Shhhhhhhh. Your wasting time.

I talk. A lot. Most of the people I work with would say too much.  Ill talk to almost anyone at the drop of a hat.

And ive had some amazing conversations with brilliant people on a variety of subjects.  But they only carry me so far.

For example; Jiu-Jitsu.  Its pretty all encompassing in my life. And ive spent a lot of time talking about it, the history, the theory, the athletes. Its a great way to pass the time. But, Im not getting any better. The only way of course is to GET ON THE MAT.

Like whatever you do and whatever drives you, the time you spend on your mat. your road, your gym, your recording studio, your dance floor is the spot.  The hours, months, years are your proving ground.

And its also where you learn about yourself the most.  You cant hide out there. Your effort, or lack of is apparent and you cant BS your way out of it.  In fact, it may be place where the true you shines the most.......

So grind.  Do more,  and please do hush up about it .... until later. :)

Right where you should be. Thanks EJ.

         I listened to the most annoying conversation today. Two people were arguing over which was the best way to exercise.  The two forms they were debating were irrelevant as this same issue has taken place in so many different forms over the years its become beyond tedious.

         I have no argument here. I have some criteria for what make a valid exercise program. It needs to be challenging,  it needs to have safety intrinsically involved in it. Getting injured should not be a regular happenstance. It needs to be fluid, allowing the client to grow in ability, strength, and flexibility. And it would help a lot to be engaging, it s cool when you WANT to go workout.

         Beyond that, the field is wide open. Because not nearly enough people are actually DOING some form of regular training. Hell there are too many people who don't MOVE.  You know what i mean.

          So if you want to drag the tired arguments out go ahead, but do it after the workout, while you are sharing a meal or protein drink. Because that means you've done it.

         The title for this post is something a friend and amazing MMA coach Eric Jackson said.  When you are training, or in fact doing anything you love, you ARE right where you should be. Tonight, going to training was difficult, i wasn't feeling great and there were a thousand reasons to just take it easy and stay home.

          But, getting there and getting the Gi on, I could already feel the change. Being around people as happy to be there for the same person is infectious. And the work seals the deal, moving... yes the joy of movement, of being able to do something with your body that 6 months ago you couldn't think of doing is AWESOME.

          So i invite you to feel that way,  try something or get back to something. And try to look at it as something joyful rather than tedious. If you can't do something else. But just do...........

Health by association. .....

I remember a line from some sit - com that a newly divorced woman, when told how great she looked replied, "Well thanks I just dropped 180 pounds of useless fat. My ex."

Changing lifestyles usually results in casualties.  No more so than when you try to get healthier. If your inner circle meets regularly at a bar with wing and pizza specials chances are a dead lift PRO is not in your near future.

And the support usually isn't there. I still have friends that believe I'll revert to my former habits, almost seems like they are betting on it. Which is fine.

So do you cut line and avoid all contact? No, not yet. Chances are you are making new friends who share your mindset and can be your support.  I share freely that my Jiu-Jitsu brothers and sisters,  after 5 years are some of the strongest bonds I've ever formed.

And if you are lucky, you bring some people along with you. I've had friends surpass me in their efforts to live healthier and maybe I had a small part in that.

That's another thing. There is always someone watching.  You never know who you inspire.

And for those people who never come around? Probably you will see and hear them less and less. But go back to the bar occasionally,  it'll remind you why you started in the first place......

I know its still winter.........

                                 " Don't let the weeds take your garden."- PBG


         So you've embarked on a journey to better health.  Awesome. Probably you've done the hardest part, the just showing up.  And you work... and you grind.... and slowly you start knocking over those goals.....

Here comes a bigger challenge. What happens when you get there? Hopefully not a lot changes.  You readjust your goals, loving how you feel, how you look and keep the process going.  But there can be a downside.....

I equate this to many many patients I meet working on the ambulance.  I ask patient A,  "what medical problems do you have?" Patient A replies, "None. "  My next question is usually, "What medications do you take?". And the list comes out. Sometimes 10 or more.  So I ask, "But these are meds for blood pressure and diabetes! So you have these conditions right?" Answer, "Well no, I take the meds i don't have the problem.".....

Living a healthy life and expressing the best self you have is constant evolving work. Its truly like the garden reference above. Unwatched, unminded, the weeds sneak in until your crops are choked and wither away.  And of course we all don't live like monks. We are humans and we like to have fun and eat stuff that make goats cringe, and there will be a skipped workout now and again.

But really that has to be in the minority. Excelling means work, sweaty, daily, HARD work. Vigilance against those pesky weeds.........

Yep its Magic, and Science, and Art...............

Hey all,

Just got finished reading this great article on cooking and getting your kids involved. The link for it is here:http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/want-your-children-to-grow-up-to-be-healthy-adults-teach-them-to-cook-1.1595345.

Like any quality article, I was able to relate to it on a personal level. I was brought back to my early childhood where I got to learn to cook.  My parents, god love em started me early on learning things that would enable me further in life, cooking being one of the biggest things.

As memory serves, the first thing I made on my own besides the obligatory PB&J, was Meatball vegetable soup. And even then, the creation stuck with me. That and the fact that my family ate it and didn't wind up in the emergency room equaled success. And I got hooked from there.

Its not just plating food. At least for me. To take assorted ingredients  and assemble them to something bigger than its parts speaks of magic to me. Cmon all those witches and their cauldrons?

Sure maybe its garlic instead of eye of newt, and turmeric instead of wing of bat but they had the idea. Stew by any other name........

And you scientists, mad or otherwise? Basic chemistry folks. Altering the molecular structure of something into something else not only works in a lab but in every kitchen every day.

And I didn't leave you artsy types out. Rock star chef types AND home cooks alike can put flair on a plate, In fact how you present your food is as important to how you make it to some. And again, edible art = WIN.

Behind all this was the interaction, the sharing of knowledge in families. some of my most valuable possessions are my grandmothers recipes,  and knowing that i can share the effort and the love she put into those recipies is a wonderful feeling.

I put this, the family unit cooking for itself high among priorities for education and health. Starting your kids learning to shop, cook, heck maybe even grow food gives them the same thing you have.

Power.

I mean it. Really. Tell me what may be more powerful and significant than feeding your family something you have created?

Just some thoughts........

Insane in the Brain!!!!!!

So last night i was reminded of how fallable i am in regards to the emotional attachment to food. I was at a small gathering celebrating a number of our birthdays which are coming up. pretty much all the food there was off my normal list of eating but i dabbled, including birthday cake. (HEY IT HAD MY NAME ON IT DAMMIT :) ). Later in the evening, i was talking with a friend who is also conscious of how they eat and had eaten like myself. I said, "Ive been so good! Now im going to pay for it!" UGH. Yeah, my stomach has been doing somersaults since then which given how i eat is to be expected. The other response is the more troubling. Ive been so good. How many of us have said that after a similar experience? And why? Why do we punish ourselves by emotionally attaching ourselves to what we eat?

Some reactions are good to be sure, the smells of holiday dinners reminding us of better times, a favorite recipe filling the house with that aroma. That is the positive side, but somewhere along the line a validation sinks in. We are good if we finish our veggies, bad if we cheat much. If we do good things we are rewarded with foods, that we are taught are ones to avoid.  Where does this lead? It can lead to a  overdose of "comfort food". See? assigning emotional comfort to food.  The if the trend continues, as it did for myself, we can find ourselves unhealthy, seeking ways to unlearn what we have learned to regain health and (again for myself) sanity.  And the extreme ends of it fall into eating disorders, shame spiraling, and its own brand of insanity. Place yourself in the mindset of a young person, bombarded with images of what "perfect bodies" look like, and then the next second hit with 10 commercials touting the most unhealthy but trendy crap a laboratory can put together.

But its amazing how it stays with you. Here I am, smarter than ive been ever about eating and exercising and still, I assign punishment to myself for eating a slice of cake. Frailty is thy name Fitmedic....

So where does it go? Where do we stop this? Is it possible to look at a plate of food and take the emotion away? can we look at it at its most basic, as a source of (hopefully) clean energy to allow us to live our lives as best we can ? Any change would probably start around the family dinner table. Not rewarding good grades with an extra dessert for instance. And by the way, if there isnt a family dinner table, maybe there should be? A chance to avoid Tv, cell phones, computers and other distractions and be as a family group, however its constructed at the time.

Id like to think that something i wrote could get people to think, about their own situations they face and how they deal with it. Maybe the next time you have a meal, whether its a normal day or a cheat day, acknowledge how tied in emotionally you are. DO you feel bad or good after eating? The ask why? The answers may be interesting......

All the best :)

What, why, how?

Lets talk goals. Or why you set them and maybe why they don't succeed. 

First the easy part. What do you want? Can be anything, in this case lets use me. I want to be better at Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. It's simple to want something but that's where it ends. Wanting wont get it done. Usually it means a prolonged serious effort, especially if what you want is meaningful. 

Brings up the next question, what are you willing to do? This stops a lot of people dead in their tracks. For my goal I'm willing to train whenever it's possible whether I feel great or lousy, through minor injuries sacrificing social events , relationship time, sleep to achieve what I want. Chances are if you want something there is a variation of the above you will have to do. It's not easy but that's kind of the point. If it was easy, everyone including you would already have it. This separates a lot of people and their "goals" making them more fond wishes then reality. 

It sounds like I'm being a hard ass and I'm not overly sorry. Anyone with goals has a mountain to climb in society today. Too much has been made way to easy to acquire and it deadens the drive to excel above mediocrity. And it hits me too. There are days I'd like to hang with my friends but I also know that I'll be better served on the mat. It's all about what myself and everyone else are willing to sacrifice. 

So.... What do you want? Write it down at the top of a page. Now below it What are you willing to do? That's where the real work is............