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!

Sprinkle That Negativity Elsewhere…

All life is a game of balance. By that statement, it would make sense that the negative needs to exist in order to complement the positive. While most of us live our lives within the confines of this balance, most would agree that it’s more pleasing and typically one’s goal to live within the positive, as negativity tends to bring suffering. And suffering is not good. At all.

So what can one do to simply and effectively eliminate negativity from one’s life? Following the Eightfold Path is certainly a good way to start. Right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right concentration and right mindfulness are good practices to have in order to eliminate the negative aspects of one’s life. But not everyone prescribes to these aspects, and society has a funny way of associating happiness with material belongings and tangible pleasures.

Unfortunately, some people experience the most negativity in their lives from other people. Have you ever had a toxic individual in your life? Someone that always seems to go against the grain and make things difficult? But you continue to keep them in your life because they may be a long-time friend, associate or even a family member. Occasionally, you won’t even have the choice. It can be someone brought into your life by virtue of someone ELSE’s choice, like a sibling or friend marrying someone toxic.

Sometimes it isn’t even so much that the person is TOXIC, per se. Sometimes it’s a simple matter of the person unfortunately living within their own negativity. And when someone is always negative, it just kind of seems to suck the air and energy out of the room. It’s important to note as well, that a person may not inherently be negative but their perspectives and life views may simply not be in line with yours. This can be even worse, since it means that even if they’re not negative themselves, it’s causing negativity within your own life by virtue of those differences.

So, should one cut such people out of their lives? This can be a difficult decision, especially if there’s a personal connection spanning years and possibly decades. I’ve faced that very situation, myself. Having someone who’s always difficult, negative and argumentative can be draining on a person’s soul, and common sense would dictate that knowing such a person for an extended period of time doesn’t make it worth it to have them linger in one’s life if all they do is spread negative energy into your existence.

There’s no easy answer. In fact, there’s no answer I can provide here. Each and every situation is different and subjective but it’s important to remember that one’s overall happiness will come as a result of their own actions; even if those actions mean cutting ties with someone you’ve associated with for years. Careful contemplation and consideration needs to be included but at the end of the day, like all things in life, one must do what’s in the best interest of one’s overall health and wellbeing. Food for thought…☯️

The BlendJet 2: A Review…

Yesterday I posted about how I’ve been using flax seed in the new addition to my morning routine, which is to consume a smoothie for breakfast while I prep for work. I made a brief mention of my mini blender but wanted my focus to be on the flax seed aspect. But I think it would be a good idea to talk about this new little gadget I purchased, as it really is amazing and I’m enjoying the hell out of it. Buckle up…

First of all, before anyone gets all high and mighty and fills my comments section with their bullshit, let me clarify: I am NOT endorsing this product in return for compensation. BlendJet hasn’t asked me to do this, I’m simply sharing my thoughts on the product because I bought it and it’s great. Trust me, I’d be bashing it if it were the other way around. Or maybe not, since I try to stay positive. But I digress…

A few weeks ago, after consuming a few well-deserved scotches, I was wandering around online and came upon an advertisement for BlendJet’s mini blender, the BlendJet 2. Not one to be taken in by advertisements, I was intrigued by the company boasting how effective and easy to clean it is. I had been contemplating moving one of my meals to smoothies, as you would have read in yesterday’s post, so I decided to take a shot and ordered one.

It took about a week to receive it, which was super quick. I’ve used it repeatedly over the past week and let me say that the company isn’t exaggerating the effectiveness of its product. I excitedly opened the box and read through the instructions. It only takes about an hour and a half to fully charge before full use and is charged by using an included USB-C cord. So you can recharge it using your computer or a charging cube, just like a smart phone. Once it was fully charged, I decided to clean it and give it a try.

My new BlendJet, still wet from this morning

As per the advertisement, I put a tiny drop of dish soap and warm water in the blender, screwed on the lid and started a blend cycle. What’s nice is the blender will run for about twenty seconds or so and stop on its own. Once it was rinsed out, I found some frozen fruit in our freezer, some milk and a handful of chocolate chips because, well…chocolate! I blasted those ingredients and I was surprised at how well this thing worked. I poured a small glass for each of my kids and I have to say, besides a few of the chocolate chips staying intact and at the bottom, it worked really well.

It boasts about 15 blends on a single charge, but I’ve been using it for over a week where I use two blends, one to make the smoothie and one for cleaning, and I haven’t had to charge it yet. The unit comes apart so that if you want to wash it in the regular dishes as opposed to running a blend cycle to clean it, you can. But I’ve been jamming all sorts of ingredients into this thing, including flax seed… Go read yesterday’s post! It’s made my morning routine so much easier and keeps me from going hungry while making my way towards the lunch hour.

What’s fun is that there are over two dozen different colours you can order this thing in. And I’m not sure if it’s because it’s the Christmas season or what, but they appear to be half price, on their website. Again, I don’t often make a point of endorsing or promoting specific companies or products, but I think this mini blender is an excellent gadget and well worth the purchase. If y’all wanna check it out, you can visit BlendJet’s website here. ☯️

Sometimes, Older Is Better…

I’ve noticed that a lot of times when new “trends” emerge, they turn out to be something that’s been available for a long time; people simply weren’t aware or making use of it. A good example of this is flax seeds. I recently bought a mini blender that doubles as a tumbler. It charges through USB, takes 30 seconds to clean and will grind almost anything. But more to come on THAT in another post. Today, I want to talk about flax seeds…

Mornings for me have a tendency to be rushed. Once my alarm goes off, I usually hit the ground running to prepare lunches for myself and my son Nathan, shave, shower and get dressed before rushing out the door. This usually leaves me with very little time to consume anything for breakfast. Yeah, yeah, I know what you’re going to say; I could just get up a bit earlier. I hear that a lot and I honestly don’t get what people have against sleeping in. But I digress…

The bottom line is that I’ve been trying to find something to kickstart my day that ISN’T simply grabbing a protein bar or eating take out food. So, I’ve started making smoothies in the morning. Five minutes to throw some fruit, milk, flax seed and whatever else I want into the blender and I’m off to the races. Almost literally. But I can gulp down the smoothie while I get ready for my day, making it practical and quick.

I make reference to the concept of people thinking something old is new because there’s a lot of hype in nutrition circles surrounding flax seed, for all of its health benefits. But according to an article posted by WebMD, “Flaxseed was cultivated in Babylon as early as 3000 BC.” It’s been around for quite some time and the health benefits were suspected as early as the 8th century when King Charlemagne passed laws requiring his subjects to consume it because he believed so strongly in how good it was.

Flax seed is found in a lot of different foods as an ingredient. But you can purchase flax seed itself either ground up or in whole form, although most sources I’ve read recommend consuming the ground up version since the whole seeds are harder to digest. But there are a ton of benefits and I’ll list a few of them here. I got most of them from a list posted by HealthLine.com, but some are simply what I’ve observed.

First and foremost, flax seed is loaded with good stuff that your body needs, including fibre and omega-3. But they also have all sorts of nutrients and good stuff to help your body along. The fibre aspect is a big win for me, and flax seed has lots of it. In fact, flax seed apparently has soluble and insoluble fibre, helping you feel full for longer, reduce the amount of glucose released in the body and keeps those bowel movements on the regular.

Good digestive health is important for weight loss, fitness, overall health and blood sugar control. I know that I don’t consume as much fibre as I should, and this has become an easy way for me to increase my intake. But flax seed has also shown the potential for lowering cholesterol and blood pressure; two things that I currently take “preventative” pills for, every morning.

Flax seed also packs a decent amount of plant-based protein and since the fibre aspect helps keep hunger at bay by making you feel full for longer, it can potentially help with a bit of weight loss since you may not snack as frequently if you still feel full. I like it because it adds a bit of a nutty flavour to my smoothies, it’s reasonably inexpensive for a lot of it and it covers off a bunch of aspect one might want from any meal, all consumed within a glass of liquid.

It’s only been about a week, so I can’t boast that I’m seeing all these results from consuming a shake every morning. But what I can say is that with about a half dozen blueberries, a cup of milk, a tablespoon of flax seed and a pinch of Splenda for sweetness, I’ve enjoyed working through my mornings without feeling hungry or snacking. It also prevents my bad habit of skipping breakfast all together, which helps with proper blood sugar control and helps me get on with my day with a bit more energy. Flax seed… the 3,000-year old “new” superfood. ☯️

First World Problems…

I’ve never been a big fan of baths, preferring a nice, hot shower. Even as a child, I started using the shower before I was old enough to reach the shower switch. In any event, i suppose that as long as one cleans oneself regularly, that’s all that matters. I bring all of this up because I’ve been experiencing and enjoying showers way more than a person rightfully should, lately. And because I’ve been enjoying my showers, I thought I would share that joy with all of you. Isn’t that nice? Cough, cough… Moving on…

My home originally featured two bathrooms. One was upstairs and featured a bathtub and the other was in the basement and simply had a small, box-style standup shower. The upstairs shower worked but would leak into the basement due to a broken seal on one of the water pipes. Since there was no access behind the shower wall, it would cost a heavy amount to remove the drywall, repair the shower and repair the dry wall. So ultimately, my wife and I were limited to showering downstairs.

About a year and half ago, our foundation shifted and opened a crack in the western concrete wall of the basement. Although we could tell from the walls and some features that the house had shifted, we couldn’t see the extent of the damage hidden behind the walls or predict that a rain storm that followed would partially flood the basement with ground water (which our insurance policy ironically doesn’t cover). That’s when Grasshopper Construction came to our rescue.

They were able to demolish the existing basement, repair and shore up the foundation and brace it all around. The majority of homes in Regina require this bracing by virtue of the shifting soil in the area, but our home was never done. Once the bracing was done, the foundation was sound and safe but now we had a bare concrete basement, which couldn’t be used for any liveable purpose. This included the loss of the downstairs bathroom and shower.

Big deal, right? We still have the tub upstairs. That’s exactly what we said, over a year ago. But I have to admit that filling, sitting and using a tub for the purposes of daily cleaning is tedious. There’s nothing quite comparable to the ease and convenience of jumping in the shower for five minutes and being done. So after a year and a half of lowering my bulk into a restrictive space and trying to maneuver myself to wash all my 2,000 parts (if you don’t remember those Lever 2000 commercials, that joke will be lost on you), I had enough of baths.

A little over a month ago, the renovation of our downstairs was finally completed and we’ve had a working shower (and a much larger one, at that) for several weeks. Although this isn’t my usual type of post and there’s no real lesson contained in my words, I was having a hot shower this morning when I realized I was enjoying the “perk” of having a shower. Isn’t that amazing? Something that the average person takes for granted is something I had to have destroyed and go without for a year, in order to appreciate. There may be a lesson in there after all…

But just so that I can say that I shared some knowledge, did you know that a guy named William Feetham is credited with inventing the modern shower in 1767? It wasn’t until that point that daily bathing became a common practice for proper hygiene and better health. There you go, I shared some knowledge. ☯️

Walking In A Winter Wasteland…

I know a lot of people who absolutely LOVE the winter season… They love the falling snow, wearing puffy sweaters and sipping tea or hot chocolate in front of a fireplace or a picturesque window, revelling in the the wonderful tableau spread out before them… Screw that noise! Winter is horrible. It’s cold, it’s wet and there’s greater opportunity for those of us with compromised immune systems to get sick. Winter wonderland, indeed!

Despite my rather bitter-sounding opening paragraph, I can appreciate some of the things winter brings, such as snowball fights and snow forts, Christmas and the disappearance of wasps and mosquitoes. That last one is particularly near and dear to my heart. And no one who’s had to shovel for hours on end would usually claim to love the winter season. But putting aside the delicate balance between love and hate for a moment, there are a number of things one needs to be wary of, during the colder weather.

Having spent my entire life living in Canada, I’m no stranger to winter conditions, with snowy months starting in late October and often staying through April and into May. The cold weather also has a nasty effect on blood sugar levels, which just makes things all the more complicated. But some folks aren’t aware of the difference between some winter conditions, so let’s explore a couple.

1. Frostbite: Ah, frostbite… I’ve actually had this happen, albeit on a very mild scale. Frostbite occurs when the tissues in your body freeze. this can include the skin or underlying tissues. It can start with numbness and tingling and will progress to pain. It usually happens when exposed to cold temperatures (d-uh!) and you treat it by slowly warming the tissues back up.
2. Hypothermia: It’s weird how many people confuse the last term with this one. Unlike Frostbite, hypothermia happens due to prolonged exposure to cold weather, causing your body to lose its heat or core temperature. It usually starts out with shivering, which can make it tough to recognize as most people will naturally shiver when they’re cold, right? But as it progresses, one might begin to lose coordination, feel sleepy and confused and ultimately lose consciousness. Anything beyond that is death. Nice, eh? If it’s mild hypothermia, it can be treated by slowly bringing one’s core temp up with warm drinks and warm clothing.
3. Dehydration: That’s right, I said dehydration. Most people associate dehydration with heat, which is quite accurate. But a person can easily dehydrate in the cold as well, especially if they’re exerting themselves for long periods, like shovelling, skiing, playing with the kids or even walking. The problem with dehydration is that you’re less likely to recognize the symptoms of thirst in the cold. Your body simply won’t sense it as easily.
4. Sunburn: By now, some of you may be scrolling back up to the top to see if I’ve mistakenly posted a summer post instead of a winter one. No, I’m quite clear on the fact that these things can happen in the winter. Here’s the thing; the sun doesn’t care that there’s snow on the ground or that it’s cold. Just because you don’t feel the heat, doesn’t mean UV rays aren’t still blasting their way into your skin. And because you don’t feel the heat of the sun as intensely in the cold, your exposed skin will be prone to sunburn before you necessarily recognize that it’s happening.

I make the winter sound pretty bleak, but in truth it isn’t all THAT bad. Dress warmly and in layers, don’t remain in freezing conditions longer than you have to and remember to slap on some sunscreen to any exposed flesh. People don’t usually think of using sunblock in the winter but even spending long hours driving somewhere on a sunny, winter day will have you sporting an awkward tan showing the outline of your sunglasses. Not sexy in the least. But I digress…

And as a last piece of advice you didn’t ask for, keep close tabs on your blood sugars. Doing 1 hour of rigorous activity outside will lower blood sugars way faster than 1 hour of the same activity inside. It’s important to remember that your body isn’t just doing whatever you have it doing, it’s also working hard at trying to keep you warm. This means it’s burning more energy and your blood sugars will drop. And it can happen suddenly. If you’re shovelling or playing in the snow, take breaks and test your blood. This is also an easy way to allow you to warm up to prevent frostbite and hypothermia. ☯️

Lowered Expectations…🎶

I used to watch a comedy skit show, back in the 90’s and early 2000’s. It wasn’t Saturday Night Live but it was something similar to that. They had this skit they ran called “Lowered Expectations” about a dating sight for folks who had basically given up and would date anybody. I found it funny back then, even during times when I was single, myself. But I can imagine the scene wouldn’t play out too well in today’s demographic, given everyone’s sensitivity to every little thing under the sun. But I digress…

The topic of today’s post isn’t about comedy or that particular show, which I still can’t recall and can’t be bothered to Google. The focus is expectation, as it relates to daily life. Funny things, expectations. Everyone has them, everyone focuses their efforts on them but very rarely do they pan out. And why is that? Perhaps it’s because anything worth having in this life needs to be worked for and CAN’T be expected. But hey, what do I know? I’ve expected things in life, just like everyone else.

When I was younger, I was FULL of expectations. I expected to graduate high school. I expected to complete a college or university education, get married, get a black belt, open a karate school, be debt-free and live out all of my dreams before calmly and peacefully moving on to the next life. Of course, I also expected to see a cure for Type-1 Diabetes in this lifetime. The jury’s out on whether that one will happen or not.

Granted, I accomplished some of the things listed above. None of it was without difficulty and some augury of suffering, but most things in life are difficult. Life isn’t meant to be easy. The big piece is being able to tell the difference between a goal and an expectation. A goal is defined as the object of a person’s ambition or effort, a desired result of something that one strives to achieve. An expectation is the belief that something will happen.

There is a correlation between goals and expectation. After all, if you put your maximum effort behind accomplishing a goal, you can likely expect that you’ll be successful. But what if you aren’t? Should you EVER expect the end results of your goals to be positive? It raises an important philosophical question about one’s ability to think positively and eliminate suffering in one’s life. After all, why WOULDN’T I be succesful if I set goals and work hard at them, right?

The problem is, and I seem to utter this thought in almost every post I write, that life doesn’t care about one’s plans. Life happens REGARDLESS of one’s plans and is often counterintuitive to one’s efforts. this makes expecting a particular outcome to be as efficient as using the concept of winning the lottery as your retirement plan. It’ll work, should you ever win the lottery. But the odds of that happening are ridiculously unlikely.

My point here is that I couldn’t sit back and expect that any of the goals I described in the third paragraph to happen on their own. I had to work at them and fight to accomplish those goals. If I expected to complete a post-secondary education as opposed to putting in the hard work, there would be empty spaces on my walls as opposed to where my certifications are displayed. If I expected to achieve a certain degree of skill in the martial arts without all the blood, sweat and tears I put in, I never would have reached my previous goals and continue to work towards the ones I’ve set for the future.

Don’t sit back. Don’t expect things to happen. You need to step out into the light and MAKE them happen. I see an unfortunately high number of articles I’ve read where the concept of no longer working hard and going through struggle to achieve one’s goals is becoming a thing. What kind of new-age, snowflake crap is that? Life doesn’t happen to those who sit back and wait for it. Although it’s important to find peace within one’s own life, if you sit back and wait for the float with your expectations to arrive, the whole parade will pass you by. Food for thought… ☯️

Alright, You Jocks! Hopefully This Post Doesn’t Make you Itchy…

Maintaining one’s health is important, especially when dealing with the complications of Type-1 Diabetes. T1D has enough side effects and complications on its own without adding to the burden. But the truth is, maintaining one’s fitness comes at a price, as well. Between pulled muscles, aches, pains, sores, excessive sweating and dehydration, there are many issues that working out can carry. And although all things are best in moderation, anyone who’s read my posts already knows that my opinion on fitness is that it SHOULD involve blood, sweat and tears in order to reach one’s fitness goals.

There’s one issue that faces a lot of athletes and people who work out that most don’t talk about. It’s a real pain, it’s annoying and it can be unseemly because of the effect it causes. I’m talking about jock itch. Although named because it’s often associated with athletes who sweat a lot (and because it’s pre-dominantly occurs on the inner thighs and near the groin), jock itch is actually a fungal infection that develops a red, itchy rash around the warm, moist areas of the body. So it would make sense that it would occur in the inner thighs, as most people tend to keep that area covered up when doing cardio and working out, since exercising nude in public is frowned upon. Prudes.

Realistically, despite its name, jock itch isn’t JUST experienced by athletes. It can develop in non-active individuals who may sweat excessively, have excess body weight or who are simply experiencing the rigours of the summer heat. According to a post by The Mayo Clinic, jock itch is uncomfortable and bothersome but usually isn’t serious. The treatment often involves keeping the area clean and dry and potentially using an anti-fungal cream to help clear it up. The awkward part comes from the fact that given the itchy nature of jock itch, it may look like you’re compulsively scratching your groin, which can be awkward.

The article goes on to explain that you can be at greater risk of jock itch if you are male, wear tight underwear, are overweight or sweat excessively, have a weakened immune system or have Diabetes. Great. Lovely. those last two should give you a bit of a hint about how I came to write this post. But jock itch is usually caused by the same fungus that causes athlete’s foot, which is why it’s so important to ensure that you stay clean, stay dry and change out your underwear and treat athlete’s foot, should you have it, in order to prevent its spread to the groin.

Given that I’m citing some facts from the Mayo Clinic’s website, which is one of my favourite sources of medical information, I’ll point out that another of my favourite sites, WebMD, reflects the information I’ve shared here, almost word for word. The only exception is that it states that you don’t need to be male or an athlete in order to get it. If it doesn’t clear up on its own after a few days of daily cleaning, staying dry and changing out your underwear, over-the-counter anti-fungals from your local pharmacy can help move things along and clear it up faster.

Yes, it’s pretty gross but it’s the reality of fitness and wellbeing and in some cases, even if you aren’t active. The anti-fungals I mentioned come in a variety of types, including ointments, sprays and powders. It can be tough to stay on top of, especially if you have an intense workout followed by sitting in your own sweat for an hour or two until you’re able to get to a shower. Planning ahead can help. Keep a small container fo talcum or baby powder in your gym bag and give your “areas” a sprinkle before your workout to prevent unwanted friction while running and to keep the area cool and dry. Then, give it another sprinkling AFTER the workout to help dry things up until you reach a shower.

Using baby powder in your fitness shoes can be a great help, as well. preventing athlete’s foot is almost as important as treating jock itch, since one can lead to the other. It can be an embarrassing and uncomfortable condition, especially since one’s daily life won’t allow for one to constantly be scratching one’s groin. But proper prevention and treatment can go a long way towards ensuring that jock itch will be one less problem you’ll have to deal with while travelling on your fitness journey. ☯️

One Thing At A Time…

Ah, multitasking… How often have we heard the term throughout our personal and professional lives? As a child, I used to hear it the most from teachers. “Oh, you need to learnt to multitask in order to get things done…” In college, it was almost an expectation and a mantra that students were expected to multitask. Multitask this, multitask that, get things done… I made my way through life with the concept that one had to always be taking care of many things at once, in order to keep up. Although this belief was created and grown by the adults and influences around me, I have to recognize that I played my part in developing the belief that I could, in fact, multitask. But I was wrong. And so are you, if you believe you’re actually multitasking…

Multitasking is a myth. Our brains are not wired to perform high level functions required to accomplish many simultaneous tasks at once. When someone is “multitasking,” they’re usually dividing their attentions between the tasks that they’re performing, albeit quickly enough that they feel they may be doing them simultaneously. The problem with this, is that we run the risk of leaving one task linger or leaving it behind. As we do this consistently throughout the day, we also run the risk of carrying the weight of all those uncompleted tasks along with us, throughout the day. This can result in feeling additional stress and pressure of all the weight we’re carrying, which could have easily been avoided by completing one task before on to the next.

An article posted by the Cleveland Clinic entitled Why Multitasking Doesn’t Work, explains that “We’re really wired to be monotaskers, meaning that our brains can only focus on one task at a time. When we think we’re multitasking, most often we aren’t really doing two things at once, but instead, we’re doing individual actions in rapid succession, or task-switching.” The article gores on to say that “when our brain is constantly switching gears to bounce back and forth between tasks […] we become less efficient and more likely to make a mistake.”

For example, I seem to be constantly interrupted by my children for various reasons while trying to write this post. As a result, I’ve had to correct and re-write various portions of the post, even some simple sentences. Another good example is while trying to learn in school. Although taking notes during a lecture is something we all grew up doing, this activity can be a hindrance since one’s attention needs to be focused on the lecture and not taking notes. As you jot down notes, you’ll be prone to miss things that are said or ask the lecturer to repeat themselves because your attention was on your notes as opposed to on what was being said.

You’re probably thinking, that’s all bullshit! I multitask ALL the time, I cook while chatting with my family, I watch television while folding laundry… Although it may seem as thought you’re doing these things simultaneously, you’re really not. And it isn’t all that noticeable when it’s simple tasks that you’re accustomed to performing. It becomes more problematic when the task in question becomes more complicated, convoluted or has something at stake, such as work performance. This is why it’s important to be present in the moment and focus on only one thing at a time. Even when you have a list of things to accomplish, completing one task before moving on to thew next ensures completion of given tasks and less opportunity for oversight and mistakes.

This isn’t a new concept, nor am I revealing anything earth-shattering. But even in the present day, when the pressures and requirements of daily life have done nothing but grow and increase, people still believe that they can perform several tasks at once. And to an extent, maybe they can. But the results are much more positive when we take it one thing at a time. Be in the now. Focus on the present. begin and complete one item before moving on to the next, unless prioritization forces you to do otherwise. The result will be better efficiency, less stress, less pressure and the possibility of living in the moment, which is where we all belong. ☯️

To Paranoid Or Not To Paranoid, THAT Is The Question…

As a general rule, I always try to give people the benefit of the doubt and think the best. However, over a decade’s worth of dealing with the light and dark side of society has caused a healthy level of paranoia within me. Even now, when I go to pubic places, I usually try to tactically place myself in such a way as to have a clear view of all exits, be able to survey the whole room and prevent anyone from being able to sneak up behind me. Is it a bit much? Maybe. I just know that’s it’s kept me alive through a rather colourful policing career for quite a number of years.

The problem comes when someone is the polar opposite of what I described in the first paragraph. For the most part, members of the public have their heads down in their devices or are generally oblivious to the world around them as they wander; a habit that can be dangerous and even deadly in the wrong circumstances. As a martial artist, I’ve spent years training myself to be aware of my surroundings and be vigilant. To some, this may mean I’m paranoid. But a little “healthy” paranoia can keep you safe…

Many say that the world has become a dangerous place but I would argue that it has always been dangerous. It’s one’s exposure or lack thereof, that lends to one’s perspective. But make no mistake, danger is consistently around us in some given way, shape or form. There are some statistics (although i couldn’t locate concrete ones) about the fact that every person will cross paths will a killer at some point in their lives. Am I being a little too dark? Is my perspective on the world skewed? Maybe. But maybe not…

Last Thursday, I took the bus to work as my wife needed the family car to run some errands. Nothing out of the ordinary for us and we happen to have a bus stop ten feet from our house that drops me off a five-minute walk from my office building, downtown. Doesn’t get any more perfect than that. I was dressed and ready, had change in my pocket and was out the door with only five minutes to wait until my bus rolled up and I hopped on. Morning was going according to plan. What more could I ask for?

As part of my general sense of wellbeing, I walked to the rear of the bus and took a seat on the far right side of the rear bench. As described above, this allowed me a clear view of all the other passengers of the bus and all the exits. Given that it was about 6:40 in the morning, there were only two other people on the bus, but one of them was sitting on the far left seat of the rear bench as well. Clothed in a dark hoodie with their hood up and head down, I wasn’t able to make out any facial features and couldn’t even tell if it was a guy or a girl.

The bus moved into motion and I did my usual, which was to text my wife and observe my surroundings. Given the events in 2008, where a man was stabbed and beheaded while on a Greyhound bus in Manitoba, I make a point never to be asleep or inattentive on public transit. Again, maybe that’s my paranoia being somewhat on the excessive side. But that morning, it paid off as I dealt with a rather unusual situation.

As I was looking out my window, I turned my head and glanced in the direction of the individual on the bench with me. Although my eyes didn’t linger on the person, I suddenly did a double-take as I noted the person appeared to be staring straight at me! this wasn’t subtle; their head was turned directly to the side and their eyes were locked on mine as we sat there. I held eye contact for several moments, thinking they might say something but nothing came. I finally broke the silence and asked the individual if I could help them with something, to which I received a deep, rasping response of, “No.”

The creepiness factor sent chills down my spine and I’ll admit that I removed my gloves and unzipped my coat as I anticipated this person might attack me in some way. We all have an latent survival instinct that warns us of impending danger; some call it “lizard brain.” This is the sort of feeling that came over me in that moment. The odd thing is, despite the depth of the voice, I still couldn’t tell if it was male or female. I was moments away from needing a clean pair of pants when the individual pulled the “stop requested” cable, stood up and waited at the bus exit until the bus came to a stop. The individual dismounted. All of this, while maintaining eye contact with me.

Was I familiar to this person? Did they think I was someone they knew? Is it someone I possibly arrested during my policing career? A dozen questions ran through my mind as we rolled away. I calmed significantly once we had driven a ways down the road and I knew there was some distance between this person and myself. It was certainly a creepy experience and I have no idea what it was all about, but it stands as a good example of why one should always be aware of their surroundings and not lost in their device or asleep when out and about. You never know what could happen. ☯️

Sugar Free Doesn’t Mean Problem Free…

I don’t think there’s any need to dispute the fact that soda and carbonated drinks can have adverse affects on the body. There are a whole bunch of reported and documented side effects, including cardiac issues, weight gain, insulin resistance, rotting one’s teeth and potentially becoming addicted due to the sugar content. Ooh, that sweet, sweet sugar…

So what about sugar-free or unsweetened soda and carbonated beverages? Without all the sugar, most of those issues should be, well… a non-issue, right? Perhaps, but given that your ingesting gulps of liquid containing gas, there are other issues at play that one needs to consider. Take this information with grain of salt, since this is where I make a point of indicating that I’m not a dietitian or medical practitioner.

The problem with consuming ANY carbonated beverage is that your gulping down carbon dioxide, which turns into a gas once it settles in your stomach. Not only will this have you belching like a drunken sailor, it can cause uncomfortable bloating and distending of the stomach. This can be a pain in the ass, especially if you’re about to go for a work out and you’re all puffy from sipping your tonic water with lemon. My compression shirts just don’t fit as well, damn it! But I digress…

According to an article posted by HealthLine, even though carbonated beverages won’t CAUSE irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), it can certainly cause IBS flare-ups if the condition already exists. the article goes on to explain that even though your carbonated drink may be sugar-free, it may increase a hunger hormone called ghrelin, which could lead to increased eating due to feelings of hunger, leading to weight gain. For once, sugar is NOT the only culprit. Wow, who would have thought that a Type-1 Diabetic would be defending sugar…

The bottom line is that if you’re anything like me, finding a drink alternative that has no sugar/carbohydrates to worry about (besides water) can be a bit of a challenge. Especially if you just want to kick back and enjoy something to drink during your down time without worrying about the effects it may have on your blood sugar levels. But even “sugar-free” drinks may have additives that can contain surprises, like sweeteners, additives and sodium, which can all have adverse effects on blood sugar and the body.

For me, the biggest pet peeve is the burping and bloating that comes with carbonated beverages. this definitely sucks, since I tend to start my mornings with an energy drink and those are carbonated to hell and back. I’ve cut down significantly on the amount of energy drinks I consume, but a recent incident while running cardio is what led to this post. I was on my way to the gym and was sipping on the remainder of an energy drink while on the way. That’s where I noticed the bloated feeling and belching that made the workout all the more difficult.

The best practice is to keep your eyes open and be sure to read through all the ingredients on anything you consume. That’s good advice, regardless of what the consumption may be, but don’t be fooled by a label that says “sugar-free.” You never know what may be hiding in those bubbles. ☯️