Getting Active

I seem to be fighting something off today, which is kind of annoying. I wasn't anticipating getting sick at the end of August. Around mid-September, sure. By that time everybody has come back from summer holidays and Iqaluit begins to swing back to life after the small coma its been in during July and August.

With all of those people back in town, of course they bring all their germs and bugs with them. Give them a couple of weeks to mingle and bake a bit and voila! By mid-September there's normally a couple of nasty bugs swirling around town. With swine flu still lurking out there and whatnot, it should be an interesting fall.

In the meantime, I'm still trying my best to take better care of myself. So is Cathy. When we were in Australia, we did quite a bit of moving, but then again, we did quite a bit of eating as well. So when we came back to Iqaluit we resolved to try and eat a bit better and get some more exercise.

We're doing better on the eating front, to the point where we're considering food mail again because we've been going through so many vegetables. The issue was going to be with the exercise. Yes, we've been walking more and Boo has been getting out for walks at least four times a day for about a half hour or more each time. However, we wanted more. And both of us knew the gym was going to be a waste of time and money because we either hate going there or can't be bothered.

On a lark, we bought a Wii "game" when we were coming back through Ottawa called "Active". Cathy had heard good things about it so we figured we would give it a try. We had the Wii Fit, but it was too easy to skip the hard stuff and just do the fun games if you wanted.

Active is pretty brutally evil, it must be said, but it is effective. There was a point today when I was doing jump lunges that I seriously considered hurling the remote at the TV set when the video trainer started chastising me for doing it wrong. Exercise isn't effective if you don't want to kill your fitness trainer at some point. At least mine is digital so there's no jail time if I delete her.

However, it is a pretty effective workout. You're doing a nice mix of upper and lower body. Some of it is straight exercise routines, but other times you're playing "sports" like basketball and tennis. You do two days, then take a break for one. The work-outs last anywhere from 20-30 minutes and you normally have a decent sweat going by the time its over.

Is it perfect? Probably not. But I suspect it's better than nothing and it feels like it's making a difference. It's set up for a 30 day challenge right now and it's on medium setting. Depending on how I feel at the end of it - I'm about half way through - I'll either do it again at medium or see if I fell lucky and try the hard setting.

After all, I've got to be in some kind of shape for the Dominion in November. And until I land some work, I've got to be careful to not just sit around the house all day watching movies. Although I am expecting my friend Anne to call any moment now to yell at me that it's time to start writing the novel again.

Although, honestly, is there anyone interested in another 'hero journalist saves the day" book?

Last Five
1. The gospel - The Dandy Warhols
2. Turn this car around - Tom Petty
3. All I a is all you're not - Sloan
4. Scarlet - U2
5. After the rain (live) - Blue Rodeo*