Children in Training

Francis Ruiter shares:

When my children were young, they walked to school, (only half a kilometer) where they received Physical Education.

Since I was an athlete, I ran, cycled, and enjoyed swimming. My children did too. When two of my daughters were 16 and 17 years old I started training them to run. They would get up at six in the morning and run three miles within 20 to 25 minutes, while I ran five miles in 35 minutes or less.

I introduced my children to backpacking in the summer. I made them fill their backpack with over 30 pounds of books and had them walk in our back alley.

This training helped them to be ready for our planned ten-day, 100-mile hike in rough mountain terrain and small river crossings in the area of Jasper Alberta. At the halfway point, we reached the high point where snow had not yet melted. We only met one other person on our trip and he was amazed at our accomplishment. We were, too.

The young girls made several more trips with me and other friends over time. They loved it, and felt proud of their accomplishment.

**
Francis Ruiter travelled from Holland to Canada in April of 1948 to his uncle’s small range in Houston B.C. where he was employed for two years as a farm hand. After that, he became a Lumber Jack. In 1952 he moved back to Edmonton and, after a number of occupations, he ended up as a Life Insurance Agent for 30 years. He was forced into early retirement after a bicycling accident, which left him as an amputee. This represented a dramatic life change. Prior to the accident, Francis was an athlete who ran marathons, could bike a hundred kilometers on a given day, who loved backpacking, and who canoed the Coppermine River to the Arctic. After his recovery, however, he started to swim and he is thankful that he is able to swim to keep in shape.

Francis is the author of "Journal of a Dutch Immigrant" published by Word Alive.

No Magic, Just Healthy Eating by Ruth Snyder

Our son was allergic to milk as a baby. Soy formula resulted in weight gain. This caused delays in gross motor skills – he was thirteen months before he learned to crawl.

At thirty months of age, he left foster care and joined our family. His pediatrician was concerned about our son’s health – he was clinically obese. He was accustomed to eating whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, whining to get his way. It took “tough love” to teach him he needed to express his needs and wants in a positive way. We started by teaching the sign for milk. Then we told our son if he wanted milk on his cereal, he would have to sign “milk.” We also modeled healthy eating. Our son resisted eating whole grains and vegetables until he discovered he could get some of what he wanted by eating what we gave him.

Our son had a check-up when he was five. The pediatrician looked back and forth between him and his chart.

“I see your son is within the normal limits of weight and height for his age.”

I smiled. “Yes, he’s doing very well.”

“That’s amazing. Last time I saw him he was obese. Did you see a dietician?”

“No, I just believe in good, old fashioned, healthy eating.”

The pediatrician shook her head. “You know, if I hadn’t seen your son today, I would have a hard time believing what the chart says. Congratulations.”

**

Ruth L. Snyder is an associate member of The Word Guild. She lives in scenic northeastern Alberta along with her husband and five young children. Ruth enjoys reading, writing, gardening and learning new things. Find out more at her blog, her facebook page or on twitter

A Recipe for Healthy Choices by Annie Powell

Yes! It really is hard competing with media, peer pressure, habits, and taste buds. But we CAN do it! And WIN!!! I was blessed to have been raised on real food, encouraged to get exercise, and could comfortably talk about ‘life’. I naturally continued this recipe with my family.

But, after years of eating these same foods over and over again, I found myself wanting something different. ‘Vegetarian’ was becoming a popular word and I wondered one day, “What do they eat?” So I went to the library and borrowed six vegetarian cookbooks. (Obviously it wasn’t a new concept.) I chose a few simple recipes and began experimenting. We loved the new foods. After three weeks, and not sure why, I had the urge to step on the scales. I was shocked! I had lost eight pounds! I was hooked!

This began my journey to ‘better health’ and I started researching every spare moment I could. I learned that 74% of health is a result of lifestyle and environment. This includes: foods, addictions, physical movement, stress levels, and surroundings. To start a journey of better health, create a health wave with your family, friends, schools, churches, and/or clubs. This gives you support and keeps you motivated. Educate yourselves, make surroundings pleasant, listen to positive input, and get regular physical exercise. Plan together: activities, sports, hikes, pot-lucks and picnics. Make meals attractive and introduce new foods. Offer trial periods, allow individual’s choices, and propose challenges. Be reasonable with apprehensions and fears to new foods and experiences. Make it fun and enjoyable.

This simple recipe of ‘Nutrition, Exercise and Peace of Mind’ has been a winner in our family for 20 years. Remember: Live, like your life depends on it, because it does.

Daniel 1: 12-15 NIV “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days. At the end of the ten days they
looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.


**

Annie has been writing for over 25 years but her journey has been challenged by life’s storms, so she has kept most of it to herself. Her strong faith, experiences, and passion for writing and helping people, have been the motivation that has kept her going. Since God has given her the gift of encouraging, Annie loves to use this gift to reach others face to face, and through her writing. Her portfolio has been built with articles on things such as, faith, community events and school issues, as well as a collection of unique tips for making life easier, greeting cards, inspirational and humorous poetry, kid’s stories, and a light mystery novel. Her 20-year passion for health and nutrition is now in the forefront of her journey. She just completed a Nutrition and Wellness course and will be counseling and holding cooking classes. Her focus will mainly be on teaching and preparing simple and nutritious vegan meals. Lately Annie has discovered a new interest and is fascinated by the information she’s finding while researching the affects of nutrition and the mind. Annie comes from the Grey and Bruce area and has three adult children.

Stretch Grands Tenting by Karen Toews

Stretching. It increases range of motion, conditions muscles and tendons, and decreases post-workout soreness. Stretching also occurs when grandchildren want you to join them on their outdoor adventures.

When our two children were growing up, camping vacations were trips to the mountains, staying in a truck-camper, trailer, or rustic cabin – but never in a tent. There were bears!! Swimming, hiking – building great memories of fun in beautiful British Columbia. Our daughter married and ended up moving to Maine, U.S.A., where our son-in-law couldn’t wait for their three children to get old enough to hike and camp the way he’d done as a child.

Grow they did, and when these grandkids were 4, 6 and 8, they were discovering the parks and trails of the mountains of Maine and camping Daddy’s style – in a tent. By this time my husband and I had moved from Alberta to Nova Scotia; within driving distance of our kids.

My daughter is adamant she had no part in it; but we’d lived in N.S. only a few months when one of the precious three popped the question. “Nana and Papa, will you come camping with us?”

Knowing that meant tenting – and hoping eastern wildlife wasn’t as scary as the western variety – we assented, “count us in.”

An expert helped us choose our gear. Since then we’ve camped by lakes, on cliffs above the Atlantic, in a farmer’s field near a country fair – cooking, eating, fireside chats, hiking, playing….

Fast forward to next month. We’re going winter camping, backpacking our food and gear in to a cabin outfitted with a wood-burning stove and an outhouse out back. We know it’ll be fun because we did it last year. It’s been a painless stretch, kids. Thanks.

**
Karen is a wife of one, mother of two, Nana of six. Avid participant of myriad activities – running, cooking, studying nutrition, cycling, kayaking, hiking, traveling, reading, knitting. Family is her most precious treasure and her walk with God, a forever gift of growth and grace. Visit her website

30 days is up

Wow, the 30 days really did fly by! Here we are in February already and I'm looking forward to a box of chocolates on Valentine's Day.

Will I renew my Goodlife Fitness membership?

I didn't like that I had to pay for parking if I stayed longer than an hour. I always had to make sure that I had cash on me, which is difficult with credit and debit cards.

I didn't like the small lockers. I had to stuff my clothes, purse, and bag in a small space that left everything upside down and wrinkled.

I didn't like the loud music. Call me old but I can only take so much of the "new" groovy tunes.

I did like the amount of variety in the cardio equipment. I had my choice of the treadmill, elliptical machine, rowing machine, stepper, and stationary bikes. There was never a problem of getting the machine I wanted.

I did like the weight lifting machines. Again, there was never a problem of getting the machine I wanted.

I did like saying, "I'm going to the club."

But I guess the main problem for me is the unstable nature of my work. Some weeks I can get to the gym each day. Other weeks, I can't go at all.

So, no I will not renew my membership at this point. However, if I start a full-time job that has "normal" hours where I can plan to go the gym every day without interruption, then I would consider returning to GoodLife Fitness.

It was an interesting journey!

Coming up... readers share their fitness journey as parents.