Being a person who is good at getting things done is part of my identity.
And yet lately, I’ve been struggling. Not with everything. In the world of fitness, I’m struggling with one very specific, very small thing: doing my daily mobility routine. The routine includes exercises to improve my hiatal hernia, hip mobility movements, and some stretching to maintain the range of motion I worked so hard to get after knee replacement surgery.
I’ve got three different 10-minute routines–one done lying on my yoga mat or in bed, one to be done with a chair, either seated or standing holding the chair for support, and a flow version for when I’m feeling extra good.
My plan is always to do them in the morning. In theory, I’ve got time between when I take mediation and when I can eat breakfast. There’s supposed to be a full hour there! And yet…sometimes between Wordle, and drafting my #ThreeGoodThings and “Hey, Google please play the CBC news” and similarly “Hey, Googling” the weather in Guelph today and showering and putting on coffee and thinking about breakfast and lunch…well, you get the idea.
I’ve written about my 5 to 9 routine here before and admitted that really for me, given my work schedule, it’s more like 5-7 am and I listed some options for what I might do in that time. The options were write, walk Cheddar, ride my bike, or my physio/mobility routine. And yet I’ve mostly managed to do none of those things in the 5 to 7 am time slot! It’s all Wordle, scrolling and going back to sleep. To be fair, that’s also when I share our blog posts to social media, which WordPress won’t do automatically anymore.
I said “mostly” because the week gets a great kick off with all my Monday morning energy going into the Herd’s Morning Morning Coffee Crew ride. And Tuesdays and Thursdays we’re at the gym at 7. The mobility routine has to happen first, before these things. And it’s just 10 minutes.
I could do it while the coffee drips! Actually, that’s not a bad idea. I might try it.
Do you have a small thing you struggle to do? What techniques have worked for you to just get it done? I’m listening….
Whatever the weather outside, it’s definitely spring here in Ontario. And for those of us with summer fitness ambitions, it’s time to ramp up our outdoor activity levels. April 1st is kind of the outdoor hiking/biking/running/paddling January 1st, if you know what I mean. There’s no more winter-weather excuses. It’s time to get out there and do your thing.
(Yes, I know Spring Equinox was March 20th, but for me, it’s really April 1st that feels like the first day of spring.)
I’m looking at the calendar and counting down the days until #30DaysOfBiking begins. (I’ve also got my trainer at the ready in case of snow, freezing rain or other forms of wintry mix get in the way of my outdoor riding plans.) See April’s Gonna Be Pure Joy, Baby
I’m also thinking of trying something new for April 1st, adding a second low-stakes fitness intention. I’m calling it the New Path Protocol.
As a cyclist, I am a total creature of habit. I have my “standard” 20km loop I can sneak in before work, my fave weekend 50 km route, my everday “quick” commute, and my scenic “take the long way” route to campus. I worry that I’ve lived here in Guelph for 8 years and there is still a lot of the city and surrounding area I don’t know.
The New Path Protocol is simple: Commit to taking a different route on my bike at least once a week. Choosing a path just to explore on my daily commute is an act of curiosity. Taking a new path might mean finding beautiful gardens on a side street I usually skip, or on the weekend, on my longer rides, it might mean discovering exactly which gravel trail is currently an unridable swamp. I’m in! Either way, it’s about exploration, not about speed or distance. At the start of the cycling season, I think it will feel good to have some low stakes goals. After all, I’m not a cycling beast anymore!
What about you? Are you a creature of habit who takes the same loop every time, or are you ready to join me in getting a little bit lost this April?
CW: discussion of paying people to lose weight, with an eye to showing its flaws, both medical and moral.
Saturday morning I was perusing my email and ran across the most recent Ethicist column in the NY Times. I enjoy and respect philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah’s thoughtful answers to sometimes thorny, sometimes appalling social and moral questions. We don’t always agree, but then again, what two philosophers are always on the same page? We even manage to make a living (if not a very handsome one) disagreeing.
Articles, books and comics, all honoring philosophers disagreeing. It’s a thing.
Back to the issue at hand. The Ethicist was called to weigh in on the following question:
Can we ask our son to go on weight-loss drugs in exchange for a house?
If you’re in a hurry, here’s the answer: no.
For those of you who prefer pictures to words:
No. Absolutely not. Thanks, Debby Urken for this colorful NO.
Before I get into what I think is wrong with paying people to lose weight, let’s hear from Appiah. He was his usual measured self, but he came down strongly on NO. Here’s a bit of the question:
Several years ago, my husband and I purchased a house for our son, with an agreement that he would pay us back. He remodeled it from scratch and has been making his payments to us fairly regularly, though he misses occasionally when other priorities arise. We both agree that we would like to gift him the remaining balance on the house...
Our son, however, is morbidly obese, and my husband wants to condition the gift on his getting on a GLP-1 program, which would mean using about half his monthly savings to pay for the medication. I feel that a gift is a gift and you should not extort a grown man, even when it is in his best interests. Your thoughts? —
Basically they’re asking if it’s okay to withhold giving the house to their son (which they had already planned to do) until he starts taking a GLP-1 weight-loss drug for weight loss.
What does The Ethicist say in response? Here’s an excerpt:
It’s not always wrong to attach conditions to a gift. Sometimes the conditions are intrinsic to what’s being given. There’s nothing coercive about a college fund that requires enrollment…
By contrast, your son is fully capable of judging the evidence and deciding what to do with his own body. His choice not to pursue treatment may be misguided, but it’s his to make, and the condition is unrelated to the gift. What your husband is considering isn’t extortion; withholding a benefit isn’t the same as imposing a penalty. But it’s disrespectful.
…not only does your husband’s plan treat your son like a child, it also may not be effective in the long run.
So consider another gift, the kind where the condition is intrinsic to what’s being given: Offer to defray the costs of his treatment. You have the means, and this way you’d be giving him something without saying anything about how much you trust his judgment. He may still decline. If he does, you’ll need to make your peace with the fact that it’s his body and his life.
Okay, I think that is an okay, if overly mild-mannered answer.
Here’s my non-mild answer, which is in three parts, in increasing levels of non-mildness.
Part one: Paying people to lose weight isn’t effective long-term.
There are loads of studies examining the effectiveness of financial incentives for weight loss (as well as smoking cessation and other health-related behaviors). What’s the upshot? Some people respond in the short-term (that is, during the period of the study or cash payments). In this 16-week study, participants were put into three groups: 1) playing a lottery in which they won money if they hit target weight; 2) depositing their own money and receiving funds if they complied with protocols and also hit target weight; 3) control group.
What happened? After four months weight loss in experimental groups was higher (13–14lbs) than in the control group (3.9lbs). But at the seven-month follow-up, differences were not statistically significant. And few of the participants opted to continue the financial incentive study.
There are loads of such studies, along with systematic reviews, and they generally show the same outcome: maybe a little weight loss to start, but 1) it’s a small amount; and 2) participants regain weight after the study ends. Which is demonstrably bad for health– yo-yo dieting leads to lots of bad health outcomes.
Part two: paying people to lose weight is coercive, showing disrespect for them as autonomous persons.
In the studies I looked at, the participants tend to report lower incomes, and the financial rewards are typically in the $300–500 range. This amount may convince someone who needs the money to participate, but it preys on their economic insecurity rather than appealing to whatever motivations they have about any health-directed behavior change. We see this pattern in other global health care ethics issues, in particular around surrogacy tourism, where vulnerable populations have been targeted for coercive financial arrangements. Read more here about surrogacy tourism in India.
Am I saying that paying people to lose weight is ethically just like paying them for surrogacy, or for their organs? No. But, once money is in the mix, exploitation, coercion and abuse have quickly followed, and this is well-documented.
What Appiah suggests instead is that the parents offer to cover the costs for GLP-1 meds IF their son wishes to take it. That’s the mild-mannered approach I mentioned above.
Here I part ways with him. Is offering to pay for another person’s GLP-1 meds a sketchy move? Yes. Why? Making such an offer is implicitly making a negative judgment about another person’s weight (namely, that it should be lower), conveying that judgment to them, and forcing a confrontation/discussion about the person’s own weight and health values and goals, which are nobody else’s damn business.
To be sure, we commonly negotiate uncomfortable and personal discussions with people we are close with, especially about health-directed behaviors. Sometimes those discussions are useful, resulting in extra support that is appreciated.
However, in the case of body weight, I argue that silence about it is always golden. We are all aware of what our bodies are like, and are reminded constantly of the ways they may fail to conform to unrealistic media standards. In short, the son knows what his body size is like, and is doubtless well-versed in general population concerns about body weight ideals. Which leads me to part three:
Part three: making an unsolicited offer to pay for another person’s GLP-1 meds reinforces the culture of weight stigmatization and discrimination, and burdens the other person with a vivid reminder of it in the face of someone they care about.
Yeah, pretty much that. The son is getting a clear message that his parents think his body is unhealthy, too big and needs to be smaller. And they are considering leveraging his need and desire for a HOME against their desire for him to change his body size. Ew.
And even Appiah’s soft-soap approach still conveys the parents’ thoughts and judgments, even if it doesn’t implicitly threaten him (yes, they are making a positive claim– giving the him a house– but there’s a negative one underneath–making him continue house payments).
Just as the son certainly knows what the parents think about his body weight, he also probably knows that they will help him if he asks. IF HE ASKS.
So, my advice is saying nothing until and unless he asks for financial help in paying for GLP-1 meds.
This baby says be quiet, hold up, say nothing. Thanks, baby.
My dear readers, you may agree with me, or you may disagree. As a philosopher, I welcome all comments. So tell me what you think…
Shipping delays meant the new mattress and frame were delivered 10 days ago. Already Michel and I are used to the new bed. Here’s our early review.
Change takes time
The first night I tossed and turned. The mattress did not feel like my “home”. I felt too high. I got less sleep. The second night I slept better than I had in ages.
Size matters!
Our dog, Lucy, sleeps with us. The three of us on a queen size bed was too crowded. Now we each have lots of room in our split king. This has meant fewer wake ups as well as less tossing and turning.
Cooling
The new mattress, mattress cover and sheets are all about airflow. I have roughly 3 hot flashes a night. I’m not as sweaty and I’m able to fall back to sleep faster. Michel is a sweaty sleeper too and has noticed a big change in being able to regulate his temperature at night.
Goodbye back pain
We have set the adjustable frame for a slight lift on our calves and a bit of lift for our heads. This has given our lower backs more support.
The hybrid mattress is firmer than our old foam one. It is also considerably less lumpy! This means I’m not waking up in the morning with a stiff or sore back.
Staggering price point
I was shocked how much a hybrid split king with adjustable frame was. All in, we invested around $10,000 Canadian. WOWSERS.
That’s a shocking amount. We had spent $1,800 on our foam mattress and frame 7 years ago.
Buyers regret?
Absolutely not. Michel and I had both been struggling to get to sleep, stay asleep and get up pain free. Since we use the bed every night the cost per night over the next ten years is $2.74. Worth. Every. Penny.
I’m grateful we could afford a new bed and thrilled we are sleeping better.
A hand on a bed that promises lots of wonderful sleep.
April starts on Wednesday, which means one thing in cycling circles: it’s time for #30DaysOfBiking.
The premise is simple and it’s a challenge that makes me smile — ride your bike every day in April, any distance, any destination, and share your adventures online. #30daysofbiking There’s no minimum. Around the block counts. So does a 100km ride. If you miss a day, just pick up where you left off — this is supposed to be joyful, not punishing. My plan is to ride on my trainer for 20 min on the days when I don’t commute by bike. 30daysofbiking
We’ve written about this challenge before — our post from 2022 is below — and the spirit of it holds up perfectly. If you’re just getting back on the bike after winter, this is a lovely low-pressure way to make it a habit. If you’ve been riding all along, it’s a good excuse to bring friends along.
And as they say on the 30daysofbiking website, “April 1–30, 2026 — April’s gonna be pure joy, baby.”
This year’s challenge runs April 1–30, 2026. Make your pledge at 30daysofbiking.com and tag your rides #30daysofbiking.
It’s the last few days of March, which means southern Ontario is doing its thing: one day it’s practically summer, the next there’s freezing rain and you’re back in your winter coat wondering what you were thinking. We’ve been here before. Every year.
I wasn’t sure what to wear yesterday when I was heading into Toronto for the awarding of the Middlebrook Prize for Young Canadian Curators. (Congrats Casper Sutton-Fosman!) Thursday’s high was 13, and it was very rainy. But the overnight low was -11 with possible snow. I ended up opting for my raincoat and having Sarah bring along my wool winter coat, hat, boots, scarf and mitts in the car. It’s a lot!
This post from 2022 captures that particular late-March feeling perfectly. I’m hoping to ride my road bike this weekend and take the snow tires off my commuting bike, that is if it doesn’t snow again.
We don’t have a regular blogger posting today so it felt worth bringing this older post back this week, when we’re all hovering between winter and spring, waiting for the season to make up its mind.
A while back, when I was unexpectedly unemployed, I wrote about the 19th century French flâneurs, taking inspiration from walkers who wandered with no clear destination, noticing everything and answering to no one. At the time I felt unmoored, and the flâneuse way of moving through the world gave some feeling some dignity and opportunity.
I have a job now. And for the first time since university, I walk to and from work, about 45 minutes each way. I went from purposeless wandering to purposeful getting-somewhere everyday.
On my commute, I have started noticing things. I’ll be running through my to-do list or thinking about a meeting, and then I’ll see spring flowers pushing back against the last of the cold, a shortcut worn into a lawn, decorations on a gate for no reason. I follow someone who looks like they know a faster route, only to watch them turn into their own house. I wonder how the person in a t-shirt in March is not absolutely freezing. I imagine what the person with the giant headphones is listening to.
Oh no – spring flowers popping up too soon when there is still snow on the ground.
I think my own thoughts for a while, and then the world interrupts me with a cute covered bridge I have never been on before, and I am back outside myself, making small observations and tiny decisions. It turns out that having somewhere to go makes me more present. Maybe it’s because this path I’m pain attention to is new right now, but I am getting a body and a brain workout each day.
People are walking on this railroad track, and it seems dangerous! But the only way to find out why is to follow them.
I feel genuinely grateful for the job that gives my walk its direction, for my feet that make it possible, and for the path that keeps offering me things to look at. I feel healthy. It is time alone that connects me to everything around me. I am by myself, a stranger among people who know each other, yet I still feel in the middle of things.
I sometimes wonder whether the people driving past me are seeing any of it. And I think of the me four months ago who has seen none of it. I was still on the path to get here, even though I didn’t know where I was going.
Industrial safety gate decorated with plastic bead garland, something I would have done myself if I had gotten there first.
Yes, it’s that time of year again. You may be thinking, but I feel like I just cleaned up from the last manatee-appreciation blowout I hosted. Well, time does pass quickly when you’re a manatee fan (like I am).
The most fun I had in 2025 was with manatees. My friend Gal and I went swimming with them at Crystal River, Florida. During the winter, the manatees head in from the Gulf of Mexico (no one there uses any other name for it) looking for the many warm springs, all comfy-cozy at 72F/22C year round.
You have a bunch of options for communing with the manatees:
viewing them from numerous bridges and platforms in state parks
paddling in a see-through plastic kayak and viewing them from above
snorkeling in the water, seeing them swim by, below and around you
Gal and I took the third option, and boy was it amazing. That day happened to be warm, so there were fewer creatures to see, but the ones we saw were massive and cool-looking.
A manatee surfacing to take a breath.Murky water, massive manatee.
I’m definitely going back, hopefully to see a large aggregation of manatees (that’s what google says we should call them). I highly recommend this for you, your families, your friends, your coworkers, your neighbors, your creditors, your old flames, everyone.
If you’re interested in some of the posts in which I sing the praises of manatees, here you go:
I’ll leave you with this selfie of Gal and me at daybreak in our wetsuits, ready to see manatees. I admit that I inserted the baby manatee myself– it didn’t actually pose with us. But it’s awfully cute.
Happy Manatee Appreciation Day!
Catherine, Gal and imaginary (but cute) baby manatee.
I have written here and here about my persistent ankle injury. I finally got to see a doctor specializing in sports medicine, and she says my issue isn’t just a tight Achilles tendon. It’s that my whole leg is weak.
She sent me to a new physiotherapist for shock wave therapy to address the thickened tendon and recommended more exercises to strengthen my leg and glute muscle. The physiotherapist added more.
I am also trying a sleep sock for plantar fasciitis and have gel heel lifts for my shoes.
It has all been a reminder that as the old children’s song goes, all my body parts are connected, from the soles of my feet through my ankle, Achilles tendon, calf, hamstring and up into my glute and lower back.
The exercises are not fun, but I’m doing them faithfully because they are working. This week I managed two swim practices without taping my ankle. I even had a successful ballet class; I’m starting to get back my range of motion and I am getting strong enough to crank out a few pirouettes.
Not me doing pirouettes obviously. I would be thrilled even to do even one double pirouette.
I think I have found a workaround for one of my most annoying fitness challenges and, oddly enough, it involves one of my favourite offices supplies – INDEX CARDS!
If you have been reading my posts for a while then you know that I find it difficult to set big picture fitness goals because I’m not sure what I want my endpoint to be.
I mean, I want to be stronger or have more ease in my movements (especially after the challenges of the last few years) but I don’t really have a way to measure that except for ‘feeling stronger’ or ‘feeling more ease.’
Both of those things sound good in principle but I know that my ADHD brain will send me into endless loops of ‘Was that enough?’ ‘Do I feel better or worse than yesterday?’ ‘Am I putting in the right effort here?’ and I won’t find much fun or much satisfaction in that whole process.
Meanwhile, though, I also don’t have a lot invested in more measurable things like being able to reach a particular speed when walking or lift a certain weight or do a specific number of reps. Those things don’t really resonate for me and I know that I will just get kind of meh about them over time.
And even though I understand intellectually that additional consistent exercise will be helpful, some part of my brain is not really buying into the idea and keeps insisting that effort today is not really going to add up to anything and I will just be wasting time that I could spend reading or writing or doing something fun.
But, at the same time, I know that I am wrong about that and I keep trying different ways to jumpstart a fitness plan.
Last week, I did some thinking about how I could encourage myself to take on a longer term exercise project that would let me see my efforts all along without having to choose some sort of specific result to work towards.
I want the process of exercising to be so routine that any results will just be a sort of by-product of the activity rather than being the point.
Eventually, I figured out that I could choose to commit to 100 workouts.
I wouldn’t have to pick a specific type of workout or a specific length of workout and I wouldn’t have to accomplish anything specific, I would just have to pick something and do it.
And even my somewhat-belligerent-on-this-topic brain has to admit that I will definitely see and feel some differences after 100 workouts.
Once I had decided on that number, I wanted to find a way to track it and maybe make some notes about the various workouts I tried.
And that’s when I came up with the index card solution.
I love index cards for notetaking, for planning, and for art so they are a very friendly material for me – which is a good start.
One of the reasons I enjoy using index cards for those things is the fact that they are relatively small so I can’t take on too much. That seems like a good approach for these workouts too.
Friendly and will prevent me from taking on too much? So far, so good!
The other benefit of index cards in this context is that if I write one index card per workout, I will be able to see those workouts adding up over time as I move toward my 100 card target.
So, here’s the plan I started late last week:
Open a brand new package of index cards and put them in a container that will hold the blank cards and the completed ones side-by-side.
Workout 100 times in the next six months.
Write about each individual workout on a separate card and keep it in the same case.
Watch my progress and feel good about the whole thing.
And it truly has been ‘so far so good’ – I have done four workouts* and filled out four cards and it feels manageable and useful.
In fact, I feel exactly like I hoped I would – that the index cards are the point of the whole thing and any results are just a bonus – and I think that’s a good sort of feeling for me to have about this project because it keeps my brain from looping about the specifics.
Let’s see how this goes, shall we?
*Next week’s post will be about how I chose what will count as a workout. 🙂
