General

As parents, Tracy and I have always encouraged our children to participate in fitness and sport. Sport keeps kids active and out of trouble. On the ice is better than off. Sport provides an important outlet of expression and teaches kids new skills that help develop their neurocognitive and motor control centers.

Kids differ from adults in two basic ways. First, they laugh a lot more than we do. Their primary theme in life is to play and have fun. Secondly, they are far more active than Canadian adults, who seldom expend enough physical energy to relieve their mental stress or compensate for the food they love to eat. But times have changed.

These terms are becoming better known to athletes who read books, magazines and journals, but there are still millions of people who have no idea what these terms mean or why it's important to understand their significance.

Over the years and throughout my career as a Naturopath, Fitness and Sports Nutrition Consultant, hundreds of athletes, bodybuilders and workout buffs have inquired about my own personal dietary regime and training protocol.

As in medicine theoretically, the first law of life is “Do No Harm”. In my book that’s the only law we need on the planet. In this article I will confine the philosophical weight of that premise to human interaction only.

I’m sure we all know that Cleopatra was renowned for being a beautiful woman with a beautiful complexion. Even if it’s just legend, her name still resembles what women all love to have — natural, flawless, beautiful skin. One thing that remains the same throughout the ages is that beauty is linked to healthy skin.

The Naked Truth. As a professional dance teacher/competitor and fitness instructor/bodybuilder I am surprised, dismayed and often bewildered by the fact that many people have never looked at their own bodies’ in a full length mirror, clothed or naked! As a dancer and natural bodybuilder the mirror is my friend.

I was recently minding my eight-month-old nephew, Connor, while his parents were on a weekend get-away. His mother left a detailed description of his day-to-day routine, including when he eats, sleeps, plays and bathes. She telephoned me the very first day to check up on her little boy, and the first thing she asked before even saying hello was, “Did he have a bowel movement?”

Drinking sufficient water is crucial to health, but water also plays an important role in external sanitation and personal hygiene. Water seems to have special powers in stress management and body rejuvenation. Perhaps that’s because like light from the sun, there’s absolutely no life without water.

I have wet and dry brush massaged for 35 continuous years since beginning at seventeen. At that young and tender age, I had no idea how beneficial brushing actually was, but I knew that my skin felt like silk and that regular brushing gave me a super sense of invigoration and well being. It was and still is, truly magical!