Cover options for the November/December issue of Canadian Geographic.

Magazines have to make some tough decisions. And choosing a cover can, at times, be particular challenging. That was certainly the case in making a final call for the front page…

Sometimes those old, ratty sandals need to get buried. When sidewalk steps rattle your spine and walking to the store gives you severe Blackfoot, it’s time to go shopping. Next time you slide on that fresh new pair in the store, just pause for a second and look wistfully at the broken, smooth-soled flat ones […]

The post #707 Ripping off the tag and wearing what you just bought out of the store appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

A view from Flint’s Park west up the Cascade valley at sunset. Flint’s Park is one of Banff’s most remote backcountry campsites — a two-day hike from any direction. (Photo: Gavin Fitch)

Banff National Park is a treasure. Canada’s first national park and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site (along with the other Canadian Rocky Mountain national parks, Jasper, Yoho and Kootenay), it is a place of unparalleled natural beauty, with a rich history and an amazing array of recreational possibilities. It also has crowds.

Ottawa, ON – Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party of Canada announced today that the Hon. Ralph Goodale, Member of Parliament for Regina—Wascana, and Mona Fortier, Member of Parliament for Ottawa—Vanier, will serve as Co-Chairs of the party’s National Platform Committee in advance of the 2019 federal election campaign. “Hearing ideas from Canadians directly has […]

Read time: 3 mins

A huge selection of  Fabulous Food Ideas for Thanksgiving!  Everything from breakfast ideas, to appetizers, salads, side dishes, desserts and the main dish!  Enjoy! I love Thanksgiving and look forward to it every year!  I actually can’t believe it’s already here…it always sneaks up on me.  But am I ever glad it is, because Thanksgiving is the best. The leaves.  The crisp fall air.  The turkey.  The pumpkin pie.  Oh man the food!  And speaking of food, if you need some Thanksgiving food inspiration I have compiled a huge list of my favourite Thanksgiving recipes!  Everything from breakfast ideas, to appetizers, salads, side […]

The post Fabulous Food Ideas for Thanksgiving appeared first on A Pretty Life In The Suburbs.

Racing up staircases or jumping down them gives you that I’m-in-a-rush rush. Handrails play helper as you leap on stage as the quick-zipping star of the show. Here’s how to make the magic happen. Okay, if you’re going up, two of the classiest moves include: 1. Roboto Man. You’re a straight-faced, mild-mannered Stairskipper 4000, an […]

The post #708 Jumping down as many stairs as possible appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

Jonny Harris brings jokes to small towns across Canada with his CBC show, Still Standing. (Photo: Chris Armstrong/Frantic Films, courtesy of CBC)

Jonny Harris admits he’s got the best job in the world. The Newfoundlander, who hails from St. John’s, travels to all corners of Canada for his CBC television show Still Standing and visits communities that are full of people sharing laughter with their neighbours, even though they may be facing hardships.

This Pumpkin Pie Dip tastes just like pumpkin pie!  Serve with homemade Pie Crust Dippers and extra whipped cream.  A perfect fall dessert. This summer I was chatting with my mom and she mentioned a brilliant recipe idea that I just knew I had to make…a pie dip with pie crust dippers.  We originally talked about a peach pie dip, which I’m definitely going to make, but since we’re in the middle of pumpkin-everything-season, I figured I should make a Pumpkin Pie Dip first.  And friends, I don’t regret it one bit. For this dip I wanted to make some […]

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My very first vegan Instant Pot recipe is here! I finally took the plunge and purchased an Instant Pot after being on the fence about whether I wanted a new appliance to take up real estate on my counter (it would have to fight for space next to the kids’ piles of artwork, after all). […]

Read time: 7 mins

A still from “Anthropocene: The Human Epoch,” a new documentary by Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier and Edward Burtynsky, showing lithium evaporation ponds in Chile’s Atacama desert. The title, “Anthropocene,” refers to the current proposed geological epoch, defined by human influence upon Earth’s natural system. (Image courtesy Mongrel Media)

Climate change, extinctions, invasive species, the terraforming of land, the redirection of water: all are evidence of the ways human activity has shaped and continues to shape Earth’s natural processes.

Scientists have coined a word to describe this unprecedented age of human impact on the planet: the Anthropocene. Although not yet officially recognized as an epoch on the geological time scale, “Anthropocene” has been used informally to describe anywhere from the last 15,000 to the last 70 years of history — a period of significant and accelerating human-driven change. 

Read time: 2 mins

Lazing around in crumpled sheets, sun streaking through the blinds, your eyes slowly blink open and your lips curl into a slow smile. You make some deep, grunting noises as you twist your back and stretch your neck. You smile and enjoy the soft and slow process of waking up after sleeping in on a […]

The post #709 Waking up to the smell of bacon sizzling downstairs appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

Read time: 7 mins

My little house has the most ah-mazing massive trees and I’m especially in love with this crabapple tree that is flocked with pink apple blossoms in the spring. I’ve watched over the summer as these…

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This recipe for Airfryer Zucchini Fries is so simple and delicious!  Made in less than 30 minutes and with just 5 ingredients, they’re perfect for busy weeknight suppers! – – – – – Disclosure: I am working with Philips and I am excited to share Philips products and delicious recipes I have made with them!  I have been compensated, but as always, all pictures, views and opinions are my own. It’s hard to believe that it’s half way through September and the kids have been back to school for two weeks already!  Time flies, and all of a sudden summer is […]

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This isn’t the first time I’ve noted that there is no realistically prescribable amount of exercise that by itself will lead to clinically meaningful weight loss, and it probably won’t be the last. And that said, it doesn’t mean it’s impossible, but reality really is a useful place to live, and is probably a worthwhile frame of reference.

Today’s reiteration stems from a recent-ish study that looked at “energy compensation in response to aerobic exercise training in overweight adults” which when translated refers to whether or not people eat back the calories they burn exercises and if that’s why the results of exercise for weight loss studies so often disappoint.

The authors followed 36 men and women with varying degrees of excess weight (BMIs ranged from 25-35) and randomly assigned them to exercise either 30 minutes daily or 60 minutes daily, 5 days a week, for 12 weeks.

3 months on analyzed data later and the authors summarized conclusions include this statement,

“Results of the current study suggest the recommendation should be closer to 300 minutes per week to achieve appreciable fat loss“

because in their study it was only the participants who averaged 335 minutes of weekly exercise who were seen to lose a statistically significant amount of weight (and though significant statistically, it was only an average of 5.7lbs).

Though it’s not noted in the study, it should go without saying that whatever intervention you employ to lose weight, if you stop that intervention, the weight you lost by way of its impact will likely return. And so while perhaps 335 minutes of weekly exercise for another bunch of months would lead to further loss, if you stop or decrease exercising that much, the weight you lost with it is likely to return.

Back to the headline of this blog post. If you think the average person, living a real life, replete with life’s many stressors, challenges, and responsibilities, can sustainably and consistently find upwards of 300 minutes of weekly exercise, I’d invite you first to get that much yourself even for just 3 weeks, as for the majority of people out there, it’s not even a remotely realistically prescribable amount.

Instead of continuing to tie exercise to weight, and in so doing motivate people to start exercising in the name of weight loss, which in turn risks disappointment and the cessation of exercise if while successfully increasing exercise to a more realistically obtainable amount no weight is lost, the focus needs to shift to the fact that exercise is arguably the single healthiest modifiable behaviour anyone can undertake, that any amount is terrific, and that it’s incredibly beneficial regardless of whether or not weight is lost in the process.

Photo by David Whittaker from Pexels

       

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The kids, they love The Jonas Brothers. When the pop group visited Toronto a few weeks back you would walk down the street and notice anxious little pods of teenagers circling around their hair-stylists and drum tuners. Or maybe people were crowding an actual brother in the flesh. I couldn’t quite see in there, but […]

The post #710 When little babies let out giant burps appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re on clean up duty at your niece’s wedding reception, throwing in for a third poker tournament with the boys, trying to defeat every level of Bubble Bobble, or last to get dropped off after the bachelorette party downtown. All that matters is if you stumble over tomorrow’s newspaper sitting on […]

The post #711 Getting home so late the newspaper is already at the front porch appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

Ed Yong, in the Atlantic, with his coverage of the devastating Brazilian museum fire.

Linda Bloodworth Thomason, in The Hollywood Reporter, on Les Moonves and how not all harassment is sexual 

Hilda Bastian, in The James Lind Library, with the life and times of the remarkable Lucy Wills

       

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As old school assignments, half-downloaded mp3s, and duplicate photos crumple and disappear from your hard drive, you settle back into your office chair, slap your hands together, and smile at finishing up The World’s Easiest Chore. AWESOME! Illustration from: here — Check out my Youtube channel —

The post #712 The satisfying feeling of emptying the trash bin on your computer appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

Brampton, ON – Justin Trudeau will join local Liberals and Brampton Liberal MPs on September 15, 2018 for a community BBQ in Brampton. The Liberal Party of Canada’s recent Summer of Action campaign has seen volunteers across Canada start thousands of new conversations with Canadians on the doorstep – focused on their ideas for building […]

Everything that has ever happened in the ranks of the New Democratic Party of Canada before his arrival, seems to be of no interest to Jagmeet Singh. What a sad day for the New Democratic Party of Canada.Every Member of the Federal NDP Caucus who remai…

Up close and personal with an erupting volcano

Elbow deep in a beluga whale’s belly looking for plastic pollution

Scientists attract unwanted attention from top predators when studying Arctic fish

Bringing Canadian engineering talent to local water filtration in Africa

CO2 emissions from forest fires are 2 to 3 times higher than from fossil fuels.

Diver Teddy Garlock approaches the ship’s wheel at the stern of the vessel, with the davits that launched the yawl, the crew’s lifeboat, still intact. (Photo: Jill Heinerth)

Queen of the Lakes was the longest vessel active on the Great Lakes in 1906 when she sprung a massive leak during a late November gale on Lake Ontario. The schooner, built in Portsmouth, Ont. in 1853, was en route to Kingston with more than 400 tonnes of coal, and started to sink fast. Her captain and crew abandoned ship just in time to watch her disappear into the depths; their yawl had only made it about 15 metres from the wreck site when she went under.

Welcome to my Cozy Fall Home Tour!  Find some inspiration to decorate your home for the coziest season of all.  Hello fall! My home tour is 1 of 18 Canadian Fall Home Tours hosted by Christina of The DIY Mommy and Shannon of Home Made Lovely!  I hope you can take a moment to visit all of these beautiful and cozy fall homes and get inspired!  You can find all the links at the bottom of this post. Welcome to my fall home tour!  It certainly feels like fall here…cold temps and fall leaves have appeared overnight it seems, and I’m totally ok […]

The post Cozy Fall Home Tour appeared first on A Pretty Life In The Suburbs.

Spin the dial to the left and you’re drowning under a frozen glacier waterfall. Spin it to the right and you’re stinging under some sharp second degree burns. We all know your perfect temperature lies somewhere between these dangerous extremes so every time you strip down to scrub up you’re playing detective. Oh, you know […]

The post #713 Getting into the shower right at the perfect temperature appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

Read time: 5 mins

Make this Stuffed Turkey Breast Roll recipe for the holiday season (it’s perfect for Thanksgiving and Christmas)!  Savoury stuffing rolled inside a tender turkey breast.  Easy and ready in 2 hours! I partnered with Canadian Turkey to bring you this delicious Stuffed Turkey Breast Roll recipe, and was compensated for my time, but the recipe, all thoughts and opinions are my own as always.  We really love turkey. How is it already the middle of September?  Overnight it went from summer right into fall…in fact we’re already expecting snow this week!  What?!  But the nice thing about the change in […]

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You played a risky game, friend. But you made it. AWESOME! Photo from: here — Follow me on Twitter —

The post #714 Flipping channels during the commercial break and then flipping back just as the show’s coming back on appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

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While it would be wonderful if all primary care physicians were interested enough in understanding how to treat their practices’ most prevalent chronic condition to actually go out of their way and take the time to learn how to do so, there’s a bare minimum that I think they do need to know, and that’s which medications contribute to weight gain and their weight friendly alternatives.

Last week, my friend and colleague Sean Wharton, along with his collaborators, published an open access article summarizing drugs and weight gain, and I think it’s a must read for all prescribers.

And for those who struggle with clicking, here’s a summary of their summary by way of the article’s various tables, because while it may be too much to ask for all MDs to truly take the time to learn about obesity, understanding which drugs are more likely than others to cause weight gain is something there’s no excuse for them not to know.

[Cautionary note: If you’re currently on one or more of the medications that are shown below to lead to greater weight gain, please don’t stop it without first consulting with your prescriber, but do feel free to bring these lists along with you to discuss whether or not there are possible alternatives]

       

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