‘Success4U in Canada Bootcamp’ No. 5 focuses on health and wellbeing

You might have seen those fitness bootcamps in your neighbourhood where groups of exercisers get together to get fit through intense workouts. Well, this month’s installment in our “Success4U in Canada Bootcamp” is about health and wellbeing, too — although signing up for a literal bootcamp fitness program is not required!

Success in Canada is not just about learning English, writing the best resumé and finding that perfect job. While establishing ourselves in our career is critical (see our first four bootcamp installments here) it’s not going to give you everything you need in life. To be truly successful, we also need emotional and physical wellbeing — success from a holistic point of view.

And, depending on how you look at things, that wellbeing often must come first before other aspects of life fall into place. After all, it’s hard to approach day-to-day challenges and achieve goals if we feel physically or mentally unwell.

Part 5: Health and wellbeing

Repeated health studies have pointed to something called “the healthy immigrant effect” — immigrants are likely to gain weight after settling down in their new home and have an increased risk for illnesses such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Not surprisingly, it’s also reported that immigrants often face a spike in emotional health issues, like depression, isolation and homesickness. It’s not a stretch to say that negative thinking can then further reinforce any physical ailments you’re experiencing. So, to approach your journey in Canada with positivity and the very best version of yourself, let’s look at three categories of health:

Nutrition
Physical fitness
Emotional health

1. Nutrition

It’s no surprise to realize that eating habits change after immigrating. Your access to types of food changes, as does your lifestyle. While you may come from a country of origin where the focus is on fresh food, you might be a little overwhelmed with the variety of products, including prepared and fast foods, that are available in Canada. Confused? There are many settlement agencies across the country that offer workshops on nutrition and shopping in Canada, and it’s a great idea to sign up.

Choosing what to feed our families is important, because there is much truth in the old adage “you are what you eat.” Here are 11 common-sense tips to keep reminding ourselves of:

Focus on fresh foods rather than prepackaged ones.
Shop on the outside of the grocery store, which is where the fresher food is kept like dairy, breads and produce; the inner aisles usually have prepared foods like cereals and junk food.
Make sure that you read your food labels and limit foods with trans fats and high sodium content.
Limit your sugar intake. There is a lot of hidden sugar in food, especially in white carbohydrates like white bread, pasta and rice.
Be mindful of portion control. If you are consuming more calories than you are expending, you will gain weight.
Don’t be afraid of good fats such as nuts, avocados and salmon.
Don’t overdo calorie-laden drinks like juice, soft drinks, flavoured coffees and alcohol.
Base your meals around lean protein sources and vegetables.
Learn about the healing qualities of certain foods and spices such as lemon, garlic and turmeric (see our list of wellness tips in “Worldly wellness” at canadianimmigrant.ca under “Settling in Canada/Health Care”).
Plan out your meals and shop accordingly. Prepare your food in advance if you will be busy. Take snacks with you, so you don’t end up going through the drive-thru!
Depriving yourself will make you miserable, so treat yourself sometimes!

2. Physical fitness

Nutrition is just one part of healthy living, of course. Getting enough exercise is an important part of staying physically fit. And it really doesn’t have to be as intense as taking those bootcamp fitness classes — although they are effective in shedding excess weight if that’s your goal — but simple activities that you enjoy are more than enough for most.

Health Canada recommends that adults get at least two-and-a-half hours of moderate to vigorous physical activity weekly, and that children and youth get at least 60 minutes per day. This can be a mix of activities, including walking, running, swimming, biking, yoga, dance or team sports. Choose an activity or two that you enjoy, and you’ll do them more often. If you can’t afford the cost of gym or yoga studio memberships, you can follow along a variety of exercise routines on YouTube for free, from yoga to aerobics to cardio ballet!

Other tricks to staying active? Make fit choices every day like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, meeting someone for a walk instead of lunch, or taking your kids to school on foot, instead of by car.

If you’re trying to lose some weight, the key is burning more calories than you take in. That’s often easier said than done, especially after a full day of work, dealing with children and all the other everyday responsibilities you’re faced with. So try to make physical activity a part of your family routine, whether it’s going for an evening walk or kicking the soccer ball around in the backyard. You’ll not only feel better physically when you get your body moving, but it will also make you feel happier and more positive.

3. Emotional health

Just ask 71-year-old Ava Stone, a popular yoga instructor in Port Moody, B.C. — but not your ordinary yoga instructor. The Hungarian-born immigrant shares well-earned insights on life and emotional wellbeing with her students as they go through the hatha yoga poses in her classes. “It’s just the way I am. I am always searching on how to be happy, improving my thinking and my mind,” she says, adding she also always tries to find the funny side of things.

“I have been fortunate enough to end up here after the Hungarian Revolution,” Stone says. She came as a young teenager with her parents and older sister, and the two sisters soon found themselves living alone when their parents left. At 14, Stone, whose English was not very good, got her first job doing laundry. She worked hard to learn the language and build her life in Canada, of which yoga has been a central part. She says practices like yoga and meditation can help newcomers as they struggle to settle into their new lives.

“It allows you to be more conscious of yourself, taking you beyond your thinking mind,” she says. “We have about 50,000 thoughts per day, many on repeat. You have to be quiet to step outside that noise.”

Immigrants, for example, may be constantly worried about getting a job in Canada and longing for the way things were back home. “They worry if they are going to make it,” she says, explaining that they are dealing with the ego, rather than their true self. “But if a person is conscious of their true essence, it doesn’t matter where they are. People are the same anywhere. If you live in peacefulness, it brings energy, good health and knowledge.”

In other words, you see life from the point of view you put out. “If you look in the mirror and you don’t like what you see, remember that you put [that image] there,” she says. “Your mind and body are mirrors to each other. The more happy and excited you are, the more your body will respond … when you’re feeling good about yourself, the world looks better.”

Immigrants who are struggling can unfortunately dip into serious mental health challenges. Registered social worker Ilaneet Goren, a Ukrainian-born immigrant, says, “Mental health challenges are part of many newcomers’ realities. Statistics tell us that one in every five Canadians is diagnosed with a mental illness at some point in their lives, while seven out of 10 people living with psychiatric symptoms do not receive treatment at all. Surely, newcomers are as vulnerable, if not more so, given the inherent upheaval of a migrant life,” she says, adding that there is stigma attached to having a mental illness. But she offers up several tips to help battle mental health issues, including adjusting your expectations, surrounding yourself with a support system and asking for help when needed (to read all her tips, see canadianimmigrant.ca under “Settling in Canada>Health Care.”

To be truly happy and successful in Canada — or anywhere else for that matter — taking a holistic approach to our lives beyond just a career and financial focus will no doubt make all the efforts and struggles encountered as immigrants a little easier to overcome.

Bootcamp exercises

The bootcamp experience is all about doing something often, repetitively and with intensity. Here is a sampling of exercises for Part 5: Fit for life. Download our full list of exercises for Part 5 here Bootcamp workbook5.