Lynn Tougas Whole Heart Whole Health Registered Kinesiology and Sport
Admiral Road M5R2L4 Toronto, ON, Canada

Even before #covid_19 #chronickidneydisease was already becoming a massive global health burden. COVID-19 has turned out to be not only an acute respiratory illness but one that affects the kidneys just as much if not more in some of the more chronic and lingering COVID-19 cases. #kidneyhealth and #mentalhealth go hand in hand and what we should all keep in check on an ongoing basis is our stress levels as they have a negative effect on mental health - meaning if you are LE...SS stressed you will have have LESS mental health problems and in terms of kidney health, this means you will have a better outcome should you end up with some kind of kidney ailment during your lifetime. Kidney disease is more likely if you have the following underlaying conditions (and keep in mind many symptoms are silent at first and do not show up on routine tests until the situation is quite severe): High Blood Pressure Diabetes Lupus Cardiovascular Disease Dementia and Alzheimer’s Some cancers Moderate to Severe Mental Health Disorder If you or a loved one has one or more of the above kidney health comorbidities keep a close eye on your symptoms and adhere to all of your main health care provider’s advice eg. salt, sugar, alcohol, recreational substances healthy, wholesome foods esp. fruits and vegetables exercise and outdoor recreation like walking and hiking mediation, mindfulness, prayer and journaling sleep and relaxation Most of all: Ask for help. Request a referral from your main health care provider for psychology/psychiatry/social work related counsel. Keep in close contact (virtually during lockdown) with family and friends. By taking time to take care of yourself or a loved one during these troubled times you will no doubt find relief from your own deep emotional turmoil. Doing something that is productive is a great way to alleviate emotional stress. Get your mind doing something that is productive. Ziggy Marley Get your mind focused on improving your health! #kinesiologist #healthscience #healthnavigator #patientnavigator #chronicdisease #diabetes #highbloodpressure #heartdisease #mentalhealth #wholehearthealthsquared See more

As I stated in my last post, I will be moving forward with more of a scholarly academic post focus as it relates to my new area of professional study: Patient/Health Navigation. Yesterday I posted about my #diabetes family healthy history and genetics. Today I’m going to elaborate on that with @diabetescanada most recent guidelines on Diabetes and Mental Health. Did you know that Major Depressive Disorder increases Diabetes risk by over 60%?... Common meds to treat more minor depression, anxiety and sleep also greatly affect Diabetes risk through their affects on #metabolism According to these new guidelines whether you already have a diabetes diagnosis or you are on one of the suspect meds which are known to cause metabolic disruption (esp. if you are taking these drugs along with a higher risk family health history) you should be screened for mental health disorder/diabetes risk regularly. Diabetes and Mental Health is a continuum revolving around: drugs genes poor nutrition substance abuse including alcohol poverty trauma/neglect If you catch the metabolic changes early enough and work with a team of health professionals whom can help bring you back to balance using medical/pharma intervention, nutrition, exercise, stress reduction techniques and tools to help overcome substance abuse and stress your healthy outcome will be improved. If you ignore the risks and wait, your healthy outlook will no doubt decline and depending on your current condition, it could be gradual or it could be more severe. Best thing you can do right now if you think you or a loved one may be at risk? #exercise Get adequate outdoor time including #vitaminD Eat a balanced diet that includes an abundance of #vegetables & #fibre Learn some #stressmanagement techniques. Reduce recreational alcohol and substance use. *Always talk to your primary care physician before making any extreme changes to your health. #kinesiologist #kinesiology #healthscience #healthylifestyle #mentalhealth #healthiswealth #healthyhabits #healthnavigator #patientnavigator #yogateacher #personaltrainer #healthcoach #wholehearthealthsquared

Happ New Year! Happy New Challenges! I last left off talking about the liver and elaborating on how to calculate, monitor and manage stress.... For 2021, my focus is going to become more scholarly scientific as I continue to navigate all of us on our our very own unique health journeys. If you missed it, I embarked on a new study area during 2020 in field of health science - Patient Navigation. I decided to make my own representation more broad by also identifying as as a Health Navigator. My newest tech device to help me help YOU and ME on our health journey is the @contourmedical Next One #glucometer Diabetes runs both in my adoptive family as well as in my biological family. My direct experience is with my mother passing at the young age of 63 of a #diabetes related major #heartattack As a teenager/young adult when I began to train more aggressively/compete at higher levels in #roadracing & #triathlon it was brought to my attention that I was #hypoglycemic As such, I started to pay more attention to what I was eating and made great improvements. Now that I am only a few years away from my 50th birthday, I’ve started to run into some diabetic related symptoms once again, so I’ve decided to monitor myself over the next little while with the glucometer. In the background, I’m putting my research focus into #athletes & #bloodsugarbalance #menopause #andropause and #perimenopause as they relate to blood sugar stability, as well as to #ladadiabetes #lateonsettype1diabetes as one of my specific @23andme genes the #hladq8 has a small risk of developing this particular type of Diabetes. In one study, over half the sub-elite athletes spent 70% of their total monitoring time in the pre-diabetic and diabetic zones. In several other studies, it has been shown that hormonal changes experienced as we age often cause moderate to severe changes in blood sugar levels. My morning fasting sugar was high today. After I ate is was higher. After 45 mins of Yoga/Pilates it was back in a normal range. Stay Tuned! #health #healthscience #kinesiology #healthylifestyle #healthiswealth #healthcoachtips #kinesiologist #patientnavigator See more

Give a little, get a little. "Learn to light a candle in the darkest moments of someone’s life. Be the light that helps others see; it is what gives life its deepest significance." ~Roy T. Bennett, Author of The Light in the Heart ... Merry Christmas to you all. May the gift of giving land on your doorstep today and spread generously to the doorsteps of others. Remember too, that a simple phone call may make someone’s day. Your gift doesn’t have to be tangible or great. Best if it comes straight from your heart. This is when two hearts beat as one. What the world needs more of right now is LOVE #onesmallthing2020 Join my challenge and feel the difference one small thing daily can do for you #healthylifestyle #healthyliving #healthiswealth #healthychoices #healthylife #healthyhabits #healthcoach #healthcoachtips #kinesiologist #physicaltherapy #athletictherapy #healthnavigator #patientnavigator #yogateacher #motivationoftheday #wholehearthealthsquared See more

My last #onesmallthing2020 post was about stress and #stressmanagement and how stress can actually be good for us to a point. 2020 may have been a reality of teetering over the joyful point of stress for many, and in fact it may have been inversely so. Meaning that many of us may have experienced additional negative symptoms of stress because we weren’t doing/experiencing as many things as we normally do, due the the pandemic, thus we ended up in a place of shear frustr...ation. For others if your scroll and take a look at the #holmesrahestressscale you may add up your score and actually find that you experienced negative symptoms of stress because you did actually have several life events occur that caused additional stress in your life. All said, most of us may not have really tipped the scale either way in a big way, however we did from time to time because of our own poor stress management. For example, drinking to much coffee and then going off on the computer because the meeting link wouldn’t load. You were already late because you’d become so accustomed to sleeping in. The weather was finally warm enough to sit outside the night before so you had a neighbour drop by and ended up tying a few ribbons around a tree. Sound familiar? Even in parts? The point is that stress management doesn’t mean that one ensures they don’t have stress in their lives or that they meditate so much it all goes away. It means that stress will always be there but if by chance there is additional tangible stress getting in the way like the ones from my example stressors you can tackle and perhaps get rid of altogether then do so! In a nutshell: Be realistic and try not to overthink things. Be prepared. Don’t ever take a good night’s sleep for granted. Keep alcohol/cannabis moderated OR consider quitting altogether. With a good night’s sleep and a reduction in consumption, perhaps that third daily espresso can be eliminated. Admit that you may be overwhelmed and reach out for help. Exercise to a sweating point daily. Meditate daily. #stressrelief #patientnagivation #healthnavigation #kinesiology #kinesiologist

In lieu of another full lockdown due to the second wave of COVID-19, everyone’s lives are being turned sideways or completely upside down once again. From a health perspective, physiologically this means a disruption to our #homeostasis For those whom maybe more resilient than others, handling quick changes of life and constant disruptions in schedules/routines may not be all that nerving but for others, one more push may send them balancing over the deep end ruminati...ng whether or not they remember how to swim. #resilience is the key word here. Remember this when moving forward through this new stage as you ponder how to best take of yourself and those your love. Daily exercise/movement of any kind. Resist being sedentary sitting:standing in a confined space all day/everyday. Get outside. Preferably between 10 and 2 pm. This will not only allow your body to collect as much natural Vitamin D as it can, it will also help to keep your #circadianrythm in balance. Speaking of circadian rhythms, go to bed at relatively the same time every night and wake at relatively the same time every morning. Your body needs regulation of sleep so that it can regulate itself physiologically. Do the things you love even if you have to modify them. Dance regularly by yourself or take virtual lessons. Set up virtual conversations with your friends, family, neighbours/workmates on a regular basis if deep conversation is more your thing. If you can, arrange in person meet ups with those closest to you (in your bubble) outdoors/in safe settings. Now’s the time to get out those skates, backyard heaters and hiking shoes. Lay low the alcohol and cannabis. Both affect hormones negatively in excess, as such both will make it difficult to stay balanced throughout the lockdown. Last, know you are never alone. When the grey hairs start to show because you can’t get to the hairdresser and your muscles are not ad pumped as they normally would be if you were going to the gym take a closer look around and join the party - we are ALL in this TOGETHER. #takecareofyourself #onesmallthing2020 #kinesiologist #healthnavigator #patientnavigator See more

#hipopeners for #sittingstill coming soon! I need to interrupt with a worthy #throwback I’ve been depressed lately with the #covidblues and am having quite a time sitting still and focusing myself so posting about hip openers is not on my hotlist right now. But this #throwbackselfie is. After long stints of inconsistency in #triathlon after the deaths of my mother (1998), biological brother (2000 finding out; actual 1997) and then father in 2006, I finally got things g...oing again in and around 2008. After all, I had qualified and competed for the World DU’s in Germany in 1998 along with Lucy Smith and many other super strong athletes excited to travel abroad and make new friends while showing our beautiful country what we could do out on the field-so to say. Anyway, I digress. This photo was just before the inaugural #dublin703 in 2015. I had worked so hard since my come back during 2008 and 2012, this is what I became. Along with the help and support of many family and friends I got myself to somewhere very special in my life. I’m grateful to have been in this spot. I placed 17th overall in this European race including pros and 5th in my age cat. Missed a world championship spot by 2. I got to visit my biological brother’s grave in County Tipperary and I was able to collect many fond memories from the relatives who knew him. My favourite story is of him out-chasing an ostrich at the farm. Whom better to be able to do that than someone from my direct bloodline Anyway, this Covid thing has got me down. I hear it’s having it’s ways with many of you as well. Let’s not get totally bummed out. We’ve all been in similar places before. Que sçay-je? What do I know? #montaignequote #meditatedaily #doyourbestalways #lovenotwar #selflovefirst #onesmallthing2020 Join my challenge feel the difference one small thing daily can do for you #healthylifestyle #healthyliving #healthiswealth #healthychoices #healthylife #healthyhabits #healthcoach #healthcoachtips #kinesiologist #physicaltherapy #athletictherapy #healthnavigator #patientnavigator #yogateacher #motivationoftheday #wholehearthealthsquared See more

How Your Muscle Fibers Might Predict Overtraining There may be two types of runner, but with sufficient time and effort, you can choose which one to become. If you ask a Kinesiologist and veteran high performance coach and athlete, a smart coach with a smart plan may be your most reliable game changer.... #kinesiologist #kinesiology #coach #athlete #exercise #healthscience #running #athletictraining

Many wonder how those of us who meditate regularly manage to do it. To sit still for 5-15 minutes everydayupright thinking of nothing. Mastering the art of sitting still is a big part of the process and this has a lot to do with holding and/or being able to let go of tension in the body particularly in the hip region. Tight hips? Stiff low back? Short hamstrings? These things will certainly not be making it any easier for you to be able to sit still, let alone mediate.... Let’s work on this. My next post will guide you through a few of my favourite hip and low back openers. I’ll also go over some modifications that can help make sitting for longer periods more comfortable. Stay tuned. #sitstill #hipopeners #lowbackmobility #lotuspose #lotusposevariation #onesmallthing2020 Join my challenge and feel the difference one small thing daily can do for you #healthy lifestyle #healthyliving #healthiswealth #healthychoices #healthylife #healthyhabits #healthcoach #healthcoachtips #kinesiologist #physicaltherapy #athletictherapy #healthnavigator #patientnavigator #yogateacher #motivationoftheday #wholehearthealthsquared See more

The tree is a symbol of patience and tolerance. Learning to stand still in tree pose can help us bring patience and tolerance into our lives. This is #treepose #vrikshasana Swipe for variations, including a beginner pose where you just need to balance on one leg and hold your other leg up in front with your hands. Tree pose establishes strength and balance in the legs while helping us to feel centered, calm and grounded.... All of life, from the universe as a whole down to the individual trees and seeds, every living creature and the very earth beneath our feet, expresses the inspiration of the souls that dwell within it and ultimately of the Great Composer whose creation it is. ~ Excerpt from The Vedic Ecology: Practical Wisdom for Surviving the 21st Century (Mandala Publishing, 2002) #mindfulness #stillness #yoga #yogaphilosophy #treeposevariation #onesmallthing2020 Join my challenge and feel the difference one small thing daily can do for you #healthy lifestyle #healthyliving #healthiswealth #healthychoices #healthylife #healthyhabits #healthcoach #healthcoachtips #kinesiologist #physicaltherapy #athletictherapy #healthnavigator #patientnavigator #yogateacher #motivationoftheday #wholehearthealthsquared See more