I don’t believe I am the only person who sees September as the beginning of a new year. I know that officially the new year starts January 1, but for me, September means a new start, plus new everything else — notebooks, pencils, crayons, etc, and as a kid, new shoes.

These days, the first fall month still signals a new beginning. While I am starting new projects on the work front, after a two-week stint volunteering at the Canada Summer Games, September also means I’m back at the gym regularly for training after summer holidays.

I’ve been missing the variety of activity I had built in over the years: the powerlifting was supplemented by trail walking, swimming and yoga. The pandemic shut down my walks, my swims and my yoga. Even after the pandemic abated, life kept intervening. The only thing left standing was my twice-weekly powerlifting sessions, and I’ve only missed those because of illness or vacations.

The great news is that the pool closest to me has re-opened after renovations. I’m also looking at the expansion of our local trail system near my house. I am hoping its new multi-use focus means it will be looked after in the winter allowing me to resume trail walking in earnest. I’m also keeping my fingers crossed that my favourite yoga teacher will offer classes again.

The result is I’m cleaning up my walking shoes, unpacking my swimsuit, and rolling out my yoga mat in anticipation. There’s no new gear to pat and delight in, unlike my early school years, but I’m excited nonethless.

What new things are you planning to undertake on the fitness fron this fall?

Last week a friend shared the following image in her feed:

The image has text that reads: Siri give me a metaphor for life. The picture shows a cyclist in front with others behind her. A man spreads his arms to stop her from moving forward. Additional text says “CNN: A breakaway female cyclist was forced to stop during a prestigious race in Belgium after she started to catch up with the men’s competition, which had started 10 minutes earlier. cnn.it/2ExuiEM.”

I was curious about the story and learned the race incident took place in 2019. The rider who had achieved a tremendous lead in catching up to the men finished 74th, saying it was hard to regain the momentum after being stopped for close to ten minutes. CNN said “Swiss cyclist Nicole Hanselmann described it as an “awkward moment:” 

“I attacked after 7km, and was alone in the break for around 30km… but then an awkward moment happened and I almost saw the back of the men’s peloton… May (be) the other women and me were too fast or the men to (sic) slow. After the neutralization, I was caught up again and finished the race on the 74th place.” She told Cycling News that “it was a bit sad for me because I was in a good mood, and when the bunch sees you stopping they just get a new motivation to catch you. We could just see the ambulances of the men’s race. I think we stopped for five or seven minutes and then it just kills your chances.”

Tellingly, CNN said “The racing event’s official Twitter account reported the “neutralization of our women race at railroad crossing in Sint-Denijs-Boekel… due to a very slow mens race.”

I wasn’t able to find out if start times had changed after the 2019 incident, but both races continue to take place on the same day and they also start and end in the same communities. However, the women’s race is shorter at 125 to 135 kms compared to the men’s race of about 200 kms. Still, the women’s race has eight climbs and six sections of the routes run over cobblestones.

If there was concern that the women riders would overtake the men and cause safety or ego issues, then organizers should run the races on separate days or allow for longer lead times between the women and the men.

It’s too bad the women’s race was interrupted and the lead cyclist lost her edge. Even though the story is six years old now, it serves as a good reminder that equality is not always respected and secured. A more recent report shows the Belgian race continues to face inequities in the prize purses offered to men (16000 Euros) and to women (930 Euros).

British cyclist Lizzy Banks who commented on the 2021 Belgian race results told the BBC: “When we are looking at the cost of cycling – the cost of TV rights, the cost of putting a race on – prize money is not a massive, massive, cost. If we’re talking about creating an equal environment in men’s and women’s cycling then yes you need the salaries and the infrastructure within the team, but [equal prize money] is a relatively small amount that makes a big impact. It just creates an environment where we say we value you as women and female riders and racers as much as we value the male riders and racers, and we think that your achievement is worth the same amount as the men’s achievement.”

If you are curious about the state of compensation in women and men’s sports, check out this research from Adelphi University — New York for some interesting data: Male vs Female Professional Sports Salary Comparison https://online.adelphi.edu/articles/male-female-sports-salary/.

A week from today, my latest adventure in fitness begins. No, I am not trying a new sport, although I have tried a few in my day. On August 8, the Canada Summer Games begin in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, and my stint as a CSG volunteer.

Forty-eight years ago, I volunteered at the Games as a ticket-taker. This time around, I am working behind the scenes as a media supervisor. While it may not be very sporty-minded, my volunteer role is still a chance to learn some new things. I am especially interested in seeing logistical management on a far greater scale than I have been involved with in the past, given that there are more than 5,000 volunteers across multiple sites and teams from 13 provinces and territories represented.

It’s also an opportunity to see young people bring their best selves to their chosen sport, whether as solo athletes or in team-based sports. Between the Winter and Summer Games, young athletes from sea to sea to sea can compete in 40 different sports. This year, women’s baseball makes its debut at the Summer Games, a fact which surprised me, considering how well women’s professional hockey, soccer and basketball have been doing in the last decade or more. I’m curious, as well, to see how the policy focus on and investment in diversity, equity and inclusion in sport are playing out.

I am looking forward to what promises to be an interesting two weeks, seeing both excellence in action and joy in movement.

When I first started gardening, I never thought about it as a feminist activity. I mean I just wanted a few pretty flowers, maybe some lettuce and herbs, and a couple of lilacs to offer fragrance on a summer day. In fact, my first garden consisted of two pots of cherry tomatoes plus two with mixed herbs.

But in digging a little deeper — pun intended — I found that tending to a garden, either large or small, could be a quiet (or not-so-quiet) act of empowerment. It’s good for the body, great for the mind, and, in many ways, deeply connected to women’s strength, independence, and care for their families and communities.

For generations, women have grown food to feed their families — from backyard vegetable patches to window boxes full of herbs. During the World Wars, Victory Gardens were often cared for by women, helping stretch rations and boost morale.

In fact, gardening has long been a way for women to take control — whether it’s about putting fresh produce on the table, preserving family traditions, or creating a space to relax and recharge. In a world where women’s work is often undervalued or invisible, gardening is a way to proudly say: this space, this food, this beauty — I made this.

Gardening as a path to physical and mental health

Gardening might not come with a spin class playlist, but it is without doubt a full-body workout. You’re digging, squatting, lifting, pulling — all the kinds of movements that build strength, flexibility, and endurance. And because it’s done outdoors, you’re soaking up fresh air, vitamin D, and all the feel-good benefits of being in nature.

This great article by Harvard Health offers up some concrete evidence of the benefits available to you from gardening, no matter how big or small: while weeding or mowing offers the greatest impact, even picking vegetables or composting will add positively to your activity minutes.

Gardening is also (mostly) gentle and forgiving. You can go at your own pace, in your own way. It’s a fantastic way to stay active without needing fancy equipment or a gym membership. Plus, you get tomatoes at the end! And you can exorcise your demons by attacking weeds!

There’s something incredibly satisfying about watching something grow — especially when you’ve nurtured it from a tiny seed. Gardening has been shown to reduce stress, improve sleep, and boost mood. For women who often juggle multiple roles — caregiver, worker, partner, friend — time spent in the garden can be a powerful act of self-care.

Gardening also brings people together. Seed swaps, plant sales, or even a quick chat over the virtual and literal fence about favourite garden tips can build connection and community — something we all need a bit more of these days.

Gardening is more than weeding or planting. I have come to realize that time in the garden is making a statement. My health matters, my work has value, and my voice — just like the garden — deserves space to grow. Feminism can be bold and loud, just like my peonies, and it can also be quiet, patient, persistent, and rooted in care.

MarthaFitat55 lives, works and gardens in eastern Newfoundland, on the edge of the North Atlantic.

I love my fitness tracker. It’s dying though and I am going back and forth between getting a new one or going without. It’s not fancy — it keeps tracks of steps, it sends me happy high fives when I lots of steps in an hour, and it goes cracked when I reach or exceed my goal. I get actually get fireworks when I check the app and see I have exceeded 10k in steps.

These past couple of weeks have been more active than usual, mostly because I started actively cleaning my house after acquiring a bunch of furniture and mementoes from two households over the last two years. Stairs really help I have discovered. Also adding to the step count were multiple trips where I packed and shifted boxes from house to car and from car to donation centres.

It’s also finally summer here where I live and the weather is more than conducive for walks as well as weeding and planning new garden beds.

I learned a couple of things from my tracker — I work in bursts and I prefer to be standing up rather than sitting down. Why does this matter? My day job often finds me sitting at a desk. The exceptions are when I teach or when I facilitate groups. I have tried standing desks and they don’t work for me, likely because I am standing in the same place vs sitting in the same place.

My next experiment in intentional movement is applying the lessons I learned with the Pomodoro technique — where you work for 20 minutes, then take a five-minute break — to see how I can do my work and get some activity. Rather than check my email or grab a cup of tea in that five-minute break, I’m going to add some stretches, some stair climbing, or weeding in those five minutes. A friend has recommended I pick a 20-minute segment where I deal with emails as part of my work schedule, and the key words there are “deal with” instead of just skimming them in that five-minute window.

What types of hacks are you trying to get more movement in your day? Let us know in the comments.

MarthaFitat55 lives and works in St. John’s. In the past, she has rowed, yoga’d, swum, and run. These days, she likes to spend her gym time picking up heavy things and putting them down again.

Last December, I shared with FIFI readers how I am one of 51,000 Canadians contributing to science and knowledge by participating in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. In addition to the information I found about calcium depletion in bone mass, I also found some interesting data on hearing loss, depression, heart disease and dementia.

Last week CBC news reported on more promising results relating to reducing the risk of dementia as well as stroke and depression. One of the researchers interviewed by the CBC, Lindsay Wallace, highlighted the most influential factors that affect dementia, stroke and depression: “Physical activity is gonna lower your cholesterol, lower your blood sugar, lower your blood pressure. It affects all these different pathways that lead to age-related disease.” An assistant professor at Dalhousie University who studies dementia and frailty, Wallace was also a co-author in another study that identified 26 population health interventions. Along with individual action, she said, “there has to be a structural and societal change that mirrors that.”

Let’s take a look at what the study found. To start, here are four factors that will help reduce your risk for dementia, stroke, and depression (emphasis added to highlight fitness-related factors): 

• Challenging your brain by reading or doing puzzles
• Engaging in moderate or high levels of physical activity
• Ensuring your life has purpose 
• Reducing or eliminating alcohol (drinking less than one drink a day is way better than downing one to three)

The meta analysis also identified 11 factors that would increase your risk for those issues:

• High blood pressure
• Kidney disease 
• Smoking
• High blood sugar
• Poor or disrupted sleep
• High body mass index
• Hearing loss
• Depressive symptoms
• General stress or stressful life events
• Pain
• High cholesterol

Of the 11 factors listed above, six can be directly mitigated by regular exercise. Ideally, you want to integrate regular activity every day. This doesn’t mean you have to train for a marathon seven days a week, but if you move your body intentionally three to five days a week — walking, swimming, running, dancing, weight lifting, etc — you can improve your sleep, elevate your mood, and reduce the impact of stress on your body. Movement will also help keep your blood flowing (blood pressure, cholesterol, and overall cardiac health) and help your body process food more efficiently.

What I found most interesting were these two factors, which can have either protective or detrimental impacts: 

“Diet: a diet high in vegetables, fruit, nuts, fish and dairy decreased your risks of developing a brain-related condition, but a diet high in red meat, sugary beverages, candy and excess salt increased the risk. 

Social engagement: a large social network was found to be good for the brain, while loneliness or isolation was bad for it.”

From a fitness point of view, a nutritious diet helps fuel our bodies and our brains so we can do the things we want to do while a strong social network keeps us connected. We can work out with friends, walk our dogs with neighbours, or just sit and enjoy the view with our loved ones.

What stood out for me was that most of these factors are manageable with a measure of agency, or control, or decision-making with respect to our health. We may not be able to eliminate the genetic cards we are dealt, but we can make better choices with respect to reasonable interventions. However, many people live with food insecurity, live in unsafe, inadequate housing, or prioritize heat and light bills over other costs. Their ability to mitigate those critical factors is limited. That is why we need to make sure our health and social infrastructures are properly financed and maintained.

In public health, we talk a lot about the determinants of health—the range of personal, social, economic, and environmental factors that influence individual and population health outcomes. These include things like income, education, housing, employment, access to healthcare, social supports, and environmental exposures. While personal behaviours like exercise and diet matter, they do not exist in a vacuum.

For example, someone living in a walkable neighbourhood with access to green spaces is more likely to engage in regular physical activity than someone living in an area with poor infrastructure and safety concerns. Likewise, it’s easier to eat a healthy diet when nutritious food is affordable and available in your community. This is why addressing the root causes of poor health must go beyond individual lifestyle choices and take into account the structural conditions in which people live.

This research reinforces something we already know but often overlook: health is not just about biology or personal responsibility. It is also deeply shaped by the world around us. If we want to help more people age well and reduce their risk for conditions like dementia, stroke, and depression, we need to build environments that support healthy living for everyone. That means investing in housing, transit, food systems, community centres, and preventive care—alongside promoting movement, mental engagement, and connection. Just saying eat better, work out more, and have lots of friends isn’t enough.

If the pandemic taught us anything is that there are many people around the world who experience anxiety. Some of it is environmental, some of it is physical (hello menopause!), and some of it is work-related. We can get caught up in an anxiety spiral, and let our days be consumed by worry relating to conversations, discoveries, relationships, and so on.

Worry windows offer a measure of control by scheduling a set chunk of time daily to focus solely on worrying. That way, we can park our concerns in that timeslot rather than get on the hamster wheel when we exercise, when we are dropping off to sleep, when we are sitting in a meeting, or commuting to work.

Self Magazine published an article describing one person’s adoption of the technique. In the article, they quote a therapist who says: “A worry window gives your anxious thoughts a seat at the table, but not the whole house, so you can acknowledge them without letting them take over your entire day.”

I am the kind of person who likes to schedule my week. I mark out my training sessions in my calendar, I set aside time to keep on top of my paperwork for my consultancy, and I meal plan to avoid food waste and frequent takeout suppers. There’s a whole bunch of other stuff I schedule and it takes the pressure off in trying to remember payments, health care appointments, social gatherings, maintenance checks, pick ups, etc.

So you can see why the idea of scheduling a targetted time to actually focus on whatever is bothering me instead of it drifting in at the worst moments is appealing. It’s like the organizational approach of a brain dump — where you note all the things you have to do and then you weight them by priority. Instead, I schedule a window, set the timer, dump all the worries, and then deal with them.

A worry window allows you to hold space for the issue that’s stressing you. You can focus on it exclusively without interruption. It also gives you the opportunity to deal with it. I like the concept of boundaries — “I don’t have to think about that now” — and I like the idea of containment — “I will think about this for 15 minutes and then have a cup of tea.”

Acknowledging the things that cause us low-grade anxiety is important, and heaven knows, these days there’s a lot to worry about. Setting a worry window is like clearing the snow off your car after a snowstorm. If you need to get to your destination, you need to see where you are going, and a windshield of snow and ice won’t let that happen safely.

I often ask my workshop or meeting participants to take a moment before we start to clear their windshield of the things that could hinder their seeing clearly in the meeting. Maybe they had a stressful conversation with their partner about the division of labour, or their offspring refused to put on what once used to be their favourite shirt, or they ran out of milk for their coffee … and these worries cloud their intention for the day.

Opening the worry window daily for a 15-minute block allows me to acknowledge the things that make me anxious, find a solution (but not always, as sometimes just naming the lurking thing is all that is needed), wipe that metaphorical windshield clean, and go on to deal with the things that matter.

What about you? Would you see worry windows as a helpful strategy? Let us know in the comments.

I come across the oddest videos on my various social feeds. They are a great way to pass the time while I am in a waiting room, when I don’t have long enough to get into another book chapter but I’m there long enough to need amusement.

Today this video popped up and I loved it: you can take a look here. It features a young woman running into a meeting room profusely apologizing to the group of seniors already seated at tables, patiently waiting. She turns on her music player with a raucus song and starts demonstrating dance moves while encouraging the seniors to get moving.

At first, the seniors aren’t sure what they are supposed to do but they get into the groove. Suddenly another woman appears at the door holding a bingo machine. Aha! The dance instructor is in the wrong room. No matter though; she and the seniors keep dancing.

I like this video for a number of reasons: first, the dance instructor isn’t phased by the room full of seniors. She clearly believes everyone can move at their pace and ability. When we see the seniors dancing, we see some are really grooving, some just moving their arms, or others following every move, including an older man dancing in a wheel chair. Everyone goes at their own pace and ability.

Over the last few years, I have spent time with family in long-term care facilities and I have seen how there is a strong focus on movement. “Motion is lotion” and whether it is chair yoga, group badminton, or a regular turnabout on the dance floor, older residents are supported in being active in the ways they want and can.

For example, there’s one assisted living facility in my community that partnered with the municipality to pave the walk around a small pond outside their building. The path is cleaned in the winter and on days when the weather cooperates, there’s a crowd some with canes, and some without, some using walkers and others in wheelchairs. During the spring, summer and fall months, you can also see people out walking with their families, or if they need a break, there are benches on which to sit and watch the ducks while you catch your breath.

But back to dancing. It’s an activity that builds strength, supports muscle tone, fosters endurance, and is in a word, fun. While it’s great to have social dancing, fitness dancing is equally important and not just for youngsters.

I am reminded of the side-eyes pregnant people get when they keep their fitness routine, be it running, weight lifting, swimming etc. There’s an attitude out there that only certain types of people can only do certain things in certain ways — only young people can do aerobics, only old people can go for a stroll — and if you don’t meet the unspoken criteria , then you are crossing a line that has no real relevance.

The unspoken message in the video is clear: if you can, do. So go ahead and shake your booty.

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Remember this eagle?

That eagle went around the Internet a few years ago taking a stupid walk for its stupid mental health. It’s a concept I found very attractive, for addressing rage exercising and also for focusing on mental fitness.

I’ve been thinking a lot about mental health these days. I’ve always been an advocate, particularly in supporting women’s mental health generally and post partum mental health particularly. It was an issue I returned to during the pandemic when life seemed overwhelming in its uncertainty.

Recent events south of the Canadian border have caused considerable stress and distress as millions of historically marginalized people — women, Black, Indigenous, trans to name a few — are being systematically targetted and disenfranchised.

The work of resistance is draining, the fear is immobilizing, and the rage is exhausting. And yet we persist, on multiple fronts as disruptors and as allies.

How to replenish? to fill the tank of resolve? to keep putting one foot in front of the other? I turned to research and found lots of clear, specific and achievable approaches to build our mental fitness.

We understand why we need physical activity — movement keeps our hearts healthy, our bones strong, and our muscles flexible. Mental fitness helps in multiple ways too. Calm.com says mental fitness gives us multiple benefits including enhanced emotional resilience, reduced anxiety and depression, improved self-awareness, increased wellbeing, and enhanced cognitive function.

Working on your mental health

Incorporating activities that boost your mental health makes a difference. It need not cost money, but it does take time. Attaching your mental fitness exercise to something you do every day can help keep you on that path to mental wellness. Here are things that can help:

• Mindfulness: Practicing mindfulness has many benefits and is an effective approach to reducing stress. At its simplest, mindfulness is about noticing, or being aware of what is happening around you and how you are responding or reacting. One approach I like is taking five minutes when I wake up to track the information I receive through my five senses.
• Meditation: Mindfulness is part of a meditative practice. Meditation allows you to go deeper into your internal exploration. You can combine meditation with activity, like walking a labyrinth or by swimming laps. Meditation calms your body because it focuses on emptying your mind of distractions. I find simple deep breathing calming, while others find focusing on breathing patterns very helpful.
• Nature: There’s been lots written about the benefits of connecting with nature, such as forest bathing or watching ocean waves roll in and out. It’s winter now where I live and unless it’s blowing a gale, I make a point of opening my windows on a daily basis to get fresh air, or getting outside for five minutes in the morning to see what’s happened overnight. Over the holidays, I rediscovered the joys of extended play recordings of a real fire in a woodstove as background sound while reading.
• Human contact: Connecting with other people can be hard especially in a pandemic where we were conditioned to avoid hugs, handshakes and coffee chats. Periodically I buy a package of stamps and send postcards or notes to friends. There’s something rather pleasing about putting an actual pen to paper. How deeply we connect is up to us and our comfort level, but connect nonethless.
• Movement: As much as I joke about my stupid walks, there is solid evidence that shows physical activity is hugely beneficial to our mental health. Yoga, aerobic exercise and dancing are the top three most frequently mentioned forms of movement. I’m not surprised. Yoga helps us unknot tension, aerobic exercise gets our heart pumping and dancing brings us joy.
• Cognitive reframing: Changing our mindset from negative to positive is more than just putting on a happy face. Shifting consciously to a different perspective forces us to create new pathways in our brains. We can do this by writing a gratitude journal where we find three good things about our day. They need not be big or momentous but things that bring us joy and energy. Another way to shift our mindset is to learn or try something new. Learn a new skill, like knitting, or learn a new word in a different language.
• Sleep: The research is abundant and clear: getting enough good sleep can improve your mood, memory, and ability to handle stress. Good sleep has also been linked to reducing your risk for developing dementias like Alzheimer’s disease. When we are rested, we can think clearly and we are less likely to lose focus. If you find sleeping difficult and doom scrolling has become your nighttime habit, assess your sleeping environment and behaviours. Is your room too warm? Do you have too many blankets or too few? Is your pillow too soft or too hard? While you may have to channel your inner Goldilocks until you find out what’s right for you, ensuring you are getting seven to nine hours of sleep a night will offer huge health benefits in return.

My focus this month is on getting better sleep and dancing more (especially when no one is watching!). How about you: what will you try this month to help your mental fitness and well being? Let us know in the comments.

Last weekend the province where I live was battered by a fierce wind storm. Lots of beaches were reshaped by the huge swells, windows got blown out, and water flooded shorelines washing away cars, trailers and sheds. There are lots of days when I think we have been whipped about too much by big winds and heavy rains. The month of November was especially ridiculous with constant rain and almost unrelenting greyness.

So when we got a beautiful day of sunshine, we made the most of it. We grabbed a picnic lunch and took off to see the holiday lights on boats. The sky was blue, the wind was low and the road was empty.

Every year boat owners in Port de Grave decorate their boats with coloured lights, a few snowflakes and other holiday shapes, add some snow people, and trim the harbour walk with more lights. It’s a great walk (the harbourside is fairly level) and the event is very kid and family friendly.

There is something very calming about enjoying pretty lights on a clear evening that’s crisp enough to see your breath but not so cold you are unhappy. I’m glad we seized the day and had that joyful moment.

Joyful moments don’t have to be complicated. We live in difficult times. We need to find joy and revel in it.

Take a walk. Pet a cat. Read a book. Drink a hot cup of tea with a nice biscuit. Find a cozy blanket. Repot your plants. Heck, even spending five minutes picking off the dead leaves is satisfying. Take another walk. Alphabetize your books. Organize them by colour. Dust the shelves while you are at it. Go for a swim. Feel the water flow over your body. Brush your hair 100 times. Make a gratitude list. Or set a time and just sit, enjoying the fact you are doing nothing for five or ten minutes.

I’ve been thinking a lot about mental fitness and how we are overwhelmed daily by shoulds, musts and nows. I hear friends and myself saying, “we have too much on our plate.” Dietitians tell us to make half our plate vegetables. Perhaps I should make my daily plate half full of joyful things. Or maybe I should choose a smaller plate and do less of the shoulds, musts, and nows.

My word of the year is replenish, which my dictionary defines as restoring to original condition, building up, or refilling when empty. After you work out, you have to refuel to build your energy levels or restore your muscle fibres. Why don’t we apply the same focus to waged labour, emotional labour, household labour, and so on? That work also taxes the mind and body; it’s time to replenish and rebuild the mental stores of resilience.

What will you do to replenish? How will you rebuild your resilience? Let us know in the comments.

MarthaFitat55 enjoys powerlifting, swimming, dancing and yoga and doesn’t do nearly enough of the last three.