Starting With A Burn

Yesterday was the first day of 2022, and how did I start the New Year? With a workout, of course. New Year’s resolutions are spotty at best, usually leading to people lacking, lagging or altogether give up by the month of March or April. This is through no fault of their own, usually. It’s simply human nature. As living creatures, we generally tend to favour the path of least resistance and when we impose conditions on ourselves that take away habits we enjoy, foods we like to eat or vices we want to give up, our body has this tendency of fighting us.

That’s why this year, I’ve chosen to simply work on improving upon myself in a generalized manner as opposed to making a resolution that aims at specific habits or things. So yesterday, I kicked things off with a military workout I found a few years ago. It can be a brutal circuit, using only one’s own bodyweight. The workout is typically supposed to take about half an hour, but doing it correctly with a healthy speed usually takes between 20 to 25 minutes. It’s an extremely handy workout and can be done anywhere. I’ve done it in my office, bedroom, hotel rooms, anywhere. I thought I would take the time to share the circuit. Here we go:

15 Squats – 10 Close-grip Push-Ups – 10 Lunges – 15 Push-ups
14 Squats – 9 Close-grip Push-Ups – 9 Lunges – 14 Push-ups
13 Squats – 8 Close-grip Push-Ups – 8 Lunges – 13 Push-ups
12 Squats – 7 Close-grip Push-Ups – 7 Lunges – 12 Push-ups
11 Squats – 6 Close-grip Push-Ups – 6 Lunges – 11 Push-ups
10 Squats – 5 Close-grip Push-Ups – 5 Lunges – 10 Push-ups
9 Squats – 4 Close-grip Push-Ups – 4 Lunges – 9 Push-ups
8 Squats – 3 Close-grip Push-Ups – 3 Lunges – 8 Push-ups
7 Squats – 2 Close-grip Push-Ups – 2 Lunges – 7 Push-ups
6 Squats – 1 Close-grip Push-Ups – 1 Lunges – 6 Push-ups
5 Squats – 5 Push-ups
4 Squats – 4 Push-ups
3 Squats – 3 Push-ups
2 Squats – 2 Push-ups
1 Squat – 1 Push-up

Now, did I REALLY have to write out every line of repetitions? Not particularly, but on previous occasions, I’ve found that people don’t clearly understand the process as I explain it. Plus, writing it out this way makes it easier in the event anyone chooses to print it out. I found this workout a few years ago and I believe it was in an old edition of Men’s Health. The circuit is one half of a total workout that the military uses when confined in small spaces, such as on a submarine.

I hammered this circuit out prior to the lunch hour and needless to say, my legs are feeling it just a little bit, today. Not a bad way to start the year. Maybe today I’ll go run some cardio and fight off some of this extreme cold we’ve been having. But for those of you who are looking for a new, easy challenge, this circuit may be the one for you. It’s nice to try out some new things and see what results you can get. When it comes to fitness, variety can be the spice of life. ☯️

2022 May Get To You, Too…

Well, here we are! It’s 2022, a year that would have sounded like science fiction lore if brought up during my childhood. By the LIGHT, am I ever old… It’s been a hell of a year, with a number fo life-changing things that have taken place. Let’s take a tally, shall we? 2021 saw me retire from the Force and accept a new job that has made life better in scores. My oldest son turned 7, my youngest son turned 2 and my wife and I celebrated 7 years of wonderful marriage. Our basement got renovated, making it liveable once again and doubling our living space. We have effectively cleared most of our disposable debt and have built on the prospect of preparing for retirement, which is not as far as away as one might think.

As with all things in life, for every positive there is a negative. And 2021 certainly had no shortage of those. At some point during the height of the pandemic, my father was rushed to the hospital by ambulance for what appeared to be some sort of respiratory issue. given the lockdowns and restrictions in place at the time, not only was I unable to fly back to New Brunswick to support my family but my mother was even restricted from entering the hospital to see him, in the event that he had contracted COVID-19. Doctors didn’t expect him to survive the night and my mother could do nothing more than say goodbye over the telephone and I was stuck, 3,400 kilometres away. That definitely hammered the pandemic home, for me. Luckily, my father survived and they determined that it was only pneumonia.

I never imagined I would ever think “just a pneumonia,” but here we are. The point is, the last year has seen some good, some bad and some ugly. Such is life. And today is the day when most people are starting to establish resolutions for themselves with the hopes of accomplishing them throughout 2022. That’s great and all, and I admit to being on that bandwagon on more occasions than I can recall. Also as usual, we have the typical denomination of the population who enjoy using the slogan “this year’s gonna be my year.” Entertaining. Slightly naive, albeit it a little positive. But I think that this year, I’m going to try to do things a little different. And I’ll challenge all who are reading this, to do the same.

I won’t be trying to make any New Year’s resolutions, this year. Instead, I’m going to focus my efforts on simply being a better person and improving upon myself a little at a time, day after day. this will mean ensuring a healthier lifestyle, eating and sleeping better and getting back into a fitness routine that actually, well… a routine! I’m going to return to the martial arts, having found a karate school that is closely related to my original style. My goal will be to slim down, regain some lost skill and reflexes and hopefully get my children interested in the martial arts, as well. As I’ve written in some previous posts, my youngest son has shown some affinity to striking and using a punching bag. Maybe I can build on that.

Instead of trying to make 2022 “my year,” I’m going to work towards making every day “my day,” focusing on being present in the here and now. Not only is this far easier than claiming the entire year, it makes it all the easier to recover in the event that something goes wrong or poorly. After all, the loss of a single day is better than the loss of an entire year, wouldn’t you agree? And since we can agree that life doesn’t care about one’s plan and that the positive can’t exist without the negative, it’s far better to be prepared for some of that negative than to expect to expel it from one’s life completely.

I would challenge all of my readers to try and do the same. If there’s one thing that the past two years have taught us, it’s that it may be nice to make a resolution to lose weight, travel more, read X-number of books, learn a new skill or whatever else you may have in mind. But it’s even better (and easier) to make your overall life better in all areas, and work towards improving yourself FOR yourself, in all aspects. You’ll be happier and better for it. Happy New Year. Glad I started it with some food for thought… ☯️

On The Eve…

Here it is: the last day of 2021! I’ll save you the pain of reading something long and elaborate. I’ll save that for tomorrow, haha. Enjoy the transition into the New Year, revel in your accomplishments and look forward to the year to come. ☯

Perceptions…

I’ve seen this on the odd occasion, as I navigate the murky waters of what we know as the internet. Despite the fact that I’m not that familiar with Thich Nhat Hanh (I haven’t actually read any of his stuff besides what I’ve found incidentally), I love this quote. I know that there are sources that denounce it and tend to belittle the message he’s trying to relay. But I think there’s some depth to what he’s expressing. For years, I’ve made a point of telling people that studying the Buddha Dharma is a practice. It’s a way of life more than an organized religion. Just wanted to share this as some food for thought… ☯

Oh, Silent Gym…

The holidays can be a fantastic time to kick back and enjoy some family, festivities and most of all… food. The problem with this is that during the holidays, we have a tendency to overeat and work out less. I know that for myself, it’s been a rough couple of weeks. The week prior to Christmas involved my eye injections and finishing out my work week prior to going on holidays. And this week involves my actual holidays, which has included a number of delicious meals and deserts baked by my lovely wife.

During these two weeks, focusing on one’s fitness can be difficult. After all, with gatherings, gift opening, staying up late, sleeping in and dealing with the kids, finding an hour here and there to work out becomes more difficult than usual. And that’s taking into consideration that finding time for one’s fitness is already a challenge during the regular daily grind. Oh, I’ve managed a few 30 or 40-minute weight workouts from home. But it’s been a while since I managed a solid sweat.

A couple of days of wicked snowfall meant that I found myself shovelling and blowing snow in -30 degree weather. It was freezing out and made for some exertion. My blood sugars seem to bottom out when I spend any period of time outdoors in the freezing cold. But that didn’t seem to happen, this time. But it’s been a slow couple of weeks and I have to admit that I’m starting to feel it. Despite being back on CGM and SmartGuard with better blood sugar levels, my overall physique has suffered and my body is voicing its displeasure at my laziness.

No one likes to get up early while on vacation. This limits the amount of time in the day, especially if you’re lucky enough to have kids who let you sleep. Mine fall under the medium category, where some mornings they’re up at the butt crack of dawn and others, they let us sleep almost until 10 a.m. Since we don’t bother with alarms during the holidays, the kids basically dictate when we wake up. This means that the golden hour when everyone is still asleep, when I could be hammering out a quick body-weight workout or doing some katas.

I definitely find myself needing to get back on the fitness train. If only for the fact that I know my circulation is lessened and my knees and legs are killing me. Gotta love this whole Diabetes thing! And that’s the other issue; enjoying all the perks and fun parts of the holidays can play hell with one’s blood sugars. While indulging in all of those baked goods and luscious meals, don’t forget to monitor your blood sugars often and adjust for the added carbohydrates.

As I’ve often written before, there’s no problem with taking a little break from fitness. But if you’re reaching a point where your overall fitness seems to be lagging and your body is telling you that you’ve been sitting idle for too long, get back into it! Your health, blood sugars and overall wellbeing depends on it. Find an hour here and there, even just half an hour, where you do something, anything. Take a walk, go for a run, hammer out some quick dumbbell reps… Anything is always something more than nothing, right? ☯

Oodles Of Appreciation…

The holidays can be a really fun time of year. Enjoying a spread of food you may not usually make, including baked goods, seeing family and friends and potentially travelling a bit (for those who are brave enough to try it, at the moment). Depending on your familial and faith-based background, your celebration may differ in some ways but I think we can all agree that the average person has a tendency to enjoy the holidays, even if for no other reason than getting some time off and being at home.

The “hows” and “whys” for that enjoyment have changed over the decades. I remember making my way through the Christmas break as a child… My mother would bake a mass amount of food, including sweets and meal-based foods. We almost ALWAYS hosted Christmas at our home, despite growing up in a reasonably small apartment. Between my illnesses and my brothers and my father working shift work, my mother was left with all of the preparations as well as worrying whether or not one of us would need a hospital trip over the break.

The big thing is that I didn’t have a care in the world, back then. I indulged in as much food as my body could hold (despite the fact carb-counting wasn’t a thing for me and my Diabetic system was terribly balanced), I watched Christmas movies, including National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Die Hard. Yes, Die Hard is a Christmas movie. Yes, it is… YES, IT IS!!! Ahem, I’m getting off track here. My point is that my biggest concern was staying up late enough on Christmas Eve to make it in Christmas and/or get through midnight mass (my mother is Catholic and attendance was a must).

Enjoying the holidays through adulthood becomes a very different kind of creature. Besides worrying about the state of one’s household, including bills, job retention and the state of the world, it’s a pretty fair assumption to say that many if not most can’t enjoy the benefits of having no cares as they make their way through the holidays; a fact aggravated by the aspect that once you reach adulthood, you’re the one paying for all of those lovely gifts under the tree. It makes quite a difference. It also becomes a matter fo the household turning into a disaster area as it gets bogged down with stray wrapping paper, cardboard and packaging that swarms our bins a week earlier than pick-up and kids who refuse to eat because they’re too excited to play with the new swag they’ve acquired.

Don’t even get me started on the FACT that it creates an added amount of stuff in the household. I’ve always been something of a minimalist, and increasing the amount of junk we have in the household does not for a pleasant holiday, make. But there’s no denying that the look of sheer happiness on my sons’ faces as they opened up their gifts was heartwarming. My oldest son left out a “bowl of cookies and milk” for Santa, a benefit I never had since my belief in the red, fat man never took hold as a child.

I have a deep and distinct gratitude for everything my parents did for us throughout the holidays. Now that I have the adult’s perspective, I can certainly appreciate the time, money and effort that goes into the holidays. And we don’t even host our entire family the way my parents did. Life was a bit different back then, since most households included one stay-at-home parent, but I can’t imagine that made it THAT much easier, especially considering the handful I was as a child. I’m grateful to my parents for everything they did for us back then, and it allows me a bit of perspective as my children grow up. Take time to thank your folks for the things you DID have during the holidays. I know, I will. Food for thought… ☯️

You Gotta Want It…

It’s a bit ironic that I’m writing this post on a Monday, since I took this week off. While most people tend to focus taking time off during the week of Christmas, my wife and I took this week off, keeping us at home during the week leading up to New Year’s. The reason I say it’s ironic, is because this post was prompted by a conversation I had at work. I was chatting with one of my employees about the fact that everyone is good at SOMETHING, but that the path they walk will ultimately be different. Even if two people train to master the martial arts, the environment, conditions and motivation behind doing so will differ.

This is important because in life, there will be things you will be good at and some things that you’ll basically suck at. And the latter part is okay. No one is meant to be absolutely fantastic at everything and the ones who say they are, are not only lying to themselves, they’re lying to everyone to whom they say it. I’m not saying that there won’t be some people who won’t have a natural tendency to be good at things in general. I’m referring mostly to achieving some mastery over a particular thing. For example, most people don’t know that I tried a variety of martial arts styles before I landed on karate.

Some of those styles were very good, in their own way. But if I based my decision to pursue the martial arts based on the results of those attempts, I never would have gotten to where I am now. I still remember my first visit to a Tae Kwon Do class and realizing that I had neither the skill, ability or motivation to go spinning through the air like a top to land a kick. Even at the young age I was, I couldn’t understand why they didn’t just kick in a more straightforward manner instead of trying for all the high-flying fanciness… but I digress…

One can’t be good at everything. And that’s okay but it’s something you have to make your peace with. You have to be okay with it. Because the time you spend pining over what you may have realized you’re not good at, could be time used to pursue and achieve things that you ARE good at. That would be a terrible waste and even the things that you may be good at, need to be pursued and strived for. None of it will ever happen on its own. So push hard and be okay with your failures; they’re al part of the journey. Food for thought… ☯️

I Feel Like I’m 19 Again!

Not literally… If I actually felt like I did when i was 19, I’d be out there taking on the world instead of sitting in front of a keyboard at this hour, typing a blog post. instead, I rather feel like a hundred mousetraps going off at once when I rise in the morning and I’m still trying to explain how gravity seems to pull harder at my body for the first ten minutes of my morning or until I get that first, sweet kiss of caffeine. But I digress…

I was never one for drinking in my teen years, having consumed my first beer at the tender age of 23. The legal drinking age in Canada is 19, for those who may be from another country. Always the steadfast designated driver, it was hilarious for me to watch friends and counterparts try to purchase alcohol without presenting valid ID or using a fake one. You see this in movies as well, with a protagonist awkwardly and nervously walking up and trying to sound older while showing a fake ID in the hopes of walking out with a prized case of beer. Classic.

In later years, you’ll usually start hearing people say they miss being “carded,” or asked to show ID for things. Just recently, I saw a younger person (younger than me) get carded for the purchase of cigarettes at my local convenience store and they were flattered by the fact that the cashier thought they looked young enough to require being carded. The person was apparently of legal age (or had a fake ID), but it struck me that most people often feel a sense of disappointment that they’ve reached a point in their lives where they no longer NEED to prove that they aren’t too young.

This is why I find it entertaining that proof of vaccination and valid ID are required for most non-essential locations one tries to enter, these days. I can’t speak for everywhere but here in Saskatchewan, one needs to show proof of vaccination and valid matching ID for liquor stores, restaurants and a host of other locations, much to the dismay of many who feel they shouldn’t be obligated to do so. To each their own, I guess. People forget that they don’t HAVE to shop at specific locations and they don’t HAVE to attend or participate in events that stick you in the middle of large crowds.

What’s unfortunate is seeing how some grown-ass people react in the face of being asked to present these things. Besides the fact that you can go online and find videos from just about every conceivable source of people losing their absolute minds over the matter, which is ridiculous for a grown adult, one should know to pick their battles and be aware of what hill is worth dying on. I know that for the most part, when I’ve been asked for proof of vaccination and valid ID, I usually joke about how I was never carded at an age where I should have been so life is making up for it, now.

Humans are special creatures, to say the least. In a world of immediate gratification and entitlement, it’s amazing to see how many people are willing not only to suffer for their choices but cause suffering in others. It’s genuinely unfortunate. Hopefully, the year that comes will be better than the previous two. ☯️

Safe & Happy Holidays…

No complicated narrative or explanations about anything in depth, today. Just a straight-up good old fashioned Merry Christmas. That’s right, I’ll be one of THOSE… I know the common practice in modern times is to wish folks “Happy Holidays,” but today is Christmas so I’m saying Merry Christmas. With that in mind, I’ll also wish everybody Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah and all the best in the New Year to come.

Have safe and comfortable holidays. I wish nothing but comfort and happiness to all my readers and their families. With any luck, the previous year’s woes will evaporate as the New Year unfolds and there will be better things waiting, just around the corner. Take care of each other and keep reading. ☯️

A Little Patience And Kindness Pays For Itself…

Sometimes I find it hard to believe that it’s been almost two years since the pandemic started and changed the face of the world forever. in some ways, many ways, the pandemic has allowed people’s true colours to rear their ugly heads. People allowing their sense of entitlement and their perceived rights to interfere with doing “what’s right,” and as a result, this whole thing has lingered for far longer than it should have.

I’m not here to advocate for vaccination. Not am I saying a person shouldn’t. But what i am saying is that it’s 2021 9soon to be 2022) and the population should be far more enlightened by this point than what they are. Society has divided itself in ways that haven’t been seen in recent memory, at least here in Canada. So on the eve of one of the most widely recognized holidays on the Gregoria’s calendar, allow me the indulgence of moment’s reflection and advice.

Be kinder to each and have some understanding. Everyone is scared. Everyone is worried. And everyone is mostly trying to do what they feel is best for themselves and their families. I’ve yet to encounter a person who is intentionally taking a stance on one side or the other for the intentional purpose of sowing dissension. Oh, I’m sure they’re out there. I’m simply saying that it’s wrong to assume that the neighbour who chooses NOT to be vaccinated is intentionally trying to bring harm to others, or the retail store employee requiring you to put on a mask is trying to ruin your day.

Everyone is trying to do their best, even if sometimes misguided or misinformed. And for those still braving the wilds of the outside world, the challenges are greater still. So, on the eve of the second Christmas where the world is at a standstill and many of us are far from our families and loved ones, take this opportunity to reflect and appreciate the most important aspect about this whole debacle: YOU are still here. Life is still taking place and there’s still so much to do, so show some empathy. Show some sympathy. Follow the rules and avoid causing suffering in yourself and others. only with those concepts in mind can the world begin to move forward. Food for thought…☯️