Author: Shawn

I am a practitioner of the martial arts and student of the Buddhist faith. I have been a Type 1 Diabetic since I was 4 years old and have been fighting the uphill battle it includes ever since. I enjoy fitness and health and looking for new ways to improve both, as well as examining the many questions of life. Although I have no formal medical training, I have amassed a wealth of knowledge regarding health, Diabetes, martial arts as well as Buddhism and philosophy. My goal is to share this information with the world, and perhaps provide some sarcastic humour along the way. Welcome!

Have Yourself A Carb-Filled Little Christmas…

One of the biggest problems one can face over the holiday season is properly calculating one’s carbohydrate intake. And this stands to reason, considering one tends to consume homemade meals and baked goods, alcohol and desserts. This can make it a bit more of a guessing game when it comes to determining how much insulin to take and trying to avoid the unfortunate ups and downs that can accompany a miscalculation. And once you’re on that unfortunate roller coaster, it can take quite a while before you can get off…

When you buy something at the store, you get the benefit of the nutrition label on the back of the packaging that tells you how many grams of carbs that are “expected” to be in a piece of whatever you’re eating. I say “expected” and put it in quotations because it’s always a bit of a crapshoot, even when they list it. For example, I have a very nice frozen pastry I buy that’s spinach and feta-filled. But if I bolus for the amount of carbs it says for the amount I eat, I bottom out faster than you can say hypoglycaemia. With homemade foods like stuffing, mashed potatoes, pies and desserts, the guessing game can quickly become a game of Diabetic Russian roulette.

The difference between the holidays and the average meal is that the average meal is, well… one meal. once it’s said and done, even if you fucked with your blood sugar levels a bit, you get to adjust and correct and you’re likely fine over the short term. During the holidays, we’re usually talking several meals over a few days, mixed with alcohol and sugary products that one might not partake of during an “average” meal. So if you don’t bolus enough or have carbs in your system that act faster than your insulin, you may be compelled to correct sooner than you should to bring yourself back to normal, which is followed by the insulin you ACTUALLY bolused for the meal kicking in and causing you to bottom out.

Perhaps you wolf down more jelly beans than you should, because it’s 2 o’clock in the morning and you just want to go back to sleep, which causes you to slingshot too high again. Wash, rinse and repeat… I’m speaking from experience here, folks. Recent experience, in fact. I spent a good portion of the Christmas holiday playing yo-yo with my blood sugars and the result was a level of exhaustion that made it so that it was anything but a holiday for me. of course, I could have stemmed a lot of that by avoiding the beer and homemade desserts I consumed. But what’s the point of modern medicine and wearing an insulin pump if I can’t eat at least SOMEWHAT like a normal person once in a while?

The important thing to remember is to keep yourself hydrated, both because of the potential alcohol and all the food and blood sugar fluctuations. Don’t be afraid to check your blood sugars often but also be mindful that some foods will require some time to catch up and your insulin may require some time, as well. Your endocrinologist can discuss these aspects with you to prevent your repeat visits on the blood sugar roller coaster. The holidays are meant to be enjoyed and you should be able to enjoy them along with anyone else in the family. It may require a few added steps on your part but doing so will ensure that you don’t find yourself in a compromised position during your celebrations. Enjoy! ☯️

Too Much Of A Good Thing…

We’ve all been there… Our week is a bit long, we’ve pushed ourselves a bit too hard and we suddenly find ourselves with a night where we get back home and all one wants to do is crash and hit the pillow. I had just such a night recently. I got home from work and was utterly exhausted. I muddled my way through supper and did my usual dishes and chores before flopping down on the couch and wishing for death. not literally, mind you. But the thought of just closing my eyes and drifting off seemed pretty blissful in that moment. Luckily, we were able to get the boys down for bed relatively early and I ended up crashing myself. I slept for roughly twelve hours, despite repeated alerts from my pump and my reservoir hitting zero units.

I woke up the next morning to a quiet house and made a move towards the first caffeine of the day. I couldn’t help but notice that I still felt utterly exhausted, which may be an issue in and of itself. That might be something that I need to look into, at some point but considering I slept several HOURS beyond what I usually would, it got me to thinking about all the times I chose to nap on the weekends and how it always made me feel more tired than when I first fell asleep. It raises an important question; can one sleep TOO much? The easy answer would obviously be yes, but how far does that answer go?

According to an online article posted by the Sleep Foundation, “Oversleeping, or long sleeping, is defined as sleeping more than nine hours in a 24-hour period.” By that definition, what I did last week certainly falls under this definition as I slept for three hours beyond that threshold. The article goes on to explain that even though there are valid reasons one might oversleep, such as fighting off an illness, but sleeping more than seven to nine hours in any given night can have some negative effects on one’s health, as well.

According to WebMD, oversleeping can lead to a number of conditions including but not limited to obesity, headaches, back pain, depression and heart disease. The article also suggests that oversleeping can leave one open to the risk of developing Diabetes. Although I assume they’re referring to Type-2, it’s kind of nice to read an article where something may cause Diabetes instead of Diabetes BEING the cause. The article also suggests that people who consistently oversleep have a higher death rate than those who do not.

Ultimately, if you find yourself consistently oversleeping, you may want to consider talking to a doctor about it. There may be outlying conditions that cause you to oversleep. Obviously, there are inherent problems with oversleeping if you have Type-1 Diabetes. You may miss a meal, forget to test your blood sugar or like me, have your pump run on empty while you’re still slumbering, causing an increased spike in your blood sugars. Like everything else, it’s important keep a tight control on one’s Diabetes, even during the hours you sleep. ☯️

A Little Slice Of Spice…

Alright, so it’s no secret that I’m a big fan of spicy foods. It’s one of those things where I was denied spicy foods throughout my entire childhood by virtue of my father’s bad stomach and my brother’s dietary restrictions so I’ve kind of gone off the rails as an adult. At the least of times, I keep bottles of hot sauce and buffalo sauce on tap. At the most of times, I’ll easily sit and eat a dozen jalapeño poppers as an actual meal.

Although not exactly the best thing for your digestion, certain hot spices do have documented benefits for blood flow and cardiac health but I’ll let y’all look up that shit on your own as that isn’t the point of today’s post. During the holidays, it’s natural for people to make certain recipes and enjoy certain foods. With that in mind, I wanted to share a simple buffalo chicken dip recipe I found a few years ago that I make often. I guess I must be craving buffalo today…

I may have shared this recipe before but if I’m being honest, I’m rounding the corner on 2,000 total posts and I can’t remember what I’ve written about and what I haven’t worth a shit, so here it is! The beauty of this recipe is that it’s super fast and simple, requiring only about ten minutes of prep then your slow cooker does all the work. We carry all of these ingredients in our home in general, so whenever I get a craving for something spicy, it’s pretty easy and convenient for me to toss five ingredients into the slow cooker, let it simmer and melt together for an hour and then you’re good to go.

What’s nice is that this is reasonably crab-free, so as long as you ensure you bolus enough insulin for whatever you have with it (bread, nachos, etc), it won’t affect your overall blood sugars very much and can be consumed as an actual meal or as a movie-time snack once the kids are out of your way. My wife even enjoys partaking of this dip and she usually doesn’t do very spicy foods. Provided there’s a slow cooker available, this is an easy way to impress friends and family over the holidays. It would make a great treat to snack on during New Year’s Eve, actually. ☯️

Let’s Box Up Some Facts, Shall We?

What the hell is Boxing Day, really? Besides being a day off for some and having certain businesses closed, I’ve never really been clear on what it is or why it’s called “Boxing Day.” So I figured, with it being the holidays and the fact I tend to rant on enough topics throughout the rest of the year, I should look into this. As it usually the case when one tries to find something on the internet without knowing which way to go, I may or may not have been taken down the rabbit hole and got a number of different backgrounds. Let’s look at a few…

For the most part, offices and professional businesses are closed on Boxing Day. In Canada, it’s designated as a holiday and most things, as I mentioned, are closed. According to an article I found posted on a site called The Almanac, “the custom arose because servants, who would have to wait on their masters on Christmas Day, were allowed to visit their families the next day and employers would give them boxes to take home containing gifts, bonuses and, sometimes, leftover food.” The article goes on to explain that some of the earliest mentions of this tradition dates somewhere in the mid to late 1600’s. Other sources stated that it became more of a mainstream holiday in the 1800’s when Queen Victoria held the throne.

The prevailing backstory seems to include providing boxes of gifts from the wealthy to the poor, in some way shape or form. I’ll admit that the majority of this originates from British sources but Canada is part of the Commonwealth anyway, so it can’t be all wrong, right? in some countries, it’s considered as a “second day of Christmas” and is associated with the Feast of St. Stephen, who was said to be the first Christian martyr. In Canada, Boxing Day is a federal statutory holiday and most banks and government offices are closed, which is why I have the day off today and they always ensure the day off occurs on a work day.

Not the most stimulating of posts but just something that had me curious. Hope y’all had a wonderful Christmas Day! ☯️

Merry Christmas!

No matter what your faith, background or what traditions you follow, wishing others well is never a bad thing. That’s why I’m going to keep this particularly short today and simply take the time to wish all my readers and fellow bloggers a very warm and merry Christmas. Trusting your holidays see you safe, warm and happy, preferably spent with family and friends. Here’s to hoping I’ll see you all reading my stuff in the coming year! Merry Christmas! ☯️

Have Family, Will Travel…

Alright, here we are… Christmas Eve. This means a couple of things. For some, it means Santa Claus and presents. For others, it’s the observance of the often-debated and inaccurately calculated birth of Jesus Christ. No matter what you’re celebrating tomorrow, Christmas Eve carries it’s own weight, in terms of holidays. December 24th will often represent the day that family get together in anticipation of Christmas, meaning a lot of traveling and making one’s way to whatever family destination one’s household may be undertaking.

During my childhood, the family dynamic was a bit different for me. My mother’s side of the family were the one’s who lived in our general area and my mother would always host. This meant that all her siblings and their respective families would pile into whatever apartment we lived in at the time. My mother would make a varied assortment of desserts and finger foods and people could eat at their leisure and enjoy some time together as a family. For the most part, my brother, some cousins and myself would be the highlight of the evening as we would be watched and cheered by the adults as we opened our respective gifts.

I guess my point is that we never had to travel over the holidays when I was a kid. I always took for granted that family would come to me, and so they did. I never truly took the time to appreciate the time and effort shown by my family in coming to us. That is, until I made a family of my own and started travelling over the holidays. Then and only then did my eyes open and I came to recognize the time, effort and stress of packing, loading and moving an entire family in order to meet up with other family. One could argue that such efforts are worth it, in order to spend time with said family. Not only would I be inclined to agree but in 2018, I travelled with my family across Canada in our family SUV in order to meet my parents for Christmas. It would prove to be the first time I had spent Christmas in New Brunswick in ten years.

This year, we won’t be doing anything nearly so dramatic. We’ll be travelling by car for about three hours to join up with my wife’s family. In a couple of hours, we’ll be doing the packing, loading and driving that I mentioned earlier. It’s always a bit of a tedious thing, travelling with two young boys. Although Alex is still in his pull-up diapers, it still means an increased number of stops for the washroom, for coffees and for stretches. Depending on the weather and condition of the roads, it can stretch that three hours into four, quite easily. If you’re travelling during this time of year, be sure to drive safely and make sure that you come prepared. Keep blankets and first aid kits in your vehicle. Ensure you have family who know when you’re leaving and when you expect to arrive. Being safe over the holidays as at LEAST as important as seeing family. ☯️

A Little Vacay Never Hurt Anyone…

During my years as a police officer, the general rule was that I could between being off on Christmas or on New Year’s but not both. The thinking was that in order to accommodate everyone having their preferred holiday off from work, staff had to split their time off in order to accommodate our respective community’s policing needs over the holidays. It was a pretty good arrangement, although there were always those who were unhappy with it. Such is life. You can’t please everyone. Much to everyone’s surprise, I usually chose to work on Christmas. My logic behind that was pretty straightforward; things are quieter over Christmas. People hang with family or travel, and complaints fall way down. But on New Year’s is when people get slizzered, go out and do stupid things and attend mass parties. Not my cup of tea. But I digress…

Today marks the first day of a much-needed vacation. Although Christmas is happening over the weekend, I have today off by virtue of being owed a day as Christmas is a statutory holiday. In keeping with how I used to operate when I was an officer, I took the following week off in order to encompass the New Year. It will mean that I get a much-needed break. A break from waking in the wee hours of the morning, dressing and prepping lunches and braving the icy cold of the Canadian Prairies to make my way to the office. I’m a sucker for maintaining my work, so there will still be a laptop at home where I will occasionally be checking on things. But it will be nice to kick back, put my feet up with a hot coffee and let my mind cool.

Modern society has led us to believe that we’re meant to work on a near-constant basis with a few weeks off a year as recompense. Realistically, it should be the other way around. There’s a growing trend in some countries of incorporating shorter work weeks, company exercise sessions and even nap pods in the office. There are plenty of tools available nowadays that make sense so that taking a vacation isn’t your only way to stem fatigue and burnout and keep the cheese from sliding off one’s cracker. Either way, there’s a lot of rest and relaxation planned for the coming week. And maybe just a hint of binge-watching shows… ☯️

What Is A Dojo?

I get this question once in a while and with mainstream shows like Cobrai Kai being all the rage, it rather surprises me that I still do. But those of you who know me are fully aware that I can talk an elephant’s ear off, so here I am, ready to explain once again. In short and from a high level, the term “dojo” is actually the joining of two Japanese characters that are combined to mean “Place of the Way.” A dojo is generally a special place that is set aside and laid out specifically as a gathering place for students of the martial arts, like Karate and Judo. The term has been used in other forums as well. Interestingly enough, Zen Buddhists refer to their meditation chambers as dojos, as well.

Unlike other training locations, a dojo is intended to maintain a certain level of decorum and ceremony and is intended to be treated with respect. A clean, proper uniform is required when training in one, and bowing respectfully when entering or leaving is also expected. Unlike training locations like your local gym and only under special circumstances, the dojo is intended for structured training, with a Sensei or senior student leading the other students through drills, lessons and teachings, which can include forms, sparring and even meditation, in some styles.

The important aspects to look for when visiting a dojo include the cleanliness. As I mentioned earlier, a dojo must be treated with respect and filth does not align with that. Unlike what you may have seen on television and in movies, a dojo doesn’t need to look like a bad Japanese tourist trap, with the polished wood everywhere and fancy decorations. Literally four walls, a floor and a roof are all that are required. Any additional equipment or accoutrements should be limited to what’s required for training and not include a bunch of decorations or trappings intended to make an onlooker believe the dojo is fancier than it is. Because a dojo isn’t MEANT to be fancy.

I’ve trained with students who have had a small, square ten foot by ten foot space set aside on their home. That’s their dojo. And it’s adequate for training and all they need. Although it can be enticing to see all the gilded decorations and weaponry on the walls of some dojo, it’s important to bear in mind that such things don’t speak to the quality of the art or its teachings but to the quality of their decorator. And that won’t provide much in terms of learning the martial arts. If a student chooses what style to study based on how fancy the dojo looks, they may be in for a rough ride. ☯️

Taking Some Time…

I was never much of one to be out until all hours of the night, when I was younger. While most of my counterparts were out at parties, drinking booze and getting into trouble, I was usually in the dojo, studying at home or watching movies and spending time with my dad. Even once I hit my teenage years and got my own car, my time out was reasonably limited of my own accord, often choosing to bid good evening to my friends and head home rather than stay out for the sake of staying out. This didn’t always work out in my favour and may have contributed to my becoming something of a loner or outcast. Que sera…

“I didn’t disappear, I traded;
Nights out for knowledge seeking.
Parties for intimate gatherings.
Chasing money for chasing purpose.
Meaningless work for my passion.
Being busy for protecting time.
Soul extortion for soul searching.
Living for others for living my life.”

– Lewis Howes

I found the quote above some weeks ago and it kind of stuck with. I look back on my time as a youth and I recognize that I wasn’t popular, wasn’t part of any sports teams or major groups and I’m reasonably sure that almost no one that I graduated from school remembers me or gives two shits about where I ended up. But I have no regrets about how I’ve spent my youth. I made some god friends, the best a man could ask for. And ironically, I still have contact with all of them, almost thirty years later. That says something. It tells me I made some good choices that led me to the here and now and I did it while involving people who made a positive impact.

This is what’s important to remember; how you chose to live your life will ultimately impact the person you become. Does that mean that hitting the clubs and being popular automatically make you an asshole? I wouldn’t make THAT generalization but I can confirm that I was never bullied or beaten up by any of the academics in my school. This also says something. The message to any of my young readers, assuming I HAVE young readers, is no matter what you may be dealing with or facing in your life, it’s up to you to forge the path that will lead you to where you need to be. So make sure it’s a positive path. Although some things may gratify you in the moment, the long term is what you should be looking at. Food for thought…☯️

Tired, Or Burnt Out?

It’s not unusual for someone to get tired and feel exhausted after a long day of being at the office, dealing with one’s children or managing a household. Add cold weather that forces the body to work harder internally in order to stay warm and you’re looking at a perfect recipe for developing a strong case of “I don’t give a fuck-ness…” But one problem, and it’s a big one, is that people tend to use the term “burnout” interchangeably with being tired. And the two are typically quite different. Let’s dive in…

Being tired and experiencing burnout are similar in that they can both cause feelings of mental and physical exhaustion. But the big difference comes from the fact that if you’re tired, sleep, different forms of rest or meditation as well as distractions or diversions will help relieve your tiredness and it will usually pass. If you’re experiencing burnout, your fatigue likely won’t go away regardless of how many hours’ sleep you get. And that’s where the problem comes in.

Burnout usually happened because you’ve been dealing with high levels of stress, emotional difficulties or trauma for prolonged periods of time. Although most people would associate this with the workplace, it can occur in ways that don’t directly relate to work. Some signs of potential burnout can include anything from heavy drinking and moodiness, all the way up to lack of motivation, inability to make important decisions all the way up to suicidal thoughts. Just a touch more significant than just being tired, wouldn’t you agree?

According to an article posted on WebMD, burnout doesn’t happen immediately. It’s a gradual process that builds with stressors from your job. Signs and symptoms can be subtle at first. The article echoes a lot of what I wrote above so y’all can go have a read for yourselves but it does include that some important ways to dealing with burnout include getting an appropriate amount of sleep, engaging in relaxing activities and exercising. In fact, getting even just 30 minutes of exercise a day can help relieve stress and help you to sleep better, which helps the overall burnout.

It’s also important to talk about it. If you’re feeling overwhelmed as a result of your work, talking with trusted coworkers, friends and family can be important. Even discussing your workload with your boss can be important, although most people have a fear of doing so because they feel it will make them appear unwilling to work. Speaking strictly for myself, I prefer to have staff who are willing to discuss their workload in an effort to do a good job than someone who just keeps their mouth shut and ends up quitting once they’re burnt out. But self-care is ultimately important. If you feel your fatigue is more than that, you also have the option of discussing it with your medical practitioner. They may have the means of assessing what is actually causing you or tiredness, burnout or not. ☯️