Archive for the “health” Category
When you join Team Diabetes, you’re not left alone with all you have to accomplish. The gang is right by your side with help for your fund raising requirements, and you’re given all the training you could hope for with the Running Room.
Today, The Running Room is hosting their annual 20 Minute Challenge. It’s a simple 20 minute walk tonight at your nearest Running Room. It’s just one small step to get you on the road to fitness. It’s easy!
Take the 20 Minute Challenge, and then join the 95Crave Team Diabetes Crew. We’re headed to Disney World in January!
The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?
1 Comment »
In my 15 years at Z95.3 / 95Crave I don’t think I’ve taken more than 3 sick days. I suck it up and go to work. Sniffles, aches, coughs - I’ve worked through it all. Now I’m no martyr, but I just really don’t get sick.
It makes me wonder about these people who have “mandated” sick days in their union contracts. I’ve always thought if you’re sick, you’re sick. If you’re not, or if it’s not too bad, you show up.
Now, in just 2 months of daycare, I’ve had to take my second sick day. The first one because I had to stay home with Z, yesterday because I was vomiting and fevered.
And it’s all because of daycare.
There is one dirty pig pen of a child that constantly has a running crusty nose and at least 2 of the 10 kids have a cough on any given day.
It may be a bastion of socializing and learning, but it’s also a cesspool of disease and filth.
The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?
2 Comments »
 I’m on the warpath.
Ever since I learned about the dangers of BPA, I pick up plastic items I see in shops and have a look at the recycle number on the bottom. If it’s a 7, it’s more likely to have BPA.
Today I saw this awesome new reusable cup at Starbucks.
It looks just like the disposable summer cups, but this one is reusable. Excellent, right? Wrong.
Ignore the fact the exchange is out of whack and it’s $14 in Canada and only $11 in the US. Flip it over and you’ll see a lovely #7 on the bottom. That means it is likely to contain BPA. Despite the fact that retailers across Canada, and the US, have rallied to remove products made with BPA from their shelves, Starbucks still serves up a Venti load of them on shelves across the country.
Same with VANOC. The Vancouver Olympic Committee oversees the release of souvenirs and confirms use of the official Olympic symbols. Canadian Tire has some water bottles with the official Vancouver Olympic logo on the side, heck they’ve got them on the official Olympic website too, and … a number 7 on the bottom. That means, the Vancouver Olympic Committee is endorsing products that are, most likely, in defiance of the Federal Government’s recent declaration that BPA is a toxic substance.
Shame. Shame. Shame.
The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?
5 Comments »
This is excellent news, gang.
Already I’m on board, raising funds for Team Diabetes Easter Island (almost 25% towards the $10 000 goal), now I’ve agreed to lead another team, this time to Disney World in January.
 I couldn’t do both on my own. I approached 95 Crave about becoming officially involved, and since registratiom for Team Diabetes Easter Island is all but full, we’ve partnered on another destination - Disney World in January 09!
We have some big plans to support this cause, and you’ll start hearing the campaign recruitment on 95Crave very soon.
In the meantime, it’s a chance for you to get on board and commit. Here’s what you need to know.
The fund raising commitment is $4 500. You’ll have benchmarks and budgets to hit along the way, along with tons of training support. Your flight and accomodation is covered for the trip, you just have to spread the word, fill up the donation boxes, and get your heart and lungs up for the distance.
In June 09 with Team Diabetes Easter Island I will be doing the full marathon, in January at Team Diabetes Disney World, I will just be doing the half marathon - but feel free to run the full, or the full and a half! (Seriously, they have this thing called the Goofy Challenge where you do a Half marathon on Day 1 and a Full Marathon on Day 2 - no thanks!)
It’s a great cause, it’s a great event, it’s a great way for you to make a positive change with your own lifestyle while at the same time raising funds and awareness for Team Diabetes.
If you want in, contact Rebecca Taylor with Team Diabetes. I look forward to supporting you in your fund raising and training efforts.
The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?
4 Comments »
 The Canadian Diabetes Association is all about spreading the word and helping those living with Diabetes learn as much as they can about the latest innovations and support systems in place to help them battle the disease.
Earlier this spring there was a Live Smart Expo where patients could meet with dieticians, manufacturers, retailers, therapists, doctors and other people living with Diabetes to better understand their path through life with this disease along for the ride.
This week, 2 more events will be happening, and they involve a screening of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Cool!
The Movie Night is jointly hosted by Canada Safeway and Accu-Chek, and will start with a meet and greet between participating suppliers (Safeway, Roche, BD, Disetronic, Canadian Diabetes Association) and guests for around 45 minutes prior to the movie.
Admission is only $10 and includes a regular pop and popcorn as well as a gift for a total value of $25. Tickets are available from area Safeway pharmacies.
Richmond – Wednesday, June 4
Riverport Theatre
14211 Entertainment Way
Meet & Greet: 6:00 pm, Film: 7:00 pm
Langley – Thursday, June 5
Colossus Theatre
20090 91 Ave
Meet & Greet: 6:00 pm, Film: 7:00 pm
I’d love to attend the Richmond event as its just down the street from 95Crave, but I’m on air til 7.
The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?
1 Comment »
 Jen and I subscribed to the newsletters from BabyCenter.com when she found out she was pregnant. They’re great. They give you updates as you move through your pregnancy about what’s happening to your body and how your baby is growing.
Yes, they also send you links to buying baby items, but since they’re all American, we’re not tempted since we don’t qualify - so it’s purely an information source for us.
I didnt know the emails would continue after Z was born, but they have. Your Baby This Week arrived every Thursday detailing growth and behaviour and diet changes in our son to watch for. I just got the latest email and realized everything has changed. Z will turn 1 on Saturday.
 This latest email is titled: My Toddler This Week: Your 1 Year Old. No more baby, he’s a toddler.
Now I admit the toddling is limited to pulling himself up on boxes and chairs, but he’s pretty adept and sliding down the step from our kitchen to living room and he can haul ass up the stairs to the bedrooms pretty quickly. And, come to think of it, he’s also mastering the slide (forward AND backwards) at daycare. Wait .. he IS a toddler.
A toddler.
My baby is a toddler.
It’s all true. They grow up so fast.
The Blog Accoridng to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?
1 Comment »
This isn’t new. When I was freaking out about BPA in baby bottles and drink bottles, all the info I was reading listed BPA as a common ingredient in the lining of canned food.
CTV and the Globe and Mail did tests on canned goods and discovered that not only is the BPA there, it’s in higher concentrations than was found in plastics.
While baby bottles leach about 6 parts per billion of bisphenol A (BPA), the exclusive tests of food cans show:
* A can of children’s ravioli leached 6 parts per billion.
* A can of peas and carrots leached 7 parts per billion.
* A can of tomato juice leached 14 parts per billion.
Studies have shown when cans are heated in the manufacturing process, BPA leaches out of the linings. Foods are first sealed in cans and heated to kill bacteria in the food. Cans are heated to temperatures between 116 C and 121 C, and the length of time varies according to the type of food.
Because these findings show that BPA leached out of the cans and into water, it can be assumed that the chemical is leaching into the food itself when the cans are heated during the pasteurization process. [source]
I quickly removed ALL plastic with a bad plastics number from my house, what will I do about the cans?
London Drugs removed all the BPA plastic products from their shelves, will they be so quick with the cans?
The Federal Government is taking steps to have BPA declared a dangerous substance. There are alternatives to make plastics without it, what about cans? Can we can tomatoes, corn, peas and beans WITHOUT BPA?
Yes. Eden Foods made the switch almost a decade ago - but it’s costly.
 Eden Organic Beans are packed in lead free tin covered steel cans coated with a baked on oleoresinous c-enamel lining that does not contain bisphenol-A (BPA). (Oleoresin is a natural mixture of an oil and a resin extracted from various plants, such as pine or balsam fir). These cans cost 14 percent more than the industry standard cans that do contain BPA. This costs Eden $300,000 more a year. To our knowledge Eden is the only U.S. company that uses this custom made BPA-free can. [source]
Eden Foods are available locally at Whole Foods, Nesters, BuyLow and other more organically inclined grocers, check the store locator on their site for a full list.
I prefer frozen vegetables to canned, as there isnt as much sodium in a bag of corn kernels, vs a can. But I buy canned tomatoes and beans to make sauces. What about canned tuna?
Oh, don’t worry about canned beer (for now) - the temperatures aren’t high enough during the canning process to leach out the BPA - but it’s there.
The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?
1 Comment »
Bike to Work Week starts tomorrow.
 Ah, who are we kidding, the way gas prices are going, if you can bike to work the thought has already raced through your brain and you’re doing it. But if you need a little push to get up the hill, here it is.
The City of Vancouver has bike lanes in and around the downtown core, so you’ll have your own dedicated space along Beatty, Homer, Hornby and others. The entire city has a comprehensive web of North-South and East-West corridors to get you across town with a minimal amount of congestion and traffic trouble.
Here are some links to bike maps for Vancouver, Burnaby and Surrey. Don’t forget your helmet, it’s the law in the city to have one on when you ride.
If biking to work is a little crazy, you’ve got no excuse not take your wheels in for a tune up, because June is Bike Month!
 Bike Month events include the Stanley Park Bike Festival, BEST Pancake Breakfast, the Sapperton Street Festival, the Bike Fest in Surrey, Island City by Bike in Richmond, the Car-free Commercial Drive Festival, Bike Movie Night, the Giant Critical Mass and much, much more. Come join the hundreds of thousands of people in the Lower Mainland who experience the pleasure of cycling, in the month of June and every day of the year. [source]
Metro Vancouver has some hidden gems to take your knobby tires off rocks and over logs. You know, a little mud on your face instead of sweat on your suit.
The South Surrey Athletic Park has over 3km of rolling terrain with trails, jumps and obstacles for all skill levels. The site is maintained by the Surrey Off-Road Cycling Enthusiasts Society.
But the true place for those who like to put the pedals through the paces is the North Shore Mountains, home to World and Olympic Champion Alyson Sydor. The local hills are to mountain biking what Whistler is to skiing – simply one of the best on the planet.
Vancouver, British Columbia’s North Shore freeride scene is the cycling media and bike industry darling at the moment. With its demanding trails and “X”treme stunts, and the new breed of rider that the area has brought to prominence, it has grasped the bike world’s attention span by the jugular — and has plenty of bike companies latching onto the bandwagon. - BikeMag.com
If you’re up to the challenge, check out the rides on the top of the mountains, whether you packed your bike on the Grouse Mountain Super SkyRide, or hit the trails and ride up on your own.
If I still haven’t hit on anything close to where you live, check out this ultimate list of trails and paths in BC at TrailPeak.com.
 I live in North Vancouver, and work in Richmond. It’s about 30km and up and over 3 pretty hefty ridges and 2 nasty bridges. So riding to work won’t happen, but I am the cyclist for our 95Crave team at the Vancouver Triathlon World Championships, so a few laps to Deep Cove and back is not out of the question.
The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?
2 Comments »
Working in radio locks me in to a pretty specific time frame. It’s not flexible, I’m on the air from 2p-7p every day. That’s it. That’s my shift. If I’m not there, it’s dead air.
I had an ex who joked that I would be so easy to cheat on, because she could just turn on the radio and know exactly where I was. Hmmmm I wonder why she’s an ex?
Jen’s a sales rep, so her schedule is a little more flexible and fluid. She has some conference calls and meetings, but really she makes her own hours to get the job done.
 Z is pretty sick this week. The poor little bear is congested, has a runny nose and is having trouble sleeping. I caught a piece of what he has this weekend, and you can add achey and miserable into the mix.
Today as we were getting him ready to take him to daycare, he just started fighting. He was stuffy, coughing and crying. We couldn’t take him - but who would look after him? Jen had a day planned with her supervisor to get retrained coming back from mat leave, and I have to be on the air at 3.
Rock, meet hard place. Hard place, meet rock.
Eventually I traded shifts with our evening guy, so here I am at the radio station rocking the evening shift for the first time in more than a decade. It’s weird - but fun.
A caller just told me about Nannies On Call. A local company of bonded professional nannies who will offer care in a pinch.
Nannies on Call is Western Canada’s premier childcare agency serving Calgary, Vancouver and Whistler. We have been offering exceptional on call, temporary, part-time and full-time nanny services since 2001. You can put your mind at ease knowing that all of our nannies have been carefully screened – we ensure that our nannies are highly experienced, educated women with a passion for childcare.
The service is recommended by the concierge at the Fairmont Hotel, which makes sense. Away for a weekend and you want to leave the kids for a night - these pros will help.
$18/hr would have nicely covered the 2hr window between my work starting and Jen’s finishing today.
Next time.
The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?
2 Comments »
 I think we’ve established the existence of BPA in our children’s bottles is a bad thing. Retailers have quickly scrambled to remove them from shelves after the Canadian Government took steps to label BPA a dangerous substance.
So we’ve taken steps to save our kids. Now it’s time to have a look through the rest of our cupboards and see what’s doing damage to us.
After reading all the blog posts on the topic, a colleague emailed me this great Plastic Checklist.
It has everything broken down by manufacturer, product, and recycle number. It explains everything simply, and if you find anything on the list in red in your cupboards, you’ve got to get rid of it.
Actually, my colleague is done with plastic, and the microwave altogether. I might be heading that direction too.
**UPDATE** for some reason the links above don’t link directly to the pdf file. Please right click on the picture or the text link and choose “Save Link As” to download the file and view it.
The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?
No Comments »
|
Entries (RSS)