Workout FAIL
2009.06.30 07:26 AM Filed in: Health & Nutrition
Ugh, this was my worst workout test yet. 0 for 3 this time around. 
June was a month of vacation, travel, celebration, and gluttony so it’s no big surprise. July will be better!
On the weekend, I built a lat pull down station to help me build up to my first pull up. I figure this is probably the best way to go about this (doing the actual movements with the right muscles in the proper orientation). If I hadn’t kept trying to cheap out of it and just done it in January, I’d be doing pull ups by now.
Here are the results, and don’t forget to track my progress for the year on the Goal Tracker page.
June 30, 2009
Pullups goal: 11 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 60 (actual: 51)
Waist around navel: 36” (actual: 36.5” )
June was a month of vacation, travel, celebration, and gluttony so it’s no big surprise. July will be better!On the weekend, I built a lat pull down station to help me build up to my first pull up. I figure this is probably the best way to go about this (doing the actual movements with the right muscles in the proper orientation). If I hadn’t kept trying to cheap out of it and just done it in January, I’d be doing pull ups by now.
Here are the results, and don’t forget to track my progress for the year on the Goal Tracker page.
June 30, 2009
Pullups goal: 11 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 60 (actual: 51)
Waist around navel: 36” (actual: 36.5” )
Canadian, eh?
2009.06.29 09:00 PM Filed in: Humour
CANADIAN.... Eh !
So, What Do We Canadians Have To Be Proud Of ?
1. Smarties
2. Crispy Crunch, Coffee Crisp
3. The size of our footballs fields, one less down, and bigger balls.
4. Baseball is Canadian - First game June 4, 1838 - Ingersoll , ON
5. Lacrosse is Canadian
6. Hockey is Canadian
7. Basketball is Canadian
8. Apple pie is Canadian
9. Mr. Dress-up beats Mr. Rogers
10. Tim Hortons beats Dunkin' Donuts
11. In the war of 1812, started by America , Canadians pushed the Americans back past their White House. Then we burned it, and most of Washington .. We got bored because they ran away. Then, we came home and partied........ Go figure.
12. Canada has the largest French population that never surrendered to Germany.
13. We have the largest English population that never ever surrendered or withdrew during any war to anyone, anywhere. EVER. (We got clobbered in the odd battle but prevailed in ALL the wars)
14. Our civil war was fought in a bar and lasted a little over an hour.
15. The only person who was arrested in our civil war was an American mercenary, he slept in and missed the whole thing. He showed up just in time to get caught.
16. A Canadian invented Standard Time.
17. The Hudsons Bay Company once owned over 10% of the earth's surface and is still around as the world's oldest company.
18. The average dog sled team can kill and devour a full grown human in under 3 minutes.
(That's more information than I need!)
19. We know what to do with the parts of a buffalo.
20. We don't marry our kin-folk (except maybe for Riders fans 
).
21. We invented ski-doos, jet-skis, Velcro, zippers, insulin, penicillin, zambonis and the telephone. Also short wave radios that save countless lives each year.
22. We ALL have frozen our tongues to something metal and lived to tell about it.
23. A Canadian invented Superman.
24. We have coloured money.
25. Our beer advertisements kick ass {Incidently...so does our beer}
BUT MOST IMPORTANT !
The handles on our beer cases are big enough to fit your hands with mitts on.
OOOoohhhhh.... Canada !!
Oh yeah... And our elections only take one day.
There is no such thing as a genetic epidemic
2009.06.11 03:30 PM Filed in: Health & Nutrition
Here is a handout I picked up from my Chiropractor’s office (Dr. Dan Timmerman at Lindenwoods Chiropractic) a while ago. I found it interesting and thought I’d share it with you.
There is no such thing as a genetic epidemic
Epidemiologists (scientists who study the incidence and occurrences of disease) agree on one thing - there is no such thing as a genetic epidemic.
An epidemic is when a certain disease rate within a population surges above normal rates. The most famous examples are the plagues of the dark ages or the flu of 1918.
What epidemiologists have found is that disorders with a true genetic cause such as Down Syndrome, Tay-Sachs, etc... have a common rate over history. In other words, the rates at which people are stricken stays within a normal, narrow range.
So why are we to believe that diseases whose rates are skyrocketing in the new millennium are due to genetics? Autism, cancer, heart disease, even diabetes and obesity are being blamed on our parents! Not sure why you have cancer? Must be bad genes. Depressed? Bad genes. Heart disease? Bad genes. Diabetes? It wasn’t your lifestyle; it must have been bad genes. The reality is that whenever the medical community has no answers, it blames your genes.
The real answers are coming out. The Canadian Cancer Society admits that a vast majority of cancers is caused by lifestyle. Smoking, bad fats, even the known carcinogens in our water and personal care products are causing tumours to grow. A report released by the Breast Cancer Fund (http://www.breastcancerfund.org) found that there is strong evidence that the chemicals in our lotions, soaps, and shampoos are causing the increased cancer rates in men, women, and children.
There is plenty you can do to avoid lifestyle diseases. Here’s a list:
There is no such thing as a genetic epidemic
Epidemiologists (scientists who study the incidence and occurrences of disease) agree on one thing - there is no such thing as a genetic epidemic.
An epidemic is when a certain disease rate within a population surges above normal rates. The most famous examples are the plagues of the dark ages or the flu of 1918.
What epidemiologists have found is that disorders with a true genetic cause such as Down Syndrome, Tay-Sachs, etc... have a common rate over history. In other words, the rates at which people are stricken stays within a normal, narrow range.
So why are we to believe that diseases whose rates are skyrocketing in the new millennium are due to genetics? Autism, cancer, heart disease, even diabetes and obesity are being blamed on our parents! Not sure why you have cancer? Must be bad genes. Depressed? Bad genes. Heart disease? Bad genes. Diabetes? It wasn’t your lifestyle; it must have been bad genes. The reality is that whenever the medical community has no answers, it blames your genes.
The real answers are coming out. The Canadian Cancer Society admits that a vast majority of cancers is caused by lifestyle. Smoking, bad fats, even the known carcinogens in our water and personal care products are causing tumours to grow. A report released by the Breast Cancer Fund (http://www.breastcancerfund.org) found that there is strong evidence that the chemicals in our lotions, soaps, and shampoos are causing the increased cancer rates in men, women, and children.
There is plenty you can do to avoid lifestyle diseases. Here’s a list:
- Change bad fats to good fats in your diet
- Cut out sugar and white flour
- Quit smoking
- Exercise! Do something - anything!
- Change to personal care products that are chemical free (http://www.chooseorganics.com)
- Get adjusted to boost your immune system and overall level of health
Getting better, still not on track yet
2009.05.31 09:35 AM Filed in: Health & Nutrition
Good morning!
I just completed my fitness test today, and I must say that all things considered, I’m happy with the results.
May 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 9 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 50 (actual: 50)
Waist around navel: 36.5” (actual: 36” )
Pull ups are of course a big fat zero, but I barely managed to squeeze out 50 pushups (wow, that was HARD!!!) and have been able to catch up and get ahead of the curve again in my waist measurement. The reason I’m happy about this is because I only actually worked out for the first half of the month and then stopped because of spreading of soil and laying sod for a few days. I was so sore (and sunburned) that I physically couldn’t work out for those days and then a few days after. That was fine and a good reason, but of course not working out for a week makes it really hard to get back on the wagon again. So, that’s why I’m happy - I was able to get back on track (pull ups excluded) despite not having worked out for half of this month.
I like the new workout plan. It’s a big step up in terms of intensity, and when I was doing it I saw some significant gains in a short period of time, so I think June has some real potential. June will see me travelling on vacation for 8 days so there will still be a period of no workouts, but if I’m disciplined for the remaining 22 days and can fit in some basic bodyweight exercises in the hotel room each morning then I should be good for June 30th.
As always, the Goal Tracker page is where you can see my progress from the beginning and my goals for the rest of the year.
I just completed my fitness test today, and I must say that all things considered, I’m happy with the results.
May 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 9 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 50 (actual: 50)
Waist around navel: 36.5” (actual: 36” )
Pull ups are of course a big fat zero, but I barely managed to squeeze out 50 pushups (wow, that was HARD!!!) and have been able to catch up and get ahead of the curve again in my waist measurement. The reason I’m happy about this is because I only actually worked out for the first half of the month and then stopped because of spreading of soil and laying sod for a few days. I was so sore (and sunburned) that I physically couldn’t work out for those days and then a few days after. That was fine and a good reason, but of course not working out for a week makes it really hard to get back on the wagon again.
So, that’s why I’m happy - I was able to get back on track (pull ups excluded) despite not having worked out for half of this month.I like the new workout plan. It’s a big step up in terms of intensity, and when I was doing it I saw some significant gains in a short period of time, so I think June has some real potential. June will see me travelling on vacation for 8 days so there will still be a period of no workouts, but if I’m disciplined for the remaining 22 days and can fit in some basic bodyweight exercises in the hotel room each morning then I should be good for June 30th.
As always, the Goal Tracker page is where you can see my progress from the beginning and my goals for the rest of the year.
Time to change up the workout routine
2009.04.30 06:00 AM Filed in: Health & Nutrition
Well, this was a disappointing end of month test. The push ups were a real struggle, the pull ups are still of course a disaster, and I missed the goal for the first time on my waistline measurement.
I’ve got big things in store for May, though. I’m really going to clean up my diet a lot by removing all the processed foods and simple sugars, and replace them with lots of healthy veggies, nuts, seeds, and meats. The SAD (Standard [North] American Diet) turns our bodies into sugar burners. That is to say that our bodies don’t know how to burn fat for energy because we don’t have to - we’re inundated with sugars to burn. That leads to all sorts badness. Removing the processed foods and simple sugars will cause our bodies to become more sensitized to the hormones in our bodies and then burn fat for energy like we’re supposed to. It will be an interesting 30 day experiment. If the results are good, I’ll let you know. If the results aren’t so good, I’ll still stick it out for the 30 days to give it a fair shake.
Here are my dismal numbers for April. Remember to check the Goal Tracker page to see my progress from the beginning.
April 30, 2009
Pullups goal: 7 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 40 (actual: 40)
Waist around navel: 37” (actual: 37.5” )
I’ve got big things in store for May, though. I’m really going to clean up my diet a lot by removing all the processed foods and simple sugars, and replace them with lots of healthy veggies, nuts, seeds, and meats. The SAD (Standard [North] American Diet) turns our bodies into sugar burners. That is to say that our bodies don’t know how to burn fat for energy because we don’t have to - we’re inundated with sugars to burn. That leads to all sorts badness. Removing the processed foods and simple sugars will cause our bodies to become more sensitized to the hormones in our bodies and then burn fat for energy like we’re supposed to. It will be an interesting 30 day experiment. If the results are good, I’ll let you know. If the results aren’t so good, I’ll still stick it out for the 30 days to give it a fair shake.
Here are my dismal numbers for April. Remember to check the Goal Tracker page to see my progress from the beginning.
April 30, 2009
Pullups goal: 7 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 40 (actual: 40)
Waist around navel: 37” (actual: 37.5” )
What a way to find out!
2009.04.20 09:28 PM Filed in: Humour
Here is an excerpt from a news article. I’m not sure if it is true, but it’s an amusing read!
Paid to do it, but fails to make his friend’s wife pregnant after 72 attempts
In Stuttgart, Germany, a court judge must decide on a case of honourable intentions in a situation where a man hired his neighbour to get his wife pregnant. It seems that Demetrius Soupolos, 29, and his former beauty queen wife, Traute, wanted a child badly, but Demetrius was told by a doctor that he was sterile.
So Soupolos, after calming his wife’s protests, hired his neighbour, Frank Maus, 34, to impregnate her. Since Maus was already married and the father of two children, plus looked very much like Soupolos to boot, the plan seemed good.
Soupolos paid Maus $2500 for the job and for three evenings a week for the next six months, Maus tried desperately, a total of 72 different times, to impregnate Traute. When his own wife objected, he explained, “I don’t like this any more than you. I’m simply doing it for the money. Try and understand.”
When Traute failed to get pregnant after six months, however, Soupolos was not understanding and insisted that Maus have a medical examination, which he did. The doctor’s announcement that Maus was also sterile shocked everyone except his wife, who was forced to confess that Maus was not the real father of their two children.
Now Soupolos is suing Maus for breach of contract in an effort to get his money back, but Maus refuses to give it up because he said he did not guarantee conception, but only that he would give an honest effort.
Paid to do it, but fails to make his friend’s wife pregnant after 72 attempts
In Stuttgart, Germany, a court judge must decide on a case of honourable intentions in a situation where a man hired his neighbour to get his wife pregnant. It seems that Demetrius Soupolos, 29, and his former beauty queen wife, Traute, wanted a child badly, but Demetrius was told by a doctor that he was sterile.
So Soupolos, after calming his wife’s protests, hired his neighbour, Frank Maus, 34, to impregnate her. Since Maus was already married and the father of two children, plus looked very much like Soupolos to boot, the plan seemed good.
Soupolos paid Maus $2500 for the job and for three evenings a week for the next six months, Maus tried desperately, a total of 72 different times, to impregnate Traute. When his own wife objected, he explained, “I don’t like this any more than you. I’m simply doing it for the money. Try and understand.”
When Traute failed to get pregnant after six months, however, Soupolos was not understanding and insisted that Maus have a medical examination, which he did. The doctor’s announcement that Maus was also sterile shocked everyone except his wife, who was forced to confess that Maus was not the real father of their two children.
Now Soupolos is suing Maus for breach of contract in an effort to get his money back, but Maus refuses to give it up because he said he did not guarantee conception, but only that he would give an honest effort.
The Box Office
2009.04.07 08:01 PM Filed in: Humour
While the C-5 was turning over its engines, a female crewman gave the G.I.s on board the usual information regarding seat belts, emergency exits, etc.Finally, she said, 'Now sit back and enjoy your trip while your captain, Judith Campbell, and crew take you safely to Afghanistan.'
An old MSgt. sitting in the eighth row thought to himself, 'Did I hear her right? Is the captain a woman?'
When the attendant came by he said 'Did I understand you right? Is the captain a woman?'
'Yes,'! said the attendant, 'In fact, this entire crew is female.'
'My God,' he said, 'I wish I had two double scotch and sodas. I don't know what to think with only women up there in the cockpit.'
'That's another thing, Sergeant,' said the crew member, 'We No Longer Call It The Cockpit'
'It's The Box Office.'
Holiday Mountain video!
Hi everybody,
On March 29th, a bunch of us took advantage of the unexpected dump of snow and went out to Holiday Mountain for one last trip out on the hills. As I mentioned previously, I rented ski boards (aka snow blades) and I really had a blast! I think I’m converted from snowboarding to skiboarding, or at least have both of them in my arsenal. The learning curve was very brief, I had a lot of fun, they are so much more convenient than snowboards, and I didn’t suffer my usual injuries whenever I head out to the snow hills!
It is so convenient to be able to move around at the top and bottom of the hill without having to take one foot out of the binding, then strap back up again, then back out, etc. for the day. Moving around is like ice skating. It’s a bit awkward at first (my rentals from Gord’s were probably about 80cm long - Ryan’s are 99.9cm long), but I quickly adapted.
We didn’t have many regulars out, but that’s okay because Dan brought his friend Luke, Adrian brought his friends Mike, Armando, and Lucas, and we met Salar and Yashar on the hill and hung out all day and even had lunch together too. Salar is the guy with the light coloured jacket on the snowboard getting crazy height on jumps in the video!
Anyway, here is the video page - enjoy!
On March 29th, a bunch of us took advantage of the unexpected dump of snow and went out to Holiday Mountain for one last trip out on the hills. As I mentioned previously, I rented ski boards (aka snow blades) and I really had a blast! I think I’m converted from snowboarding to skiboarding, or at least have both of them in my arsenal. The learning curve was very brief, I had a lot of fun, they are so much more convenient than snowboards, and I didn’t suffer my usual injuries whenever I head out to the snow hills!
It is so convenient to be able to move around at the top and bottom of the hill without having to take one foot out of the binding, then strap back up again, then back out, etc. for the day. Moving around is like ice skating. It’s a bit awkward at first (my rentals from Gord’s were probably about 80cm long - Ryan’s are 99.9cm long), but I quickly adapted.
We didn’t have many regulars out, but that’s okay because Dan brought his friend Luke, Adrian brought his friends Mike, Armando, and Lucas, and we met Salar and Yashar on the hill and hung out all day and even had lunch together too. Salar is the guy with the light coloured jacket on the snowboard getting crazy height on jumps in the video!
Anyway, here is the video page - enjoy!
March fitness update
2009.03.31 06:11 AM Filed in: Health & Nutrition
Wow, I’ve got to admit I’m pretty surprised with this month’s workout test results. For one reason or another, I ended up missing almost the entire second half of March’s workouts. I still felt okay going into the pushups, but I thought I’d go over on the waist measurement and was really banking on the fact that I had built up some extra breathing room in January and February. Well, not only did my waistline not expand, I still managed to keep the 3/4” loss per month trend alive!
Obviously, the pull ups were a complete bust. I’ve got yet some other new ideas to get the pullups going, though. Sheesh, this is taking way too long, but I’m sure that once I get one the others will come along nicely. Fortunately Ryan is still at 4, so if I can get it going he’s still not completely out of striking range.
See the Goal Tracker page for the details on the March results.
Obviously, the pull ups were a complete bust.
I’ve got yet some other new ideas to get the pullups going, though. Sheesh, this is taking way too long, but I’m sure that once I get one the others will come along nicely. Fortunately Ryan is still at 4, so if I can get it going he’s still not completely out of striking range. See the Goal Tracker page for the details on the March results.
Why I'm happy about the blizzard
2009.03.25 07:55 PM Filed in: Sports
Woo hoo!!! Although I thought that my perfectly melted driveway and temps well above zero meant that I was done shovelling for the year, it also had the sad distinction of me thinking the snow hills were also done for the year. But alas, I was wrong! Yay snow! Yay one more trip to Holiday Mountain on Sunday!
I’m also excited because I’m going to try something different. I’m going to rent a pair of skiboards (also referred to as Snow Blades - Snow Blades is to skiboards what Kleenex is to facial tissue) and try that instead of snowboarding this weekend. My friend Ryan has a pair and absolutely loves them, so it’s a good opportunity for me to try it out. Plus, the vast majority of my snowboarding injuries this year (actually, every year) stem from having to take one foot out of the binding to navigate the chair lift and therefore not being completely stable when getting off the lift. I can handle pretty much anything going down the hill without injury (that’s not to say that I’m good at it, just that I can keep it under control and not get hurt), but it’s that chair lift that gets me every time. Not having to worry about that will be nice and allow for an injury free end to the season. This is nice, because I thought my end to the season was with that nasty freak knee injury where I couldn’t even drive my car home after Asessippi.
Three cheers for the snow!
Alas, not all the snow today was good. To the idiot who rear ended my brother’s car while he was stopped at a stop sign waiting for a pedestrian to cross safely - WHAT THE @#$% WERE YOU THINKING?!?!?! Fortunately nobody got hurt, but please, people, don’t follow so closely when the intersections are all polished and/or snow covered sheets of ice!!!
I’m also excited because I’m going to try something different. I’m going to rent a pair of skiboards (also referred to as Snow Blades - Snow Blades is to skiboards what Kleenex is to facial tissue) and try that instead of snowboarding this weekend. My friend Ryan has a pair and absolutely loves them, so it’s a good opportunity for me to try it out. Plus, the vast majority of my snowboarding injuries this year (actually, every year) stem from having to take one foot out of the binding to navigate the chair lift and therefore not being completely stable when getting off the lift. I can handle pretty much anything going down the hill without injury (that’s not to say that I’m good at it, just that I can keep it under control and not get hurt), but it’s that chair lift that gets me every time. Not having to worry about that will be nice and allow for an injury free end to the season. This is nice, because I thought my end to the season was with that nasty freak knee injury where I couldn’t even drive my car home after Asessippi.
Three cheers for the snow!
Alas, not all the snow today was good. To the idiot who rear ended my brother’s car while he was stopped at a stop sign waiting for a pedestrian to cross safely - WHAT THE @#$% WERE YOU THINKING?!?!?! Fortunately nobody got hurt, but please, people, don’t follow so closely when the intersections are all polished and/or snow covered sheets of ice!!!