I have so many books  and dvds onboard about exercising - pilates, yoga, weight training, aerobics. You probably guessed it right, they are just gathering dust. Well, at least I have good intentions.

It is difficult to exercise while on passages. Most of the time, I am sitting down doing watches. Once in a while, I stand up to look at the horizon for nearby vessels. During shifty winds or bad weather, we do our fair share of work changing sail plans, raising or dropping sails. But that's about it. During the day (or night) we snack a lot to pass the time or to stay awake. We have lots of nuts, crackers and chocolate bars within arms reach at all times. In the tropics, we drink lots and lots of fluids such as gatorade or some other power drinks to prevent dehydration. We normally do not drink just plain water because of the lack of minerals. As mentioned before, we collect rain water most of the time and we were told it lacks minerals. So, I always mix something into it. In Mexico, we were able to buy huge cans of gatorade powder. One can of powder can make 9 gallons of gatorade juice. I couldn't find similar products like this until we hit New Zealand. There I made sure I provisioned several cans of Powerade powder for our trip north. It was very expensive, but still cheaper than buying bottled power drinks.

I have gained weight while crossing the Pacific. This was mainly due to the lack of exercise. It took us 7 months to reach New Zealand from the time we left Mexico. Kjartan is more active than me, and he cannot sit still for long periods of time. In the boat, during passages, he was the one who did all the heavy work, while I do the computer, radio and cooking. That's hardly any exercise for me. By the time we reached New Zealand, I was not surprised with my weight gain plus the fact that I hardly had any leg strength to even climb the boat. Wow. Even though we did a lot of walking in the islands, this clearly was not enough. So, while we stayed in the boatyard, I forced myself to go jogging everyday. If not, I did a lot of walking with a heavy backpack on my back. I actually prefer doing aerobics with a group, but it was a bit expensive to join the gym there, so I had to live with just doing it myself. Yoga and pilates? I quickly got bored doing them. Besides, there is hardly any room on deck or inside the boat to do it.

Here in the Philippines, it is very hot to go out walking or jogging. Either you do it very early in the morning, or late in the day. I actually don't do this anymore, but once in a while I will go for a swim. This is much better for here - no mosquito bites and no sweating!! I am very surprised that I have lost more than 10 pounds since I arrived. I haven't done that much exercise, and I am eating more.  More rice meals too!! Can somebody explain to me why? Yesterday, my niece was here, and she too told me that she cannot gain weight here. If you see my niece, she is super skinny and is trying very hard to gain weight. When she was in Canada, she was ecstatic when she reached 100 pounds. She told me she has never reached 100 pounds before. But when she came back to Philippines for good, her weight dropped again even though she ate more carbohydrates here compared to living in Vancouver - 3 heavy meals each day, with rice!! Go figure. We both decided that maybe our metabolism is much higher in the tropics, or maybe we retain less fluids in our bodies. Or maybe, the food here is healthier - more fruits and vegetables, and meat is less fatty.  I don't really know why, but I am not complaining.

Weight is another matter, but it does not mean I am healthy when I lose the fat. I have to exercise my heart too and gain more muscle tone. So, I have to keep on swimming. Kjartan rides his mountain bike every Sunday. Samal is a very good place for this because there are rough terrains for different difficulty levels, and there is hardly any vehicle traffic. He goes swimming too, especially at the end of the day - to cool off. As we get older, we feel more aches and pains in our joints, and if we keep on moving, it helps a lot. Maybe I have to dig out my pilates and yoga dvds after all.