Breakfast Meeting

This week I was invited to talk at the weekly breakfast meeting held by the Moonee Valley Rotary Club in a great cafe in Essendon. I have to admit it's not a part of town that I have ever been to but it was a great visit and they made me feel very welcome. Before we started the meeting and breakfast I gave everyone a copy of the Baker IDI fridge magnet 'Healthy tips for everyone' to remind us all to make the healthy choice. Just in case you can't remember the tips here they are:

• Do not smoke
• Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, legumes and wholegrain cereals
• Eat fish 2-3 times a week, especially oily fish (like salmon)
• Remove all visible fat from meats and cook with oils not solid fats
• Limit your salt intake
• Reduce your intake of takeaways or convenience foods
• Drink alcohol moderately if you choose to drink
• Include at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity daily
• Include muscle strengthening exercise at least 2-3 times weekly
• Reduce your daily sitting time

After a tasty breakfast of fresh fruit I spoke with the members about the Alice 2 Antarctica challenge and the issue of cardiovascular disease in Indigenous Australians and the fact that cardiovascular disease not only affects more Indigenous Australians but the consequences are also more severe in this disadvantaged population.

I got some great positive feedback about my challenge and there were lots of questions about how I planned to actually run on the snow and ice 'carefully' and how I would cope with the extreme cold 'lots of layers'.

Since the breakfast meeting took the place of my morning run I had to do my training run in the afternoon. Luckily for me it had been a lovely spring day in Melbourne, so the after work run ended up being a very pleasant way to finish my day!