Feminist reflections on fitness, sport, and health
Author: Diane Harper
Diane Harper is a retired former public servant who lives and swims (and bikes) in Ottawa. In her hobby life, she is Siglinde Harfnerstochter, a 6th C Merovingian housewife from the city of Metz. Her primary interests are cooking, textile arts and bonecarving. Siglinde lives in the canton of Caldrithig, Barony of Skraeling Althing, Kingdom of Ealdormere.
I’m not big on following trends, especially those using terms like “maxxing” but this one made me laugh because I may be a trendsetter.
What is nonnamaxxing? Apparently, it’s a viral TikTok thing that encourages people to adopt the habits of an Italian grandmother, or “nonna.” Things like cooking from scratch, daily walking, gardening, long family meals, real-world social interaction and reduced screen time.
I don’t do all of these things (especially screen time), but I do love to cook from scratch, garden, go for walks or bike rides, and chat with friends.
As the Miami Herald says, movement, real food, social connection and mindset are the pillars of a nonna lifestyle.
An older woman in white shirt and pants enjoys a walk along the beach
There is a certain irony to having started this post just as the hospital physiotherapist arrived to take me for a walk around the ward. Where did my glute muscles go and why did they take my endurance with them?
I managed 140 metres, which was double my previous step count. Then I needed a nap.
When I’m not napping, I’m cleaning out my in-box and that’s how I rediscovered this January post by Nat. The softness of being okay with where I am, and working only to what feels comfortable really spoke to me.
It made me think of another thing that isn’t quite in season but is always relevant: One Foot in Front of the Other from the 1970 classic Christmas Show “Santa Claus is Coming to Town. You can follow this link to a YouTube version here: https://share.google/niRH0a8naZuA2zaRN
Diane in a purple jacket and carrying a blue and white umbrella out on one of her two daily walks. In the background, you can see trees beginning to bud, a sure sign of spring and better things ahead.
As of today, my walking distance has increased to 22 minutes, which works out to more than 2 km. One foot in front of the other.
By the time you read this, I will be in recovery following my heart valve replacement.
I’m grateful I was able to go into surgery relatively fit. It will help my recovery.
I’m even more grateful that we finally had some good weather and I was able to go for a bike ride on Friday.
And I’m especially grateful to this amazing group of women, my swim club lane-mates. I couldn’t ask for better pals and can’t wait to be back in the water with them.
Five women grouped together in a swimming pool, hamming it up for the camera.
I recently came across this article comparing the dementia risks for people using different forms of active and passive transit. Cyclists came out on top, with significantly lower rates of various forms of dementia.
“Previous studies have found a link between spatial navigational abilities and brain volume, which fits in with what the researchers found here: that cyclists ended up with higher hippocampal volumes.
“It could be the level of physical activity cycling demands that is largely responsible lowering the dementia risk, or having to negotiate routes and directions, or the need to stay alert, or perhaps being more exposed to fresh air.”
The study was careful to note that it was a link, but not necessarily a causal relationship. That makes me happy; I’m always suspicious of studies that aren’t clear about what they don’t know or didn’t examine.
I have written about the positive impacts of dance in fighting off dementia before, and more recent research backs it up. The London Taxi Driver Study researched a much more sedentary population, but one that relies on negotiating routes and directions, and where significantly larger hippocampus was found in study participants.
I’m happy to have another incentive to ride my bike.
Whee! A woman wearing an orange vest and raincoat rides a green bicycle. she has a big smile and one arm is up, as in celebration.
Week one is done. How did I do? Much better than anticipated, considering that I barely rode all winter, and the weather hasn’t been cooperating.
I missed April 1 because I didn’t even decide this might be a fun thing to do until at least April 2. I knew I wouldn’t be able to do the entire month because my (delayed) surgery is scheduled for April 20.
I did get out for the next three days. Then I missed Easter Sunday with the legitimate excuse that I had to cook the family dinner and haul it 25 km to my Mom’s (and bring home all the dirty dishes).
I got back at it Tuesday but missed Wednesday because of the weather and general tiredness. I couldn’t figure out the right clothes to go to work when it was -10 with the wind chill, but go home at +7.
I could have ridden to the hockey game that night and brought my bike home on the bus (or even ridden home) if a) I had remembered to charge my lights or b) remembered that busing home with my bike was an option. Oops.
By yesterday, I had the full-on cycling itch so went for a ride around the neighbourhood just for fun. It was my longest ride since last October and it felt great to be out admiring other cyclists, the runners, walkers, babies, dogs and geese enjoying the spring air.
A peaceful little island on the Rideau River. My bike is leaning against one of three red Muskoka chairs where you can sit and enjoy the view. If you know where to look, you’ll see the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill, and a common merganser swimming by.
I’ll probably only ride for another week this month, but I’m excited to feel brave enough to be out on two wheels again.
The swimming pool where I was hired as a lifeguard closed in June 2025 for renovations. Tuesday we opened for the first time.
It was a bit chaotic as our head guard couldn’t make it in, and our Aquafit instructor had sent an email saying they couldn’t come, but it was on the long weekend so no-one saw the message and arranged for a replacement. Kudos to my boss, who became head guard plus Aquafit instructor for two classes, on top of her day job. All the equipment that had been put away months ago needed to be set up again. But we made it.
Being back is wonderful. There were so many people joyfully catching up with each other. So many huge smiles, hugs and “welcome back!” greetings.
There were people I have seen at other pools where I work; they had been anxiously checking in on when we would reopen. There were people I had missed and wondered how they were doing. And there were people I had completely forgotten about until they walked through the door. It felt like a big family reunion.
Welcome back everyone! I’m so happy you’re here.
Me with a goofy grin, inside the lifeguard office.
Last weekend I had to go to an event across the province and decided to listen to podcasts as I drove. It had been a while since I listened to Maintenance Phase, which is all about debunking wellness and weight loss fads.
What a delightful way couple of days that turned out to be. I got caught up on trying to define ultra-processed food, the statistics behind blue dot communities (where lots of people live past 100), the wacky claims around seed oils and so much more.
Some of the influencer nonsense is spreading to Canada, as I discovered at a trendy shop in Toronto. I spotted a large display of tortilla chips made of organic Canadian corn, containing no seed oils, but fried (handcrafted) instead in grain-fed beef tallow. And as a bonus, it uses sea salt instead of salt containing iodine (iodine deficiency is the main cause of goitre).
A bag of tortilla chips that is clearly working to be perceived as Canadian and healthy.
I can’t be all smug though. My way of coping on long drives is to ingest caffeine and snack on something crunchy. By the end of the weekend, I had consumed many cups of coffee, two bags of potato chips and a Diet Coke. I had the worst case of heartburn in years, and was still feeling dodgy two days later.
I love winter. I love winter sports. I love the feeling of cold air on my face (and the excuse to cuddle up in something warm when I go inside).
But this winter has felt unusually long and hard. My first snow image is from November 9. I took another on March 28, following a brief squall.
Top: a snow-covered bike path from early November 2025. Bottom: a snow-covered road and trees from late March 2026.
All the jokes about second winter, false spring, and mud season aren’t landing this year because it hasn’t been warm enough to claim that anything was close to spring.
But now it’s April 1st. Surely things will get warmer? My snowdrops are starting to bloom, and I did manage a brief walk with my grandson on Sunday, so maybe. Or am I living with false hopes because it is April 1st and Mother Nature is about to play another winter trick on me?
The only way to know for sure is to get out for a walk or bike ride. Assuming it gets warm enough for the freezing rain to stop, of course.
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.
The Winter Paralympics is a smaller event than the Olympics, but like its counterpart, it had some impressive older women participating. I’m sure I missed a few so please let me know who I should be adding.
Clockwise from top left: Ina Forrest (paralympic.ca), Collinda Joseph (Reuters/Louisa Gouliamaki), Andrea Eskau (Paralympic.org), Cécile Hernandez (France Paralympique),
Wheelchair Curler Ina Forrest, 63, is making her fifth consecutive appearance at the Paralympics. She’s the oldest member of the Canadian Paralympic team. Forrest has won a medal at every Games she’s competed in (starting in 2010) including three golds and two bronze. If you didn’t watch any of this year’s curling, go find some highlight reels. It was very exciting.
Collinda Joseph 60, is a two-time Paralympian and Team Canada’s gold-medal-winning wheelchair curling lead. Joseph played wheelchair basketball for many years but first tried curling in 2006 and fell in love with the sport .
Cécile Hernandez is a 51-year-old French para-snowboarder and four-time Paralympic medallist, with gold medals from Beijing 2022 and Milano Cortina 2026, a silver medal from Sochi 2014, and both a silver and a bronze from PyeongChang 2018.
Andrea Eskau, who will turn 55 tomorrow, has competed at every Summer and Winter Games since making her debut at Beijing 2008, except for the 2022 Winter Games. In the winter, she competes in Para biathlon and Para cross-country skiing, and in the summer, she races in Para cycling. She has won four golds and a bronze at three different summer games, four silvers and a bronze in cross-country skiing, and three golds and a bronze in biathlon. She competed in five events at Milano-Cortina and her best result was 4th in cross-country skiing.
