion risk‖. Even
though the risk of sudden death is 4 to 5 times higher in
persons who practice intensive sports activities (20-30
hours per week) compared to those practicing moderate
sports activities (2 to 3 hours per week), we think
important to remind you the following:

Recommendations to those practicing regular to
moderate sport activities, notably jogging.

health and it is recommended at all ages. What matters
is to do it regularly, not in unfavorable conditions: e.g.
high heat, extreme cold, poor health that day.
It’s recommended to practice a sport or exercise in
moderation.

Each person needs to recognize and listen to her/his body
and know when the limit is reached.

•

For example, if you become short or out of breath
and cannot whistle, sing or answer questions, then
pause the activity, walk or trot slowly.
Agreeing to reduce the intensity of the exercise
activity by using a cardio frequency monitor
(theoretically 220-age) for maximal heart rate? Why
not but you’d rather learn to recognize your limits as
described above. Don’t wait until you are short of
breath!
Avoid running or exercising when very tired or stop
entirely if short of breath or not feeling well.
Watch out for sprints at the end to impress friends or
yourself; these bursts of intense energy promote
plaque rupture accidents.



Reminders! The HU is occasionally offering a few
sessions of CPR training. Learn basic skills in hands
–only cardio pulmonary resuscitation and how to
use the AED. The nearest AED (automated
defibrillator) is located in the Atrium across from
the ATM machine and vending machines.
Learn the emergency numbers to call:
#18 Pompiers (fire brigade) or #15 SAMU

Christmas Gift Help...TRX??

Thinking about getting hubbie TRX.  Worth it?  We have a weight tree already.  Is this better, good supplement...or just not worth the money?

Living in an apartment with bikes, weights, etc

Ok, fellow condo/apartment dwellers, where do you store everything?  Do you have a dedicated room?  Or do you just have it out in plain view?  We are trying to figure out where to put it all....currently our bikes reside in the dining room because it's the easiest.  And I just keep mine on teh trainer since it's a pain in the 'ol ass to take on and off.  I kinda feel like it looks really, really dumb....but not many options.  Are we alone in this??

Food

I have a whole post about food, but that will have to wait until later :-).  For now I am just going to say that after reading the book The China Study, we are trying really hard to go even more vegetarian.  I've never been a HUGE meat lover so that part isn't too bad.  But Campbell, the author of the book and study, suggests going without fish, too (you're supposed to to vegan).  That part is a bit difficult.  So to make it easy on us, we choose to eat meat a couple times a week. And we haven't given up eggs, either.  And cheese.  I figure while living in the land of awesome cheese...we can't give that up.  But honestly, the cows are treated SO MUCH BETTER HERE anyway, so really, I feel much better about eating cheese here than I do in the US, and hopefully the huge amounts of plant based foods will hopefully balance the cheese out a bit.  Anyway, I have been loving some recipes lately and I thought I would share.  Everyone in the family loves these.  Jackson has always loved beans because it's what he's eaten forever (I didn't give him meat until way later into his toddler years). 

I will say that living in Paris and eating out is pretty much impossible to be a vegetarian.  The French love their meat (and I have to note that for the 2nd time I just typed MEET and not meat). Lawd, I need to write and read more so my mind doesn't go to mush!

Anyways, here are the recipes. 

This one is super yummy.  The blog Cate's World Kitchen, has lots of yummy stuff to eat, and a lot of it is Asian.  And I can't find a lot of Asian stuff here without trecking to other neighborhoods....so we don't eat a heck of a lot of Asian these days!

CHICKPEA and EGGPLANT CURRY


CHICKPEA AND RAISIN SALAD
Serves 8
Adapted from Real Simple Magazine

1 cup raisins (I used golden raisins)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons  sugar
3 15.5 ounche cans chickpeas, rinsed
1 cup fresh cilantro (or parsely....but I think the cilantro makes it!)
4 scallions (I didn't use scallions since they are like impossible to find in this city)
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
   Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

1.  In a small saucepan, combine the raisins, vinegar, and sugar and bring just to a simmer, remove from heat and let cool.

2.  In a large bowl, toss the chickpeas, cilantro, scallions and raisin mixture with the oil, cumin 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. 

Make ahead tip...make the salad without the cilantro and toss with cilantro before eating. 


 

babysitter

short post.  But how much do you guys pay a babysitter?  I need to find one so that Jon and I can start spending more time together ALONE.  I totally took having family and friends around for granted :-)  But damn, they feel really expensive here!

Staying out of the hole

Yup, I went all metaphorical on you all :-).  I still haven't really been hitting a work out routine.  But I have to.  So much depends on upon it.  First and foremost...my mental health.  I have dealt with depression issues since college.  I wouldn't say I am full on depressed right now (as in....in need of medication) but I am in need of something or else it will lead to that.  I am not opposed to medication, because it does work and has worked for me in the past.  But I would rather not take it if I don't have to.  I prefer the all natural medication: running and working out truly are my therapies.  The thing is, I am in such poor shape I don't even know if it's going to work since I can't really push myself right  now :-).  But I must get back on the horse.  I am meeting up with my new "running partner" on Monday....or so I hope.  Hopefully just having to meet someone will help get me out of bed and into a routine. 

I think a lot of the depressive feelings I currently have are just from everything all at once.  The move has been really hard on me.  Trying to figure out how to manage two kids (as in....give them both the attention they need ALL FREAKIN' DAY LONG) has been really, really hard.  Not having any support system over here has made the last two things even more difficult. I sometimes think that having twins would make it all easier because at least they'd have each other, and they'd both be on the same page of development and able to do the same things. 

There have been many days lately where I just really want to run away from it all.  I know, not cool at all.  Hubbie has been working a lot lately and so I pretty much cover everything, hell I would do it anyway if he wasn't working a lot.  I know it's my "job" but I hate it.  I so want to love my job.  But doing all of the cleaning, all of the meal planning, all of the errand running, 95% of the kid duties just isn't fun for me.  I have contemplated moving back to the US so I can get a job but of course that isn't a realistic option. 

To top it off my patience has been crap lately.  I have snapped at Jackson more than a few times and I hate it.  I am usually not that way.  My life just feels so out of balance and unhappy.  How often do you guys feel like this?

Sorry for the vent.  I need to stop being such a debbie downer.  Hope you all have a great weekend!!

In need of motivation

So.....been a month yet again since I last posted.  I was hoping I'd get into the swing of things and actually have something related to working out to write about!  Not so much.  And I have zero excuses.  I just have yet to get my motivation to get up in the mornings.  I WANT to run, lift, yoga, etc, it's just getting my ass out of bed has been difficult.

I need to run.  So why is it so hard for me to get out there?  I have been in a pretty low place the last few months.  This move hasn't been an easy one.  I'm still in search of friends (for both me and J-man).  I've met people but I don't know, friendships just haven't formed.  The few people who live in our neighborhood don't have kids or don't have kids our age so that makes it tough.  I always feel like I'm just a nuissane to those friends without kids.  Cuz, if I didn't have kids and I lived in Paris and didn't have to work I'd most likely just want to hang out at cafés all day people watching.

I am sooo unhappy with my body right  now.  I think the percentage of muscle is pretty much nill.  I hate being and feeling weak. I just need to get into a routine.  They say it takes 21 days to really get into a routine.  It's time to start!

It's time to get out of my funk and start getting stronger, fitter and healthier.  If I don't I think I'll end up getting into an even darker hole mentally and it'll be harder to get out.

How have you all found motivation to just GET MOVING?!?!