Recipe for Growing Young

What do you mean I can reverse my age and start growing younger instead of growing older?
Age Reversal is the most recent aspect of living a healthy fit life.

First there was EXERCISE. We were told to build muscle, lose fat, develop stamina, balance and flexibility.
Next there was HYDRATION. Everyone had to drink water constantly. Coke, coffee and alcohol were diuretics. Skip those.
Then came LOW CARBOHYDRATE DIETS. Cut out the sugar and white stuff which just turned to glucose. Skip juices...they're mostly sugars.
How about INTERMITTENT FASTING?

NOW....if we take the MOLECULES daily we will become A YEAR YOUNGER EVERY SIX WEEKS.

What's this all about? Hormesis. 

73 at 200 lbs.
Polar Bear 2017

What's that?  It's an adaptive stress response. When we stress our body, either by exercise or immersing in cold water or holding our breath or by fasting, we are not harming our bodies. On the contrary, the stress response or hormesis is  beneficial to the body. In fact regular intellectual pursuits are beneficial for the brain because hormetic pathways in neurons are activated. (Scarmeas and Stern,2003)

75 at 168 lbs.
Polar Bear 2020

Not as simple as all that. I'm not going to get into the science of this. Read Dr. David Sinclair's book Lifespan: Why We Age-- and Why We Don't Have To

 Poul and I read his book and then listened to it on audible books. Sinclair gained two disciples and we sent for the molecules right away. 

You know I have been exercising, We took the Wim Hof course to develop control over our autonomic systems. We are mostly eating Keto. We do Intermittent Fasting from Sunday evening until Tuesday morning and now we are taking the age reversal molecules every morning as are starting to appreciate the results.

BEFORE           AND                 AFTER



You can tell I've lost over twenty pounds and now my age spots on my hands have disappeared. I've stopped colouring my hair and have plenty of energy. No naps anymore. Life is Good!!!

CoHousing Rocks!

A highlight of 2018 was our discovery of Cohousing. Poul was born in Denmark where six percent of the population lives in communities where meals and common areas are shared. We had visited several developments on Vancouver Island where we live.

Construction underway

Finally Broke Ground

There was a Pot Luck Dinner scheduled with a tour of a new complex being built where I had lived in grade eight, Sooke, a small fishing village near Victoria. West Wind Harbour Cohousing had purchased about an acre and half with southwest exposure right on the waterfront. They were planning a thirty-four suite condominium with it's own wharf and a beautiful existing home to be converted to guest quarters and meeting rooms, workshop, etc. Walking into the kitchen with our offerings for the pot luck, we met half a dozen couples who could have always been our best friends. Intelligent, funny, compassionate people and two of the women were taller than me.
Across the table, as I spoke about basketball and Victoria, sat a friendly couple. The guy said, "Do you know Mary Coutts?" WTF  "I AM Mary Coutts!" I replied. He had sponsored the men's senior "A" team when I had played for many years for the women's. What can I say? It felt right.

West Wind Harbour Cohousing

We became associate members and within weeks had put in enough to claim a suite when they were being allocated. Once a month we meet with these wonderful friends to plan our intentional life together.





Together, Poul and I are finishing our home and yard renovations, preparing to sell our Beachcomber home in Nanoose where we have lived for fifteen or more years. We have chosen one of the largest suites in West Wind Harbour so we must maximize our equity. By moving to cohousing we ensure privacy combined with a community of our friends, near shopping with all the amenities we could want. Our suite will have two bedrooms, two bathrooms a den, large deck, awesome views, full kitchen and laundry with dining room and living room. Sharing with our neighbours we have a fitness room, workshop, library, three guest rooms, maker space, art room, craft/sewing room, lounge, den/media room, roof top deck, wharf, underground parking, bike room, storage and a huge kitchen common room. There is a caregiver suite should one become necessary though we are all in good health right now.

Dragon Boating Causes Breast Cancer!

To take the place of my volleyball, both on my local open women's team and on the Legacy teams I organize for international tournaments; to keep me fit and healthy; and to also fulfill one of my bucket list goals; I joined a Dragon Boat team whose coach was my water aerobics teacher at the Fairwinds Center, our local fitness club. Now that sport is Hell! Most of the ladies developed a strong passion for it. And sure it was beautiful paddling out in the Nanaimo Harbour on still late afternoons. But the regattas were, in my humble opinion, torture. We would wait patiently in a crowded area on our folding lawn chairs, march obediently to the dock, cram ourselves into little hard seats with our legs partially extended uncomfortably while we, in unison, not daring to glance to the side, paddled out to the starting line. Heads down, paddles all at the ready, remembering to breath, we waited for the gun. Bang! Three minutes of intense pain.
You know, I thought I liked competing; but my love of winning forced everything to come out in the first ten strokes. After that there was pain for two minutes and fifty seconds. Not a good sport choice  for me, but I finished the season. I was definitely more fit, not just because of the strenuous workouts. Practice times replaced three meals a week.
Funny that this sport evolved popularity from a desire to provide women surviving breast cancer good upper body exercise. Now my left breast is bothering me. Probably from the PDF (paddler-speak for life jacket).

Replacement Parts for Bionic Woman

It's 2020 but I'm writing about the past few years.

In 1965, the University of Victoria won it's first of many Canadian Championships. It was prior to the formation of the Inter-university schedule and tournaments and was a Junior A division for athletes under twenty-one. It was the first of seven Canadian Titles for me and instrumental in my being chosen to play in the Senior A division for many years as to go on to the Canadian National team from 1969-75.
At the Victoria hosted Canadian finals of the Vikes (they've dropped the "ettes" for the sake of equality!) in 2017, our original championship team gathered together to be honoured by the university. What fun! I hadn't seen these ladies since we had played in Montreal in '65.


The focal events of 2017, from a perspective view of recovery, were  two surgeries. In July, I had my left hip replaced. The October Huntsman Games 2016 was the last straw for my bone-on-bone joint. We received the Bronze medal in the Gold Division... thankfully because, had we won that game, we would have had to play two more to be in the finals. As it was, I dragged myself off the court, spent months on physiotherapy and chiropractic adjustments and massage, hoping to be able to walk properly.

Finally with the help of Dr. Masri, orthopedic surgeon at UBC, I was on the road to recovery; literally, going around the block with a walker. Poul proved an excellent caregiver. I knew I wouldn't be playing in any tournaments in 2017.
Me doing pull-ups!

Since I had to take the year off, I decided to have the right knee replaced as well as soon as possible. No sense having more time away from sport than necessary, I figured. In September, once again at UBC Hospital, I received my new right knee. This was not an easy recovery like the hip! I wouldn't be playing that next year as well. But I organized the teams anyway and without me they were able to win the Gold medal, beating Brazil in the Finals for 70+ in the 2018 Huntsman Games. Go Legacy!