Category: Fitness & Well Being

One Step At A Time…

Habits. Vices. We all have them, in one form or another. Sometimes it can be associated with our state of mind; either suffering from self-image or mental health issues or we’re simply unhappy, which is a big part of life for most people. As a result, some will seek comfort or relief from various sources including but not limited to food, drugs, smoking, alcohol and even sex. You could think that using that last one wouldn’t be a negative thing but there are a number fo negative aspects to USING sex as a coping mechanism that most people wouldn’t consider.

For me, I’ve indulged in a number nasty vices, including cigar smoking, eating and alcohol. The first and last are mostly by virtue of my previous career, relaxing me and providing calm in the middle of emotional tempests. The middle one typically happens when I’ve indulged too much in the last, as I don’t always make the best decisions. Hey, I’m human. More often than not, I somehow manage to rationalize what I’m doing to myself, with “I can work this off later” or “just this last time” (followed by buying another bottle on the way home the following day).

It can be difficult to overcome certain bad habits on your own. Especially if those habits become severe enough to be an actual addiction. In those cases, getting help from medical professionals or specialized programs can be important. But if it’s something you feel you can overcome on your own, there are a number of things you can do to help get you out of your funk. I’ll provide a few of my thoughts on what’s worked for me in the past:

  1. Don’t Put Off Exercising: Thanks to the frequent ups and downs of blood sugars, the amount of grogginess and lethargy I deal with can be a real pain in the ass. But if you can push past the fatigue and do something physical, it has a dynamo effect. Once you hop on board the exercise train, all you want is for it to move faster. Start slow and easy at first and increase resistance/distance/challenges as you go along. After a while you’ll look back and realize you’re at the level you used to WISH you were at.
  2. Don’t Quit Everything At Once: Sometime during the late summer, I decided to quit cigars, alcohol, junk food and excessive caffeine. Those sound like good ideas, right? Maybe, but doing it all at once wasn’t the greatest idea. Besides the physical toll it takes on a person’s body, you’re more likely to regress and slip up if you deny yourself everything completely. Most sources I’ve read agree that you should allow yourself the occasional indulgence. Doing so means you’ll be less likely to slip up. So if you have a habit of binging junk food, maybe allow yourself to eat out once a week.
  3. Buddy Up: A problem shared is a problem halved, right? If you need exercise, join a club, a gym or fitness group. If you’re trying to eat better, there are groups for that, too! Or you can just commit to eating better with a friend. You can keep each other on track, remind each other of your goals and step in if you happen to be “falling off the wagon.”

Improving oneself and making oneself feel better takes time and effort. If you think it’s hard, that’s perfectly normal Anything worth achieving in life is hard. Just remember that you don’t have to do any of it alone and there are always resources out there to help you reach your goals, whether it’s weight loss, increased fitness, learning a new skill or quitting a bad habit. ☯️

Shake Things Up…

As I’ve often written about before, fitness and weight loss involves something simpler yet more complicated than a fancy fad diet or weird food restrictions. And contrary to what some people still believe, crunches and sit-ups won’t do anything but firm up your ab muscles and likely won’t do much to melt the fat in front of it. You need a healthy combination of consistent exercise and proper diet, which includes eliminating unnecessary sugars, excess fats, carbonated beverages and alcohol as well as junk food in general. That sounds pretty simple in print but to someone who has unhealthy habits built into their daily routine, change isn’t without challenge.

One of those big changes for me, in recent months, has been the inclusion of breakfast into my daily routine. When most of us were kids we always heard that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” I was never fond of breakfast, since eating a massive bowl of cereal before school without the proper amount of fast-acting insulin to deal with it, meant I would spend my morning classes groggy and struggling to stay awake. It led most of my teachers to think I was lazy or unwilling to learn. To their credit, I didn’t understand what was going on myself, so how could I have articulated it to them? But I digress…

My point is that even in adulthood with an insulin pump and a control over my Diabetes that’s better than what in was in my youth, my morning routine usually involves forcing myself out of bed, grabbing caffeine in whatever form I can get it and getting ready for work before rushing out the door. The concept of that first meal is usually the farthest thing from my mind until I’ve been at work for an hour or two and my stomach starts protesting at the lack of tenants it has. This will usually result in my purchasing something quick and less than healthy during my morning coffee. Not so great a habit to maintain and it contributes to one’s gut.

Breakfast!

As a reasonable alternative, I’ve been using my Blendjet to carry my breakfast to work with me. I posted about this device before Christmas and as much fun as I was having with it, I haven’t been using it QUITE as much as I should have or for its intended purpose. In fact, I think my wife has been using them mostly to make smoothies for our kids, which isn’t a bad use but my intention was to have a low-carb, easy to manage breakfast. So on Monday of last week, I buckled down and started including the mini blender into my daily routine. Once I’m up, my first stop is to the kitchen, where I prepare Nathan’s lunch for school. While I’m in there, I’ll put all my ingredients into the blender and bring it downstairs with me where I shower and prepare for work. I’ll run the blender once to mix the ingredients then store it in my work bag until my arrival at work. Then, I’ll blend it again as the ingredients settle and I can gulp it down at my leisure as I work.

It’s been working pretty well. It hardly adds five minutes to my morning routine, provides me with something that keeps me filled and prevents hunger until I make it to lunchtime and the mini blender is convenient and easy to lug around as opposed to packing a meal or ordering out, which does nothing good for one’s overall weight loss and fitness goals. Granted my weekends are still reserved for a more traditional breakfast with my family. For example, this morning will likely see me preparing bacon and hash browns for my wife and I, and toast for the boys. My toddler enjoys a strip of bacon but my 7-year old absolutely hates bacon. I know, I know… I’ve failed somewhere. Moving on!

The calm convenience of breakfast in the morning sunlight

As great an addition to my morning routine as a shake may sound, it’s important to recognize that what you put INTO the shake is almost as important as including breakfast into your routine. If all you’re doing is tossing bananas, milk and chocolate syrup into your blender, you’ll be lacking some key components to your nutrition and health. I mean, eating a banana at breakfast is inherently a good thing, but you want to make sure that you’re giving your body some good stuff to help it along as well as fuel it. Normally, my shake includes half a banana, a dozen or so blueberries, a tablespoon of flax seed and a cube of frozen spinach. The frozen spinach is nice because it not only provides me with all the good stuff that spinach does, it substitutes for ice, which allows more room for the key ingredients.

I was basing all of this with water at the start, but I found the taste left something to be desired and I was still getting hungry during my morning. So I started using milk instead. This isn’t a bad thing, you know, calcium and all that jazz… Diabetics just need to remember that one cup of milk has enough carbohydrates to require additional bolusing. Plus, you can use skim or 2% milk to cut down on the unnecessary fat. If you find that your overall shake is a little bland, you can BAM it up a notch with a small squirt of maple syrup or honey. I occasionally steal a bit of chocolate syrup that my wife uses for the boys’ smoothies but again… carbs!

I know that when most people think of weight loss, their thoughts immediately go to either exercise or eating less. But it’s important to remember that your body needs rule in order to function. So eating less can only be done so much. And when all is said and done, it’s not the amount so much as WHAT you’re eating. But it’s another chicken or the egg scenario… If you eat less, you have less fuel and won’t be able to burn at your workouts as efficiently. You gotta feed the machine! But I find that having a shake, especially one loaded with fibre and good stuff, eliminates the problem of skipping breakfast, doesn’t affect my overall morning routine and is helping to get me healthier. Food for thought… (pun intended) ☯️

Your Comfort Zone Is A Horrible Place To Die…

When all is said and done, you’ll really only get as much out of life as you put into it. Want to lose weight? Eat right and exercise. It won’t happen on its own if you’re sitting on the couch scarfing potato chips and doing fuck all. Wanna learn a new skill? Buckle up and settle in to study, train and develop yourself. Wanna learn karate? It ain’t a knitting circle so you need to be prepared for the blood, sweat and tears that will ensue over the next decade or more to become proficient. Notice that I say “proficient” and not “master,” as karate is a lifelong journey that you’re never really done studying.

An important lesson I’ve learned recently is just how little I actually know. I’ve been studying Uechi Ryu for over three decades at this point, with one third of that time being on my own by virtue of living 3,400 kilometres away from my Sensei. The passage of time and lack of travel ability has brought me to my current state where I made the decision to transition to a new style. Still karate, of course. But I recently joined a Shotokan school and it’s already been quite the ride…

Besides the fact that I’ve become older, slower and thicker (not in the complimentary way), the challenge is significantly different for me, this time around. Add to that the fact that I’m an old dog, teaching me new tricks is not without challenge. My hat’s off to the team of instructors in my new dojo that has to deal with the skilled, unknown black belt gracing their dojo yet doing everything just a LITTLE bit different than how they do.

And this is where the relevance of the title comes in… The past couple of weeks have certainly taken me out of my comfort zone. I’ve started learning different stances, different ways of doing the techniques that ARE familiar, as well as being exposed to a plethora of new forms and katas. I’m definitely enjoying learning new things but it’s been a humbling experience to acknowledge that even though I’ve grown proficient in my style, I’ve also grown comfortable and complacent, which is a horrible state to be in. Complacency leads to loss of proficiency in a terrible “chicken or the egg’ scenario, when it comes to one’s training.

I’m glad that I’ve been able to hammer on and start learning again. Despite how long I’ve at this and the realization that I don’t quite have the same amount of piss and vinegar that I used to, it’s humbling to recognize that there’s still a lot to learn, still a long road to travel and still some exciting surprises for me in the world of karate. I attended my second class of the week last night and my legs are definitely feeling it, with the last class of the week scheduled for tonight. Between work and other obligations, I’m hoping I can keep the circulation going and hammer through tonight’s class efficiently.

Find something you’re passionate about. I think that’s my main message. It’s important to have goals to achieve, but it shouldn’t be torturous and you shouldn’t come out of it feeling as though it was a chore. It’s okay to acknowledge that it was hard; anything worth your time will be. But hard and torturous are two entirely different things. Karate started out as a way to save my life. That’s why I started training. But it’s become a part of me and something I love. I’m blessed to have found a new path on this journey and would encourage all of you to find the path that’s right for you. ☯️

Cobra Kai, Season 4: A Review (Mild Spoilers)

Look, I’ve often written about some of the issues I take with how martial arts are portrayed on the big or small screen. And those opinions still hold true but this doesn’t mean that I don’t fully enjoy watching martial arts on television. Especially when the story is sound and the plot is solid. With that in mind, I thought I would take a few moments to share my thoughts on Season 4 of Cobra Kai, which my wife and I just finished binging this weekend.

First, I’ve provided my opinion on previous seasons of Cobra Kai in previous posts, so even though some of what I’m about to say will be repeated, it’s still relevant. When I first heard about this show, I was beyond excited. After all, the last time a genuine instalment of the Karate Kid came out was 1994, with Hilary Swank playing the delinquent student who couldn’t stay out of trouble. It was an interesting take on the series, considering the original Karate addressed the classic scenario of the new kid being bullied, ten years prior to that.

When I first watched the Karate kid, I recognized a lot of what Daniel Larusso was going through in myself. Although not so much when the film came out, my formative years were chaotic at best, being bullied and considered an outcast (sound familiar?). When Cobra Kai came out, I was happy to see that Larusso had found some success in his life, including a beautiful wife and kids (one of whom is Type-1 Diabetic in real life), lovely house and prosperous business, he overcame the apparent issues of his youth and made life work for him. This resonated with me deeply.

Then, I faced a speed bump in that only the first two episodes were available on YouTube unless one signed up for YouTube’s streaming service. Unfortunately, I wasn’t willing to subscribe to YET another service, since I already have a few on the go. Lucky for me, Netflix picked up the series a short while later. I started watching it and enjoying every episode. I think it was an interesting turn of events to see Johnny Lawrence, big, bad-ass bully in the 80’s having fallen down on his luck and became the one with the struggles.

I would never wish ill on any person but there’s something to be said for karma. I know that some of the guys who used to bully me have gone on to face the same karmic consequences as the show’s anti-hero. But I digress… The concept and the storyline was sound and it only took one or two episodes for my wife to get on board and I started the series over from the beginning so that she would be caught up.

Season 3 left off with some really important cliffhangers, including long-time enemies joining forces to overcome a common foe, something you might not see in reality. It also featured episodes where Larusso returned to Japan and Okinawa and put an old rivalry to rest by sparring with Chozen and acknowledging that their respective karate comes from the same roots.

In making my way through Season 4, I could clearly see the struggle of two teachers with very different philosophies trying to keep their students on the straight and narrow. It would be similar to a plumber and an electrician trying to teach a group of apprentices BOTH sets of skills; it can be done, but the difficulty would be immense. Some students would adapt better than others and both groups would go on to compete in the All Valley Tournament, which I won’t get into detail as it may spoil a bit too much of the storyline for those who haven’t yet seen it.

The season finished on a curious note, with Larusso appearing once again to team up with another old rival. It will be interesting to see how Season 5 plays out. That being said, let’s examine a few of my pros and cons for this show. It stands to reason that it IS a show and total realism can’t and shouldn’t be expected. The storyline is somewhat sound, considering I’ve known dojos that demonstrate similar rivalries as depicted in the show.

One aspect that really gets my hackles up, is the fact that we see a number of newly-minted karate practitioners who had never donned a gi before, learning karate and suddenly getting into these long, drawn out fights with their peers within weeks of starting. Considering karate takes YEARS to become proficient, this is definitely an unrealistic expectation for anyone studying unless they have previous training and experience or have done some other martial art.

We see this effect in Samantha Larusso, the protagonist’s daughter. She had been studying karate with Larusso throughout her childhood before taking it up again. And as I’ve recently realized, it can be very much like riding a bike. Tori, one of Cobra Kai’s top students, had some previous training as well before stepping into the Cobra Kai dojo. But then we see some of the less-athletic students who, just a short while prior, were getting their asses handed to them becoming proficient in a short period of time and holding their own. Right. Okay, moving on…

All in all, it is a fantastic show with some great writing and evokes definite feelings of nostalgia in old dogs like me. Including karate into the mix is simply icing on the cake. If you’ve never seen the show, I highly recommend it as something simple and easy to binge, with the seasons running on only about a dozen episodes. ☯️

An Update…

It’s a snowy, Saturday morning here in Regina but the good news is the boys actually let my wife and I sleep in until 9:30, this morning. I never thought I’d reach a point in my life where that was considered “sleeping in,” but here we are, hence the lateness of this post going up. Considering we usually try to get the whole family to go out on Saturdays for whatever errands we may need to run, I’ll try to keep this brief.

Since it’s been two weeks and I’ve actually registered, I am now an attending student of Midwest Karate. There, I have begun studying Shotokan, which is also an Okinawan style of karate, featuring many turns, stances and hands positions that I find myself unfamiliar with. It’s a rich style and although I missed a couple of classes last week due to Diabetic difficulties, it’s been challenging and I haven’t had a class yet where I don’t break a sweat.

Since I was actually looking for a challenge, this dojo seems to be a good fit. What’s more, the senior students appear to be interested in learning some of my forms and techniques as well, making for a good exchange of philosophies. So who knows? If we stay in Regina for the next decade or more, I may just get my wish and learn a new style from scratch. Time will tell, I suppose. After all, life rarely cares about ones plan. ☯️

Cookie Cutters Should Stay In The Kitchen

If you look back about fifty years, society had certain expectations from a person. Hell, even just thirty or twenty years back will let you see it. In general, a person was expected to study, work hard, get a job, meet that special someone, buy a house, get married and have kids. Raise those kids to do the same, wash, rinse and repeat ad nauseam.

During my mother’s generation, schooling didn’t need to be completed in order to have a successful life, with many dropping out in early high school in favour of getting a job and starting their lives early. Such a thing isn’t COMPLETELY unheard of now, but it’s discouraged and even frowned upon in most instances, with even the simplest and lowest paying jobs requiring a high school diploma at minimum in order to be hired.

Why is this important and why am I bringing it up? Well, it relates to a phenomenon that’s caused a shift in societal view in recent decades. Although the expectation in the past couple of decades is that a person will not only attend school but see it through to graduation, there was a rising wave of belief that post-secondary education was the most valuable route to a successful life. That wave has crested and fallen in recent years, with many people acknowledging that a college diploma or university degree isn’t the “be all, end all” of a successful life.

Along with this changed perspective comes the enlightened view that not all persons learn in the same way. Some are visual learners, some need to practice and exercise the material themselves while others simply need to hear something once to absorb it. I think we can all admit to being a little jealous of the latter. The point is, that learning institutions are slowly coming around to the fact that one can’t expect to deliver a single curriculum to three dozens individuals and expect that they’ll absorb it the same way. Many schools have started to incorporate some of this forward thinking into adaptive learning for the students who may struggle or show difficulty in certain environments.

This also applies to the martial arts. Over the decades, I’ve come to understand that not all practitioners are created equal and not all students will learn the entire curriculum the same way. If we apply this principal to class in general, we come to realize that one-on-one learning with some personalization becomes necessary in order for the practitioner not only to learn the material but to apply it properly. Depending on the size and style of a given dojo, this presents SOME difficulty, although there are always alternatives.

When I was coming up in the ranks, it was common that most students wanted a piece of Sensei’s time. After all, he was the patriarch of the dojo, had “been there, done that” decades before any of us had, and was the image of the kind of martial artist we all aspired to be. But getting some time with him was usually difficult when held up against actually starting the class, teaching and coaching all the students and the awkward ask of having him stay on after hours for some additional coaching. All things considered, Sensei often did this for me and a number of other students.

Considering I never paid more than $25 for a karate class in my life, it was pretty generous of him when you consider that he was basically teaching us for free and our monthly tuition barely covered the month’s rent on the dojo. But there was one concept he maintained that was sound: I would never be allowed to move on to the next step until I had mastered the current one, which is likely why reaching senior belt levels took well over a decade as opposed to just a few years like some other dojos.

School teachers face an interesting challenge because students are generally MADE to go to school, whereas the majority of students in karate are there by choice. This makes teaching them somewhat easier, despite frustrations faced when dealing with aspects of training a particular students dislikes. If I take myself as an example, I was always more of a forms guy than a sparring guy. I never really enjoyed the fighting aspect, preferring the careful, meditative nature of a well-performed kata. So, Sensei trained me as such.

It’s important to tailor one’s curriculum to how the student will learn, and to help ensure that they absorb it, as opposed to force a cookie cutter curriculum to an entire group, expecting that everyone will learn it. Work on one thing at a time. yes, it’ll be slow as hell, but it ensures the roper progression of a student. It’s better for a practitioner to learn and absorb one technique properly and completely, than to learn very little of the entire art. Food for thought… ☯️

Snowy Saturday Sliding…

I’m not a big fan of snow or the winter. Besides the pleasure of sitting in front of a window during a snowy episode with a hot drink or a stiff one, adult usually means that snow brings shovelling, trouble starting one’s car, difficulty getting into work or being cold while outside. That being said, there’s something to be said for being outside when the weather is mild, enjoying the crisp air and winter scenery. Last Saturday, Nathan and I had the opportunity to spend a couple of hours ripping down a small hill located in our neighbourhood.

Nathan was lucky to have this ski-based sled as a Christmas gift from his uncle Jayden. For almost a month, it’s been sitting in our newly-renovated basement space with Nathan sitting on it to eat and watch Netflix, dreaming of the day he would be able to rip down a slope with it. With recent temperatures getting as low as -50 degrees Celsius with the wind factor, it’s been difficult to get Nathan or even myself, outside for any extended period of time. But Saturday showed a cold of only -4 degrees with some sunny conditions. So we were good to go and not a day too soon.

We arrived at a site in northern Regina called Mount Pleasant, which has been groomed and is the location of dozens of people who were sledding as well. Nathan was a champ, dragging his sled up the hill himself with every run. I also brought along a crazy carpet that our neighbour donated to Nathan a couple of months ago. I took advantage of the opportunity to take a few rips down the slope but it was quite a different experience from what I recall in my youth. My added age and weight made it so that I essentially felt every lump and hole on the slope. It was actually a bit painful, although I enjoyed the experience.

After a few runs, I let Nathan have at it while I stayed at the top of the hill and chatted with some of the other parents. Despite the mild temperature, a cold wind started to whip through and make it difficult to stay warm. Nathan was having a blast, so I sucked it up. I also couldn’t help but enjoy the scenery, as the hill allowed for a very nice view of the city of Regina (pictured above). Some of the other parents were well prepared, having brought hot drinks, water bottles for the kids and sporting thermal snow pants and such. I had a pair of long underwear under cotton pants, since I have no snow pants.

As kids are usually inclined to, Nathan befriended a couple of young boys and they traded sleds back and forth so that everyone had the opportunity to try out different ways to go down the slope. Nathan also tried out the crazy carpet, which was entertaining since there’s no way to steer that thing so one is more inclined to wipe out while sliding. Nathan had a blast whipping down the hill and tumbling as he went.

Winter can be a challenge, since the cold and inclement weather can have the unfortunate effect of making people turn into hermits and stay indoors. It was definitely good to get outside and spend some time in the fresh air, even if I was shivering towards the end. It was also important to let Nathan run wild outside for a bit. Kids don’t do very well when they’re cooped up for too long. Although Nathan has the opportunity to spend every morning outside when he walks to school, it isn’t quite the same as getting outside to run and play.

Last but not least, since Diabetes is an ever-present consideration in everything I do, there had to be some blood sugar involvement. I’ve noticed that cold weather usually drops my blood sugar levels significantly. I did suffer a low while we were at the hill but I was prepared with some fast-acting carbohydrates, so it was a non-issue. It’s simply a reminder of the constant need to stay on my guard. We had a lot of fun and a huge thank you goes out to my friend Jayden, Nathan’s uncle, for such a wonderful gift. I know Nathan is looking forward to going back and using his sled further. ☯️

Cleanliness Is Next To Godliness

No, this isn’t a quote from the Bible as many people are inclined to believe. If I didn’t know any better, I would assume the quote was penned by my late grandmother, who had an intense form of OCD that had her constantly cleaning to the point where she’d walk around her house by sliding her feet on a couple of pieces of paper towel for the following two days. Luckily I’m not THAT bad, but cleanliness is important, which brings me to the point of today’s post…

Maintaining a consistent workout routine can be challenging, especially if you happen to be working a full-time job and handling personal and family responsibilities on a daily basis. For some people, working out can be a very relaxing thing, but many people neglect proper cleanliness AFTER the workouts and this can lead to some smelly and disgusting issues.

If you’ve ever been to a public gym, you’ve noticed that they always (or at least should) provide spray bottles and rags to disinfect and wipe down equipment after each use. The same thing applies to one’s personal workout items. Oh, and one’s body. You gotta wash that body! Nothing worse than someone funking up the immediate area because they hammered out a workout and chose not to shower. Just take the five minutes and wash yourself up. Damn! But I digress…

One of the most well-known issues with sweaty gym gear, specifically clothing, is that leaving them unwashed will make them smell bad. That’s a no-brainer, right? But besides the smell, which no one enjoys, leaving them in this state for long enough can also lead to some nasty staining on your clothes and can even lead to the development of mildew. This is especially problematic if you’re the type to get home or go back to work and drop your gym bag in the corner and ignore it for hours on end.

Picture this: you just finished a wicked run of cardio, you’re coated with sweat and you need to get back to the work day. You go back up to your office and drop your gym bag on the floor by the door. Over the next few hours, that warm, moist sweat (yes, I used the word “moist,” get over it) is contained inside your gym bag where bacteria breeds and mildew can form. Do this often enough and stains that form will become permanent.

Something that most people don’t realize is that sweat itself is inherently odourless. It’s the oils and bacteria on our bodies that cause the smell and when that’s soaked into a fitness garment, it needs to be washed as soon as possible. As do you. Failing to do so can cause blocked pores, rashes, acne in places you don’t want (not that you want acne anywhere, necessarily) and increased chafing if you’re foolish enough to re-wear an unwashed garment.

The ideal scenario is to launder your workout gear as soon as the workout is done. Even removing them from your bag and dropping into the laundry hamper isn’t ideal, as you’re just letting the funk sit there. But I if you find yourself in a position where you CAN’T launder your clothes right away, they should be laid out somewhere with good ventilation and permitted to dry. When you DO launder your garments, it’s best to use hot water to help kill the bacteria. Depending on the garment and your comfort level, a splash of bleach can help, as well.

Also, it’s easy to forget some of the unsung heroes of your workout routine. Namely, your gym bag and your sneakers/shoes. These tend to get neglected and the unfortunate reality is that your sweaty gear gets piled into that bag constantly, so if you don’t wash your gym bag regularly, you’re basically piling clean, pre-workout clothing on top of a bacteria colony. Most canvass/nylon/polyester bags can just be dropped into the washing machine, which is a good practice to observe to keeps things clean and smelling nice.

Sneakers can be a bit more problematic, since putting them in the washing machine can alter their shape, ruin the binding holding them together and potentially damage the machine. you ever sneakers in the wash? It sounds like the bass drum from a marching band booming over and over. One option is to spray an alcohol solution inside and outside the shoes in order to kill bacteria. There are plenty of sources on the web that will explain how many parts of isopropyl alcohol to water you should use. Grab yourself a spray bottle from your local retailer and you’re off to the races. And since alcohol tends to evaporate quickly, your shoes are dry in no time.

Last but certainly not least, never skip a shower if you’ve worked out. Ever. That is all. Seriously, even if you feel you haven’t sweat much and can get away with it, you should still clean yourself up to prevent ALL of the issues I mentioned previously. If you’ve had a light workout and towelled off and returned to work, remember that others are more likely to smell what’s coming off of you than you will. Not the reputation you want and not something others deserve in their work environment. Food for thought… ☯️

Home Is Where You Hang Your Belt

I’ve often written that finding a martial style/school that suits one’s wants, needs and expectation sis a subjective thing and can be a difficult step in the journey towards learning the martial arts. In fact, it can be even worse if you’re experienced in martial arts and are trying to get back into it. this is something I learned the hard way, this week. Since you’re all here reading, allow me to elaborate…

I recently decided that as part of my commitment to better myself overall that I would seek out and join a local karate class. As most of you know, I had been training at a local school for quite some time until they shut down due to COVID-19, something that doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. In fact, we were doing classes over Zoom for a while, but lo and behold, I logged on one night to discover that it wasn’t happening and it wasn’t until I reached out that I found out that they cancelled them in lieu of starting in-person classes the following week.

I would have been nice to be told but regardless of what the situation may have been, I’ve opted for a closer dojo whose style more closely resembles my own. Located five minutes down the road from my home and boasting three classes a week instead of two, I was pretty excited to try them out and even observed a class the previous week, which proved to be a good idea as it confirmed it would be a positive experience.

I walked into the dojo on Monday night with excitement and great expectation. I changed into my gi, although I was taken aback by its’ “snugness” and walked out to the dojo floor. An advanced youth class was finishing up and I couldn’t help but observe and see the promise of the young students learning something that would stay with them for years to come. In a way, I was a bit jealous, remembering my own youth and how large a role karate had played in it.

I met the instructors and was welcomed with open arms. They included me among their ranks and class opened. We started with what I’ll describe as a “light” cardio workout because in my head, I can’t seem to picture it as anything but. However, my body responded as though I was putting it through military basic training. Everyone was required to wear masks and I thought it would be a fun gimmick to wear my yin yang mask. Big mistake! The cloth began to cling to my face and the harder I tried to breathe, the more the mask clung to my mouth and nose.

This compromised many of my techniques as I repeatedly tried to pull the mask away from my face as I trained. Besides the difficulty breathing, I had the opportunity to see myself in the dojo mirrors facing me and I have to say… I did NOT like what I saw. I’ve often spoken to friends and family members about the state of their health and gaining weight as one gets older. It’s been a significantly long time since I’ve had the opportunity to see myself in a full-length mirror and assess just how far down that rabbit hole I had fallen, myself.

I don’t consider myself out of shape, by any means. I work out consistently, although my diet often leaves something to be desired. But that first class had me feeling as though I was a tired old man. The class was only an hour in length but by the time it was done, I was coated in sweat, struggling to catch my breath and wishing I didn’t have to wear that DAMN mask. But i felt good. I went home that night with a feeling that I had taken a positive step in the right direction towards regaining some of what I lost.

I didn’t help myself by going running for an hour on Tuesday. I like to take advantage of the free access to a gym facility at my work, and since I already have some weights at home, cardio is usually my go-to in that regard. So on Wednesday night, my legs may have been a bit more tender than they COULD have been. As with all things that take effort, the more you push yourself, the more familiar and easy it potentially gets.

Although I won’t say last night was “easy” in the traditional sense, the familiarity made it possible for me to get through the workout with a bit more ease than on the Monday. So, here I am… I’ve been welcomed; in fact, they want me to demonstrate forms of my own and share techniques and learning. Sounds promising. It may have taken some time, work and effort but I may have found a place to hang my hat. Time will tell, I guess. There’s another class tonight, so wish me luck! I don’t know how much more my legs can take, this week… ☯️

Protein Candy Bars…

Protein is an integral part of a person’s health; not just for workouts but for one’s overall body. The jury is still out on the best type of protein but from a personal standpoint, I try to stick to lean proteins, like fish and chicken. The frequent consumption of beef and red meats tend to lead to potential health concerns that I won’t get into here, so let’s not jump on the vegetarian band-wagon, shall we?

My point is that if you exercise consistently, you may seek out additional protein to supplement your diet. Some folks will consume whey protein in a daily shake. Since I’m a fan of consuming a shake as my first meal in the morning, I’m fine with this and there are certainly enough varieties of whey protein on the market to have something for everyone (provided you do your research and consume what’s right for you).

Protein bars can be an easy and effective way of getting your added protein punch, but it’s important to be wary of the bars you buy. If you’re anything like me, the amount of protein contained in the bar will be the first thing your eyes go to. But if you’re not careful, you may catch yourself getting more than what you bargained for. A good example was on a recent trip to a bulk retail location where I wanted to purchase a bulk package of protein bars. For mornings when I don’t have time to make lunches AND prepare a breakfast smoothie, a protein bar can be an easy go-to.

As I was walking down the aisle and trying to decide which brand to purchase, I was watching the front of the box for the protein count. I was pleasantly surprised and excited when i saw a box that boasted over 30 grams of protein per bar! I quickly grabbed a box and dumped it in my cart, satisfied that I had gotten what I was looking for. It wasn’t until we were lingering in a different section that I had the opportunity to pick up the box and start looking at the ingredients.

I should start by pointing out that these bars were chocolate-covered. Alright, chocolate isn’t some all-encompassing devil that needs to be avoided at all costs, but it’s an unnecessary source of sugar and fat. And for Type-1 Diabetics, chocolate is a bit of a nightmare, because it takes a long time for the body to process, so you with won’t notice the blood sugar spike right away, or it will take forever for chocolate to help correct a low. So it’s important to point out that a chocolate covered protein bar is basically a high-protein candy bar, with many of the same pitfalls as simply eating a candy bar.

According to an article posted by HealthLine.com, “Some protein bars are so high in calories and added sugar that they might as well be in the candy aisle.” The article goes on to explain some of the content of various protein bars, including the addition of sweetness to enhance the flavour of the bar. Some of these sweeteners can add an extra amount of oomph to the overall calorie and carb count, making it an unhappy start to your day. If this is the case, you may be better to lean on some other protein-rich foods, such as cheese, hard-boiled eggs, nuts or lean meats.

Protein bars are a subjective purchase, depending on what your overall goal is. They won’t necessarily replace a meal, but they can do in a pinch. I favour Quest bars. They come in at about 200 calories, which is great for helping me get to lunch, and have 21 grams of carbohydrates but 14 grams of that is fibre, leaving me with only 7 grams to bolus for. At 21 grams of protein, it sits at the higher end of things and provides a small hit of calcium and only 8 grams of fat.

The important thing is to read your nutrition labels carefully and choose based on your health, fitness goals and overall bodily requirements. Remember that not all bars are created equal and nothing is more important than your health, so read carefully. And once you find a protein bar that suits your requirements, enjoy! Some of them have some interesting flavours that can add a bit of satisfaction to your day. And your workouts. Food for thought… (pun intended) ☯️