Fat Nation? A snapshot of Canadians getting fitter

Share

Canada may be as a whole when it comes to our physiques. But not everyone is following that trend. Meet a few individuals who are making healthy living a priority.

THE FAMILY: Darin Buckland, 42, an account manager for an engineering firm in Toronto Fitness regimen: "I'm an assistant coach for my younger daughter's hockey team so I meet with them every Sunday morning and go through the drills. Mondays is curling so I curl evenings, either 7 or 9, [for]two hours. Wednesdays I play hockey and it's about a six-team round robin. During the day I'm climbing the stairs as often as I can. It really bugs me when someone gets on the elevator on the ground floor and hits the button for the second floor, and they're obviously quite able to [walk] but I try to keep that to myself."

Fitness history: "I was brought up in a very active household so we did hockey, soccer, baseball and swimming. We had a pool in our backyard and we were all in the woods behind our house and up the street. Obviously we didn't have computers then so they couldn't keep us inside for too long. I went to engineering school at Queen's [University in Kingston]and I gotta tell you, it's tough to take a four-year engineering course and do sports at the same time - something has to suffer. Not a lot was done while I was there. I did do curling while I was in university, and cycling, but not a lot of intramural sports - that was kind of difficult to manage."

Perceived fitness level: "I don't do a lot of sitting around with two kids around the house. I'm either chasing after them or being their hockey coach or whatever. It's not a sedentary lifestyle in this household - no couch potatoes here. To compare my fitness to when I was a kid, obviously I had more energy when I was a kid, but no I don't think it's suffered. I really can't think of one couple that we spend a lot of time with that's, well, clinically obese or overweight. Everyone is very active. I think a lot of [my colleagues]try to [be active] Obviously with a job where you sit in a cubicle all day you have to do something, but a fair number of them are overweight and probably should do more."

Motivation: "Keep up with the kids, keep my health for as long as I can. I see a lot of people with diabetes - my wife works in the diabetic industry - and the numbers are just growing astronomically. So you want to eat fresh food, get exercise, get fresh air, make sure you're not sedentary and building up a lot of adipose fat tissues."

Mackenzie Buckland, 10, a Grade 5 student in Toronto

Fitness regimen: "Usually Tuesdays and Fridays I have gym class and we play lots of different games and get very active and stuff. Sometimes we get too active [and]we start getting tired. In hockey we have games on Monday and practices on Sunday. I'm usually really active on that because I'm on defence … you have to stop the puck to help the goalie, skate around a lot to change people who go on the ice and off the ice very quickly. In the summer, I go to this camp called Camp Wapomeo and there's lots of sports there. There's horseback riding, and kayaking, canoeing, swimming and lots of other fun and great activities."

Fitness history: "When I started playing hockey I think I was about 5. I started in fundamentals and went to two years of novice and now I'm in my first year of Atom. When I went to Wapomeo I was about 7."

Perceived fitness level: "I think I'm really active and I see lots of kids that are active, too. Some of them are a bit obese but not most of them, because they're very active. When it's winter [at recess]we build snow forts and walk around and play with snow and sometimes build snowmen. It's really fun."

Motivation: "My dad played hockey in the family before anyone else played hockey so he motivated me to play hockey. And my dad did get me to camp because his mom went to Camp Wapomeo and he said it was really fun. What pushes me to actually go is that some of my friends are on the [hockey] team and I really want to play and I just want to be active sometimes and so I just decide to go and start playing hockey and be defence and save the goalie and stuff."

THE YOUNG PROFESSIONAL: Kasia Iglinski, 28, a conference producer in Toronto

Fitness regimen: "I always find it hard to get back to the gym right after the holidays, but I try to get to the gym in my downtown condo building three times a week or go to spin classes at least once a week. Usually a 45-minute run on the treadmill and ab workouts and a couple of weights that work both arm and legs. I commute 20 minutes to work on public transit, but in the summer, I make the 40-minute trek to work every morning. I like walking around the city to get some exercise, but I don't do that in the winter, 'cause I'm a wimp."

Fitness history: "When I was a kid, I would swim a lot. I took all the swimming classes and competed for a little bit. And I did skating lessons and all that kind of stuff. I think it was probably towards the end of high school, beginning of university that I really started getting into going to the gym. I found it was a good time to get out the frustrations of the day."

Perceived fitness level: "I would consider myself fairly fit. I try to be conscious of working some exercise into my routine and conscious of what I eat and try to be as healthy as possible. As for my friends, I have the ones who go to the gym and who I aspire to be more like. And then there's the group who are more likely to invite me out for a drink. I tend to have a bit of a rubber arm. If a friend is like, 'Hey, do you want to go grab a drink?' it's a little more appealing to me than hitting the gym."

Motivation: "I feel better when I've exercised. And when I can work that into my routine, some of the frustrations I have during the day, I can take [them]out on a nice long run. Being able to work it into my routine helps me stay a little more focused. It's combining both mental and physical health. And I guess like every female, you kind of look at it and think, 'Well, it's nice when you can still fit into your pants.' I believe that if I can fit it into my routine now, then later on in life, as it becomes more and more a part of my routine, it'll be easier to stay fit and be healthy. Like everyone, I wish I had more time for it."

THE SENIOR: Paula Brine Hogan, 64, a retired entrepreneur in Toronto

Fitness regimen: "I go to the gym five days a week, sometimes six. Mondays I do 45 minutes of water aerobics. Tuesday, I work out in the gym. Up until last week, I was working with a trainer and had been for five months. We do weights - leg push-ups and a version of the squats in which I sit on a ball and push the weights up in the air. I go on the bike for about 10 to 15 minutes to warm up and then I walk on the treadmill going backwards. That's supposed to strengthen the muscles in my legs and hips. Wednesday is spinning for 45 minutes - the others all stand up, but I sit down because I have arthritis in my hips. Afterwards, there's water aerobics. Thursday, I'd do water aerobics or I'd switch and do the gym if guilt overtakes me. Friday is aqua running, where you anchor yourself to the back of the pool and run on the spot. Saturday, usually I don't go. In the summer, I'm usually puttering around my garden. In the winter, I'm just sitting around reading the paper like a lump. But when I do [exercise on a Saturday] I do my routine in the gym."

Fitness history: "I've played tennis my entire life, and it was heartbreaking when I had to give it up three years ago due to my hip trouble. I used to play on the B and C teams of the Toronto Ladies Tennis League, and there was also the Scarborough Tennis Federation. We had wonderful time! That was a big blow when I had to stop. I'd been doing aqua fit in the evenings since I was working all the time. My dream was that when I stopped working, I'd be playing tennis more and be free to play more social games."

Perceived fitness level: "I think I probably am pretty fit. If I miss a day of exercise, I do feel kind of guilty. It's different when you're really young and you're working all the time and you come home and you're half dead and have to make food - who the hell could be bothered? I've noticed with people my age that don't do anything, there's a huge difference. They don't walk as far, they're not as active, they're not as healthy. How can they be as healthy when they aren't in the pool every day?"

Motivation: "I don't want to die decrepit. I don't want to be hobbling about any more than I absolutely have to and I'm not going to. You know you're on a downhill slide, you know you're going to croak in the end. But you've got to keep going. Life is fun, life is great, why would you not? The camaraderie keeps me going, too, and once you get into the habit of exercising, it really is easy."

THE BOOMER: Roland Foo, 52, IT

Fitness regimen: Mr. Foo is preparing to run the Paris marathon in April with Team in Training, which raises funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. He runs with training partners at least four times a week, up to 60 kilometres in total.

• Sunday: The group runs the 200 stairs up to the belvedere on Montreal's Mount Royal at least five times, with 30 push-ups each time they reach the top.
• Tuesday: a 10-km tempo run.
• Thursday: interval training (sprints) on a track.
• Saturday: A long run of between 12 and 33 km.
• On off-days, Mr. Foo likes to dance and often runs with team newcomers who he mentors.

Fitness history: Mr. Foo was a chubby kid who grew up to be a "typical couch potato" until he took up running in 2007. "I was one of those guys who went to the gym occasionally but I did nothing regular and long term." He was overweight and had high blood pressure.

Perceived fitness level: "Let me put it this way: I run with people who are 30-34 and I have no trouble keeping up."

Motivation: In 2007, Mr. Foo's father-in-law died of leukemia. He was looking for a way to honour his memory and heard about Team in Training. The first day he joined the group for a run, "my life changed forever," he said. "I wanted to do something useful for others - raise money for leukemia and lymphoma research and the well-being is a bonus."