I get this newsletter from Mountain Trek each month, and found this month’s message very useful. I attended a week at Mountain Trek, in the BC Kootenay mountains two summers ago, and hands down was the best “healthy” experience I have ever had. I highly recommend it. Enjoy their suggestions……..

What’s up in health, fitness and the like ….

Breakfast THEN Coffee

Canadian research indicates caffeinated coffee an hour before breakfast can increase blood sugar levels by 250 percent. Wow! Drink it after you eat (if it doesn’t upset or disturb your digestion). Benefits of coffee…antioxidants in fresh brewed coffee has been shown to retard the aging process and enhance short term memory performance just remember to watch how much you drink.

And speaking of Breakfast 

Eat at home not later on the road. A University of Massachusetts study found that eating breakfast out instead of at home more than doubles your odds of obesity. Not only are restaurant or fast food joints meals often bigger than home-cooked meals, but you’re also vulnerable to an impulse buy at the drive-thru or choosing more off the menu (it’s like shopping on an empty stomach).

More reasons to exercise

The chub around your organs is more likely to cause disease than surface flab is. But it’s easy to keep that visceral fat off once you lose it. A new study in the journal Obesity found that people who lost weight (including some visceral fat) and exercised 80 minutes a week didn’t regain visceral fat after a year. Those who didn’t work out but still kept a healthy weight had 25% more visceral fat. 80 minutes a week equals to less than 3×30 minutes sessions of exercise.

And for men only, any point over a BMI (body mass index) score of 25 drops your testosterone level by 3%. Get busy moving or lose it.

More reasons for resistance training

Another reason to pump weights before exercise? A new study from the College of New Jersey confirms that pumping iron can make your cardio workout more effective. Participants who performed an intense strength workout before riding a stationary bike burned more fat during their cardio session than those who pedaled but skipped the weights. Scientists speculate the weight training may trigger fat-burning hormones. Even 20 minutes of resistance training before your cardio will increase your fat burning factor.

Restore and Rebalance

Feeling a little stressed out at work? Close the door, lay on the floor and put your legs up against a wall. This is yoga pose is called “Salamba Viparita Karani (or supported-legs-up-the-wall pose). The breath work in this restorative pose makes all the difference in its effect on the nervous system. Exhale for twice the count of your inhalation as you practice this pose if you are feeling restless or anxious in your mind and body. Hold the pose for 5-20 minutes.

Detox

Don’t forget about taking in an infrared sauna or a steam at your local gym! Keep up the good work!

(Thanks to Zoomer Magazine, Men’s Health, and the Yoga Journal for these tips)

Have a great week!

Linda

www.lindaedgecombe.com

www.lindaedgecombe.com/wordpress

http://twitter.com/lindaedgecombe

The other idea that came across my desk this week, was from a friend from highschool and he got me onto a green tea called DOMatcha.  I have been a big fan of green tea for a long time and know and believe in the benifits.  But DOMatch is a concentrated form.  So it is like getting 6 cups of green tea in one serving. 

The last but not least thing I have been doing this week is working through a book called “Release – A Wilderness Adventure of the soul”  by Darren Wride. Find it at  http://www.the-life-plan.com/ Awesome book, but what I am finding interesting is how I am avoiding doing the questions he asks in the book.  The actual work to discover my path.  I just keep putting it off.  I will do laundry to avoid it.  Now that is denile. 

I will keep on keepig you posted.  And any and all feedback or experiences are all welcome.

One more thing, if you are interested in picking up a great guide to help you get more accountable this year.  I have “Guilt Free Accountability” on sale at a very low price of $19.97 go to www.lindaedgecombe.com/store.php a savings of $30

Linda

Me and my girls

Well it’s the last week of 2009 and as I move closer towards my 50 birthday,  I am thinking I will kick it up a notch.  For the first time in my speaking career, I have NO travel booked in January and I have decided to make the month of January completely dedicated to my health.  We (my family) leave for a 5 day ski trip tomorrow and I plan to be snow shoeing everyday, while I am up there.  Well if you saw the amount of food I just bought from Costco, you would be making that goal too.  And when we get back next Sunday,  I will unpack and get my gym gear ready, as my first appointment with my “trainer Brad” is Monday at 9am.  Once I get my monthly plan from Brad,  I will keep you posted.  And if you want to do a full on “Month of Health” with me,  I would be happy to be your virtual buddy.  Oh and one more thing.  I have a few of my ”Guilt Free Accountability”  Manuals left and they are on sale for January for ONLY $19.97  

That is a $25 dollar savings to you.  View this item at http://www.lindaedgecombe.com/store.php   Email me at info@lindaedgecombe.com if you are interested in “getting on with it!” in 2010.  I will offer this to you at this great discounted price.

This weeks laugh comes from the very funny show “This Hour has 22 Minutes”  enjoy!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkLfAG0AAzQ

Cheers

Linda Edgecombe

www.lindaedgecombe.com

Just Returned from The Coldest Place on the Planet

Well,  my family and I spent the last 4 days in Edmonton, as I had 2 speaking engagements in Edmonton and Calgary over the weekend.  So as many of you know,  Kevin and I spent most of the month of November in Nepal, and part of my ‘bribe’ to our girls was that if I could find a speaking engagement in Edmonton before Christmas, we would go and stay at West Edmonton Mall (the largest mall in North America) and they could spend time at the enormous water park and Galaxy land the amusement park.   So off we flew on Thursday night landing in -28 Celsius weather.   No problem,  I grew up in Edmonton so I used to be OK with cold winters.  Holy crap!  I just don’t remember -28 hurting your skin that much.  Mind you we left 20 years ago.  So as my family enjoyed the +28 degree weather inside the water park, I ventured out to speak at a company Christmas luncheon downtown and then flew to Calgary to speak at Great West Life’s Staff dinner.

 Well by Saturday night the temperature had dropped to -46degrees and went on record as the coldest spot on the planet.  Yes Planet Earth.  All vehicles must be plugged in and even then it’s iffy whether they will start.  Your tires actually freeze. 

But what I found is, it makes everyone come together a bit closer.  I know that might sound funny, but harsh weather like this, makes everyone get into the spirit of the season, Christmas that is.  The houses that are decorated sparkle more because there is snow and ice frost everywhere.  Your feet make a crunching noise on the snow, that really says winter and winter wonderland.  The dads are required to go out and start vehicles at least 30 minutes prior to anyone leaving anywhere, and you don’t worry about how good your boots go with your coat, because quite frankly,  Sorrels don’t go with anything other than snow pants and a parka with a mismatched toque.  (Canadian for winter hat). 

The great part was that I didn’t even have to tell my teenage girls to put on warm clothes,  they just knew by the fact that the windows in the house were covered in ice and frost that not even the furnace at my sister’s house was keeping clear.

So with good friends, our amazing families,  add in awesome food and wine, we celebrated the holiday season. 

As we sat in the Edmonton International Airport, waiting to fly home,  and listened to flight after flight be cancelled, and at the very least be delayed,  we laughed when we heard one airline admit they were trying to get one of their planes started but the engines were just too frozen to start… I’m not sure I would want to know that bit of information about a plane I was about to board.

I will say that when we landed back in Kelowna, BC Sunday afternoon and the temperature was just near freezing,  we were pretty grateful.   I guess I won’t have to put a trip to the south pole on my bucket list.  Been there!

Get moving everyone!  It keeps you warmer and burns a few holiday calories.

Cheers

Linda Edgecombe

www.lindaedgecombe.com

The first thing Kevin and  I did, after taking some photos, was go for some cold beers…and I don’t even like beer, but they were great! Our guide Wangchuk wanted us to meet some of his relatives in Lukla, so he took us out to a couple of ‘sherpa bars’.  These local spots are where the porters, sherpas and guides go to have their beverage of choice and get a bite to eat.   It was as real as it could get. 

The next day we left for Kathmandu.  After 12 days of not showering (that was everyone on this little plane),  the air quality in the plane was very ripe!

The 30 minute shower both Kevin and I took may have been the best showers of our lives.  The water that washed off our bodies was actually brown.  Yuck!

Well I spent the next 3 days pretty close to my hotel room, fighting off a bacterial bug in my stomach while Kevin toured the city. 

Dinesh and Kevin headed out on Dinesh’s motorbike.  From Temples to shopping to open public cremations, they saw it all.  I basically saw the insides of my eyeballs and the toilet.  Well that was another great weight loss program.  Now down about 10 lbs.  There is nothing like several days of hiking,  altitude sickness, and diarrhea to help you drop a few lbs.

By Thursday we head out to drive to the Dang region of Nepal.  It’s about 420kms from Kathmandu.  A drive that would in Canada take about 4 hours, takes us almost 11.  It’s on what they call a highway, but is really a goat trail with the occasional slab of ash vault on it.   We get to stay in yet another (very humble) accommodation and the next day we are off to see the girls.   But before we can get there, we need to rent a jeep so we can get across a couple of rivers and some pretty rocky terrain, as the car we rented the day before just won’t make it.

Once we get out to the villages,  we are asked to “Please be waiting, the Mothers are coming”  and did they come! By the dozens.  Until there was well over 180 of them.   All to thank us for helping their daughters go to school.   The Moms of these daughters were also happy because we had just started a literacy program for them as well and some of the dads even asked if they could join in as they had never learned to read or write either.

As you can see from the photos (pretty funny)  the only way they could thank us was to give us flower leis they had made that morning from wild Marigolds.  As well, they painted us with tika (the pink paint) on our foreheads.   We called ourselves the Lion King Team.

Lion Kings

All and all it was a very overwhelming day and a LONG drive home back to Kathmandu.  But very rewarding to see that the money we have raised to support these girls and women is going to great cause and getting into the right hands.

Our plans are to add some classrooms to the school where most of the girls we sponsor go as they are so overcrowded. (upwards of 80 kids in each very small classroom) and to help make the families sustainable through co-op farming perhaps.

For more information on how you might make a donation or to get involved go to www.iwencanada.com  or email me at info@lindaedgecombe.com

http://maybeitsnotjustme.blogspot.com/

It has recently occurred to me that I may be in need of a retreat of sorts.  You know, a place to rest your mind and body.  To relax.  To find peace.  To reflect.  And maybe (if there’s time after all that relaxing and reflecting) to have a massage.  And perhaps a seaweed wrap, followed by a full body exfoliation and rehydration.  And one of those two hour pedicures where they don’t just paint your toes, but massage your feet and legs, while you lounge in a leather recliner chair, sipping coffee and reading trashy magazines.  Ahhh yes.  A retreat is definitely what I need.

And so, I was most intrigued to discover that a friend of mine had recently returned from just such a retreat.  “What a coincidence!” I exclaimed.  “I was just thinking how a retreat is soooooo what I need.  You know, lots of time to think and relax and just really focus on me!”  Feeling totally motivated, I demanded details!  My gosh!  Maybe I can do this for Christmas.  Yes.  I will come back after New Years – trouble free and ready to enjoy life. I bet they have AMAZING bedding.  And all sorts of little tiny soaps and shampoos that smell totally spa like and have really naturey names like “Sage Mint Shampoo” and “Birch Grass Conditioner.”  Yay me!  I’m going on a retreat!

So.  The retreat is in San Diego (fabulous!).  Some people go for weeks, but others have been known to go for up to three months.  Three whole months!  Can’t even imagine.  There are classes offered in the mornings, afternoons and evenings.  These classes vary from meditation to spiritual awareness to yoga.  There is even one class devoted strictly to breathing.  Just breathing in (ahhh) and breathing out (ahhh).  This is supposed to calm the mind and allow one to really reflect on themselves and their troubles.  What a brilliant idea!

The food sounds amazing.  Everything is organic and they don’t serve any animal by-products’.  Now, I do enjoy meat, but in the interests of my mental and physical health, I’m sure I can suffer through a meat free week.   I am eagerly telling my friend this, when she clarifies that no animal by products means no cheese.  Hold the bus!  No cheese?  WTF?  How are you supposed to relax?  Okay, okay.  Obviously, a bit tense (hence the need for the retreat).  I can handle this.  I’m sure there’s tons of lovely and exotic fruits and vegetables that will more than satisfy me.  And maybe the fancy dancy chefs can shape my veggies into the shape of a steak or something.  I’ve heard that’s how Cameron Diaz stays so thin – eating meat shaped vegetables.  Anyways – I calmly encourage my friend to tell me more about this lovely place.  Don’t want her thinking I’m some type of weirdo.

In the interests of health and wellness, they do not serve any caffeine or alcohol.  “Uh huh.” I hear myself saying.  “But there’s coffee and wine right?”  I can almost hear our friendship shredding itself to pieces.  “No” she says politely.  “No caffeine and no alcohol.  None.”  I am baffled.  No caffeine?  How the fuck I am gonna stay conscious for a two hour mediation class without any freaking coffee?!  And how am I supposed to relax without any wine?  They’ve already taken away the cheese.  Honestly.  Who designs these programs? I mean, they say the want to help people, but if you ask me . . .  I am busy contemplating the absurdly of this entire enterprise, when she continues by explaining that every week there are three juice only days (ie. NO food) and that you are required to take two wheat grass shots per day – one of which is an enema.  Gasp!  Oh my God.  My friend has been brainwashed by some granola vitamin health food cult!  WTF?  Grass in your ass?  It bears repeating.  Grass in your ass?  I can’t even begin to imagine the consequences of such a procedure.  And no cheese?  No wine?  No coffee?  Days with no food at all???

Upon further reflection, it would seem that I will not be visiting a retreat any time soon.  Instead, I shall lay in my cosy bed, munching Oreos, and blogging about my life.

Here again is her link

http://maybeitsnotjustme.blogspot.com/

Hope you enjoyed this article as much as I did.

Linda Edgecombe

Wow!

Well for the past month,  I have been on the adventure of my life.   My husband Kevin and I travelled to Nepal to Trek to Everest and spend time with the girls we save from Contract Bonded labour.   And all I can say is Nepal was not what I was expecting.  After a 32 hour adventure of planes, trains and airports,  we arrived in Kathmandu at 11pm on a Thursday night.  Our good friend and NGO director Dinesh Sapkota picked us up at the airport and derived us to our hotel.  We were up by 6am to get ready to leave for Lukla (the small village where you begin your trek to Everest)

The landing strip in Lukla is one of the shortest and highest altitude in the world.  It is also the steepest, which helps because it’s the shortest.  We hook up with our porter (the Man who will be carrying our bags) Jelging and away we go.  Kevin, Dinesh, Wangchuk (our guide) and his brother Jelging (our porter).  The 5 of us become fast friends.

Day 1-4  We hike through a very lush, green and garden laden part of the trip.  It is beautiful and parts of it are very steep.  Our last 3 hour up to Namche is pretty much straight up and we get our first glimpse of Everest from 2 different spots on the trail.   We arrive at Namche about 3pm, ready for a beer or something. We are now at about 11,000 feet.  What I can’t seem to get used to is the bodily function noises most of the Nepalese men make.  Lots of snorting, and spitting.   And lots of smells…

After dinner, we play cards for a while and hit the hay by 8pm. 

We spend the next day doing a 600 meter day hike up and then back down to Namche to help with acclimatization. 

Day 4 we hiked to a famous small little village where there is a  large Monks Monastery. The first half of this hike was easy and the second half was again, pretty straight up.  I am now starting to get headaches.  And as we arrive, we find out they are preparing for a famous Monks festival.  So we get to see some of the ceremonies.  We stay in a VERY Modest (I’d say primitive)  tea house.  So I have to do lots of talking to myself to handle it.  I even have a moment when I realize I am not as tough as one should be for a trip like this one.  Ahhh,  the Linda ‘princess syndrome’ is showing it’s face.

Day 5 Up at 6am,  and off we go to climb another 500 meters to a small town called Dingbouche.  I am starting to get headaches again.  I take a short nap to try and get it to go away.  We have tea and dinner and once again hit the hay by 8pm. 

(here is where I feel we make our hiking mistake)  We should have stayed one more night to acclimatize a bit better.

Day 6 I slept really well here.  Kevin is still not sleeping.  He has not slept for 5 nights now.  They say you start to get crazy dreams when you are in high altitudes,  I dreamt last night that Al Pachino was the master mind behind the 9-11 disaster.  I think he needs to play a few more nice guy roles…

We hike up yet another 500 meters to  Labouche.  And once again the second half of the day was straight up.  When I reach the top of this hard ridge,  we are at the place where many memorials have been built to honour hikers and climbers who have died on these trails.  And there are many.  Kevin and I have a photo taken in front of Scott Fisher’s memorial.  He is the expedition leader of the Everest Summit team that experienced so much tragedy back in 1996.  The book “Into Thin Air” was written about that event.

Here is also when my “BAD” Altitude Sickness really kicks it up a notch.   I am not doing so well now.  As my head feels like it’s going to explode! And I mean literally.  It’s like the worst red wine hangover you many have ever had.   I guess that’s what they mean by swelling of the fluids on your brain. 

Day 7 Kevin has been up since 2am,  with diarrhea and vomiting.  These are also part of the “Altitude Sickness”  And to think we paid for this for  our holidays.  The temperature in our room is about -15 degrees Celsius.  And the entire place we are staying in smells like an outhouse.  It’s tough to say the least. 

Up at 8am,  and we decide to spend a few more hours seeing how we feel to try and make a decision on whether we should spend the day and try and acclimatize or go down.  I leave this decision up to Kevin as this is his dream.  So at around 10 am that morning, after Kevin reflected on helping a man into a helicopter the day before who was unconscious from Altitude Sickness, he decided we need to go down and try and get better.  That was a long, cold, windy, and very silent day let me tell you.

 More Everest and Nepal in my Next Instalment.

Linda

Cheers!

Well here we are 11 days later and one more day of hiking till we catch a flt back to Kathmandu.  I got some bad altitude sickness and Kevin (Linda’s husband) has a bad bug in his tummy.  Many stories to tell.  It has been the hardest thing I have ever done on many levels. 

Linda

So they are safe and sound although probably not feeling 100 percent.

I am looking forward to them being home and sharing their stories of this amazing adventure. Stay tuned as I know Linda will be sharing everything with you.

Richelle Lawrence on behalf of Linda

Well the week was filled with presentations, wonderful people and very little exersize.  As I write this, in less than 6 hours Kevin and I will be on yet another long flight to Kathmandu, Nepal.  We are off to take on the Mountain and see first hand the effects of the work we have put in these past few years.  I am talking about the girls we continue to fundraise for in Nepal.  If you want to see an amazing and inspiring 3 minute video go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg5KETmYW8w 

The next time I will write in this blog will be later in November and I will have some amazing shots of not only Everest, but some awesome, brave and determined women and girls making their lives better.  Wish us luck and some big breaths…  As I know we will need all the O2 we can take in. 

Linda

Birthday parties  and an Annual General Meeting on the same day is exhausting!

Josee's Birthday Party

Like we all experience each week, life can be busy.   I traveled to Winnipeg this week to speak to AWHONN  “Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses”.  A fun and eager group of women.  Then I landed back home at 10am on Sunday the 18^th,  and had one hour to help my husband get ready for 13 twelve year olds  who were coming to our daughter Josee’s 12^th birthday party.  They all got picked up at 4pm and it was off to the AGM of my Charity, where I am the fundraising director IWEN, Intercultural Women’s’ Educational Network.   But all in all, it was a great week. 

Dinesh speaking at the AGM

Most of my thoughts these days are taken up with the “MOUNTAIN” in front of me and my husband Kevin.  As I have posted in the past few weeks,  we leave in less than a week for Nepal where we will be trekking for 14 days up to the base camp of Everest and then going into the country side to visit the girls we help get into school.  I can’t even identify the emotions I am feeling, nervous, excited, anxious,  worry?   Sadness that I will be away for close to 4 weeks from my girls. Maybe that one is combined with guilt.  Because, this week I am off to Montreal on Wednesday and then to Toronto to speak and home Sunday night.  Which gives me a day and a half to (get it together) and spend some precious time with the girls before we embark on a 30 hour trip to just get to Kathmandu. 

If I sound like I am complaining, I really am not, just anxious. 

OK,  so as far as how am I doing in the getting fit department,  well I have been hiking lots in the past 8 weeks,  eating relatively well.  Sleeping great, and I have no idea how I will fare on the trek.  My weight is hanging in there at 169 lbs.  And after 14 days of hiking, if I don’t lose 5 lbs,  I will be really ticked off!

I will have that story in late November.