LIVING LOUD LIVING LONG

As a young girl, Sunniva was fascinated by exploring places few people have seen. Her passion for learning about nature and the farthest reaches of our world despite the challenges continues to grow and motivate her make a positive impact as a teacher, explorer, and voice for change.
Sunniva tells L4 about the physical and mental challenges faced when exploring in the Polar regions, especially the Antarctic, how she continues to explore as a 50up woman and how we can all use these lessons in our lives to be resilient.
We explore how getting outside the noise of our technology filled lives into the silence of nature can refocus and heal us.
Sunniva and Dr. Hughes discuss how being a female explorer has challenges, but how woman can help each other.
We talk about her new project in Canadian Arctic supporting the climate and collaborating with the Inuit people. We explore how together, regardless of who we are, what age we are or where we live, we can support nature through teaching, citizen science or as advocates.
"If someone gives you a hand up, put a hand down to someone else."
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About: Sunniva Sorby has multiple historic firsts as a woman explorer including team member for first all- woman group reaching the South Pole, first Canadian woman to ski to South Pole and first all-woman team to overwinter in the Arctic. Before becoming an explorer, she led and managed outdoor travel programs and taught outdoors skills. In multiple roles, she has been an advocate and teacher for women, and diversity as well as the climate. She was born in Tønsberg, Norway and raised in Montreal where she graduated from Trafalgar School for Girls and went on to pursue Economics at Champlain College & Bishops University, where she majored in Economics. Learn more about her: https://www.heartsintheice.com

Usually at the holidays my worst health concern is to avoid eating too many cookies or pieces of pie. This year, we are in our second COVID affected holiday. There is an avalanche of information about how to have a safe(ish) holiday. Nearly every expert has a different opinion on what this means. I’m basing this post on questions I’ve been asked most often over the past couple of months.
Despite having, if anything, too many articles and posts on the topic, questions remain. The truth is that even scientific experts don’t have all the information they would like to make decisions. The best we can say as scientists is what is likely the case given what few facts we have right now. People who seek absolute answers will be dissatisfied with this seeming non-answer.
The fact is COVID has given us all a lump of coal in our stocking when we wanted a red and green tree shaped sugar cookie. All we want to do is spend some quality time with our loved ones, which can boost our mental health and, instead, we are faced with anxiety, frustration, and risk of illness.
One approach we can take is to meet outside. To make it fun, create a staycation ski-resort holiday family gathering with hot chocolate, mulled cider and cookies on your patio. Layer up and blast your heater if you have one. Another approach is to have a Zoom party with online games. This is perfect for connecting distant family who can’t travel. Here is a list of virtual games to make your gathering festive: https://www.bustle.com/life/zoom-games-holiday-party.
If you do want to gather in person here are few thoughts. The safest we get outside of having no human contact is being vaccinated and boosted and having a handful of family and friends who are also vaccinated and boosted and either tested or masked to our holiday event. On the opposite end of risk is not being vaccinated. We need to use what we know and take carefully considered risks based on our own situation and our loved ones situations.
Where can we get valid information to make decisions? I recommend the CDC website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html
On this website you can find details about quarantining if you have been exposed or have symptoms, details about vaccines and approved treatments and a lot of other information. I understand some may not like the CDC. The next best place is to go to a large hospital website such as Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/symptoms-causes/syc-20479963 or the website of a university with a medical school, for example, Harvard Health https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/coronavirus-resource-center
Visit our website next week because you’ll find a treat waiting for you to help you with your New Year’s preparations.
I hope you and our whole L4 community have a healthy holiday!

It's that time of year when delicious food is every where. Our home smells of roasted turkey and pumpkin pie. A neighbor drops off apple muffins. What rich cinnamon goodness!
Just in time, we're launching our Healthy Bites food stories. Healthy Bites tells the story of sensory healthy food preparation, eating and nourishing your body. Healthy food can be visually enticing, aromatic, flavorful, quick, and modest cost. Many recipes are simple to prepare with limited ingredients.
What makes Healthy Bites different is our focus on how what your eating serves your body and makes it strong. Healthy Bites includes scientific research on the phytochemicals, anti-oxidants, vitamins and other important nutrients that feeds body and soul. We even include links out to the original research or medical articles so you can explore further on your own as you want.
Sure, you can find recipes in many places. What you don't get elsewhere is how that food fuels your strength.
Healthy Bites are only available to our Patrons. Articles are added throughout the year as they're  available.
To get access to Healthy Bites, sign up for our $15 per month Patron package on our PodBean Patron account- Click Here.
What better gift to give yourself and your community of 50up women?
By supporting L4, you help us bring you fabulous podcasts with inspiring women every month, our blog posts and other content as we grow and expand our mission-focused startup.

I don’t know about you, but I definitely have more days with minor aches and pains as each year goes by. On the one hand, it’s normal for our body to change with age, for our joints to wear and muscles to lose power more quickly if we don’t stick to an exercise routine.
Research has shown that exercise can reduce risk of most common illnesses in 50 ups like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, hypertension, obesity, depression and osteoporosis. Even once you have the disease, you can improve your health with appropriate exercise, such as walking regularly after having breast cancer. (Warburten, 2006)
There’s a long list of reasons we tell ourselves (and, hey, I’ve used them too) for why we aren’t exercising: a) we don’t have time; b) we look bad in exercise clothes; c) it’s embarrassing; d) we don’t know how to do it; e) we have a condition, injury, phobia, etc that prevents exercising; f) it’s too expensive to join a gym or buy equipment.
Everyone of these are just mental blocks we put up to avoid changing our routines, because….Let’s face it, changing our routine or doing something new is uncomfortable, hard, takes mental effort and some days we can’t do it.
Here’s what I say to all that, “Yes, you can!”
I know you can because I click play and push through my favorite exercise app, Daily Burn, or walk or cycle nearly every day. I am no more motivated or fitter than your average person and have never been a high performing athlete.
What can 50 up athletes achieve? Listen to the story of Enzo Appiano. He is 92 years old, lives in Turin, Italy, and is still climbing mountains. A hobby he started in 1940s. He says climbing keeps him fit and youthful. (Bailey-Millado, 2019) Martina Navratilova won the Grand Slam tennis competition when she was nearly 50 years old, the oldest person to win this title. (Martina Navratilova) Caroline Adams, 56 years old, resumed competitive swimming after not having swum since college. She is now ranked 11th in the United States and, credits swimming with helping her feel centered and happier. (Hochwald, 2018)
Let’s break down those blocks.

1. You don’t have time: Incorporate exercise into your day. Walk to nearby places instead of driving. Walk from the parking lot to store. Climb stairs at every chance. Make time. Prioritize you. Do you really need to reply to emails most of which are junk? Use an exercise tracker to motivate yourself and see how you’re doing more each day.
2. You feel unattractive in exercise clothes or feel embarrassed: Exercise at home. Use an app. Buy weights. As those work, you’ll become fitter and feel comfortable wearing track pants or even leggings.
3. You don’t know how to do the exercises or worry you’ll hurt yourself: Hire a personal trainer. Watch exercise videos or use an app with videos.
4. You can’t afford a gym: See Number 2. Even with a small home or apartment you can do many routines right in your living room or bedroom. Use cans of soup for weights. Go outside and walk around your block or in a park. Be creative.

Summer is the perfect time to launch an exercise routine. Go for a walk early in the morning or late in the day before it heats up.
Most of all, have fun. Bring along a friend or two. Once you start, you’ll find you can’t stop. Instead of feeling too tired to exercise or just feeling poorly, you’ll start to feel tired and poorly when you DON’T exercise. Exercise really does make us happier, healthier and fitter.

References
(n.d.). Retrieved from Martina Navratilova: https://www.martinanavratilova.com/biography
Bailey-Millado, R. (2019, January 24). Retrieved from New York Post: https://nypost.com/2019/01/24/this-90-year-old-climbs-mountains-like-its-nothing/
Hochwald, L. (2018, January 14). Retrieved from Parade: https://parade.com/636232/lhochwald/age-is-just-a-number-4-inspiring-athletes-over-50/
Warburten, D. e. (2006, March 14). Retrieved from National Center for Biotechnology Information: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1402378/