Been A While.... woah

So I'm back in college! We'll start with the good - Exercising quite a bit, staying on top of assignments, and getting things done in advance to save myself
headaches in 12 weeks. Roommates are all clean people, which is awesome. We all get along except for one guy, but the law of averages assures me that is okay.
Making Bread! Like a baker. Honestly I've made 2 loaves already, making another. Had some interesting encounters with the SRA for our building involving the bread, but it's all good. She has a good sense of humor, and we usually end up laughing tons. In other news, I'm eating pasta quite a bit, staying on top of my nutrition.
Sometimes I feel like an outside observer inside the community/culture that is residence. People do things a lot differently then I would in some aspects, so I kinda feel like the scientist in the middle of the jungle observing the apes, and interacting every now and then to make their presence known, but not draw too much attention to themselves haha. I hang out quite a bit, it's just the drinking I restrain from to be honest. Everyone's cool with my diet and stuff, so it all works out. I sat through a horrible movie called Mean Girls, I do believe that is the furthest extent I will go to be 'Social'. It was a very bad movie from my perspective..
Dodgeball every Wednesday, and Baseball starting soon! So far with Dodgeball it's going awesome - first time we had 96, second time we had half that or less. I don't mind either way, less people = more games :D One thing that pisses me off about it, is these wussy's that won't throw the ball... and wait until everyone has a ball on their team, then walk up to the centre and throw...such a pansy way of playing... it's called dodgeball - throw that bastard! If someone throws a ball at you, MOVE. I'm a firm believer in a 3s rule for holding the ball... I don't want all these ball-nannys wasting time and action. Dodgeball is a fast-paced game, and some people play it like chess.
Family was down on the weekend, I got my medicine ball - more abwork :D :D. Anyways, time to go,

Chris

Summer End Blog

So I haven't blogged in a while, and am in a 'Do Nothing Productive' kind of day haha.


1) Celebrated 2 friends getting married yesterday afternoon - awesome wedding!
2) 2 weeks until I leave for college... about time to finish one step of my education.
3) Working out has been on/off the last couple months, currently ON, lots has happened, and the weather this summer has sucked... Humidity or Thunderstorm, nothing else.
4) Studying more for college, almost done Anatomy which is about where 90% of my time will be directed.
5) Preparing in other ways for college too, getting food and stuff before I go.
6) Finances will be a lot tighter than I anticipated due to some OSAP issues, but oh well, I'll manage.
7) Been about 8 months now that I've been on my diet with about 98% efficiency, really happy about that.
8) Big Bang Theory season 4 starts in September, can't wait!
9) Eating lots more, trying to put on weight... with this humidity I sweat buckets upon buckets, so I need to overcompensate, and then some.
10) Watched Book of Eli a month or month and a half ago, good movie.
11) Time for food now.

End of May...

Pretty good month I'd say... lets see what's been going on...

Nutrition - Going great, 1 minor setback recently at Swiss Chalet after attending my sister's graduation. Other than that, it's been great.. just finished off pasta /w talapia in it.

Exercise - Awesome! Finished 25k today, bringing the total to 195km on the bike since I got it :D Last week during the heat wave, I went jogging and set a new record for time! It was 27 degrees at night when I started, and I worked hard and beat my time. Biking wise - got all geared up- helmet, biking shorts (tight, weird, but I'll get used to it), biking jersey, gloves, 2 lights for bike, bike lock, water bottle, watter bottle holder, carrying pouch /w tool for changing a flat tire, bandana that can be re-arranged to several useful items, heat endurance formula for adding to water, and the 3rd sprocket so I have full use of 24 gears! I look very different now while biking, but I like it.. I know it's very close to the most efficient I can be while biking.
I broke my push-up record, setting it to 33 the other day, never done 33 pushups in my life! Happy about that for sure, and my machine workout is going great too.
For some reason the other day, I remembered that if you contract your abs during the day, it's good work for them, so I've been doing that quite a bit lately. I got a friend of mine to hit me in the stomach several times and I felt nothing, so I think I'm on the right track. After he hit me a few times, I asked him to hit like he would in a fight, so then he did, and slightly more than nothing, but very far away from actual pain lol. I asked him to punch me as hard as possible, but he said he wasn't mad, and he didn't feel right punching me for no reason... haha. Too bad he wasn't a martial artist, he would get over those feelings real quick!
What else... hmm got a haircut the other day, took me an hour to shave my head.. hadn't done it in a while.
Slightly more than 3 months until I'm back in college! Very excited, and I finished my That 70s Show seasons... all 8.. so now it's to the books!

Start of the week...

So I took a trip to visit some friends of mine in Barrie. Unfortunately neither of them are physically active, so despite my best efforts, working out didn't go quite as planned. I was glad to see them though, they'll both be moving soon, and I've known the family for years. Also, while in Barrie, I visited a No Frills, and found out they are under the Loblaws umbrella of grocery stores, so my Chocolate Soy Beverage will be obtained at lower prices, along with a bunch of other things :D I stayed on track nutrition wise while visiting, so I count that as a minor victory.
Last week I only exercised 3-4 times instead of 6, so this week I really have to make up for it. I'm not going to produce a laundry list of excuses, but most of the things I do require it not to be raining outside (sprinting 100%, biking (I still have to get some reflectors/reflective clothing, lights, helmet etc)). Also, some family stuff happened which interfered with working out also and could not have been avoided. Today I had to get back on track with working out, so I biked 30km after work, setting a new record for time. I have to mention though I did not have my backpack with me, so that would reduce the weight by roughly 5-7lbs, and hinder aerodynamics & speed marginally. I wanted to visit my trainer tonight, but when I got to his place, he was absent, as were all the vehicles, so I'm guessing he'll be back soon. I have a lot to talk to him about. In 12 minutes the 2nd last episode of Big Bang Theory starts, and I'm very excited.
I can't remember if I mentioned this in my latest blogs, but I GOT RE-ACCEPTED INTO FLEMING!!!!!. So now I have accomodation, and acceptance. Yay! Alright, I'm off to watch my only reason for wasting time in front of a T.V.

Great night for a jog.

Tonight was a good night for a jog, first jog since the dental work last Thursday. Went biking last night, and did an updated weight/resistance program on Saturday (It almost doubled my time to complete it!). The major pain in my mouth has taken an extended leave of absence finally, and I'm back full tilt with eating :D The last couple days have been good, there's still some pain in the mornings because the facial muscles, like all muscles, are dormant while I sleep, so they seize up.
Nutritionally I've been making these awesome sandwiches composed of onions, lettuce, havarti, and ham on homemade w.w. Found w.w. pasta on sale again the other day, so I stocked up, and added to my college stash for September. Quick Note: I finally got an e-mail saying I'm accepted back into FHP for Sem 3 in Sept, so YAY! I'm eating lots of pasta, trying to maintain the weight gain I've experienced.. to give an idea of serving - a box of 375g pasta is gone in 2 dinners, usually i need to open another box. Post-workouts sometimes I'll make 3-4 fillets of fish, or eat a tub of yogurt (650g). Both are good sources of protein. Usually with the fish I'll add something to it. The other option is my Dad's stews that we have in the freezer, they're a tub of yogurt in size and are very tasty.
In other news, trainer is gone for this week, gets back on Sunday, so he's given me a laundry list of things to do in his absence, which I am on schedule so far. The main factor in completion will be the weather, I've heard mixed reviews whether or not there will be rain in the later portion of the week :(
Anyways,my pasta is almost done cooking, I try and eat something meal sized every 3 hours or so. I have to wait about 1.5 hours before I do a serious workout (jog, weight routine, cardio routine, biking), so my schedule is almost predefined haha. Cya later

Droolfest 2010 - And no I didn't visit the playboy mansion.

Got Dental work done today - 2 fillings + Frenectomy. Ectomy may remind you of getting something removed, in this case it was part of the frenic muscles in my mouth.. which means the dentist took a laser and burned them, reducing their efficiency to keep my mouth in a healthy state.
The fillings were alright, but caused my new batch of cereal to be made without almonds.
Right now I am struggling to eat bread, and am going to lay down, with a bottle of Acetominaphen beside me and a glass of water for when all of the freezing wears off.

Bike, Forrest, Bike!

This week I biked from Gravenhurst to Bracebridge, 20km, around 40-45 minutes, very content with time. Not being on a bike in 10 years made it even more rewarding for the first bike ride of the season. That night I visited a friend that lives about 5k away, so I biked there and back so the grand total became 30km. The next day (yesterday), I went to my trainers place which is about 12.5km or so, then stayed there for less than 10 minutes, and biked back, beating my time by a minute (There is a large hill on the way out there, and coming back I just sped down it). However, still not recovering from the day prior, and just biking causing additional fatigue on fatigued muscles - I was content.
The weather this week has been pretty fierce, Monday & Tuesday were windy as all hell with snow on/off, wednesday thru friday were hot, and Saturday was a rainfest! So much for biking today, I'm not risking my life in a thunderstorm/lightning show.
I worked out tonight inside, and was happy with progress. (Gave the legs a break, I'll resume running or biking tomorrow if the damn rain quits). If it's still raining tomorrow I'll use the punching bag for an hour, get a good cardio workout - brush up on some striking and what not (not cardio kick-boxing crap... but actual strikes at full power (unless it's jabs) that would do severe damage once thrown) Also, I have to get back working on my abs - they've slipped, and although my stomach still retains rigidity, it could be better. I'm going to really put effort into working at my obliques as I've neglected them for a long time and haven't actively targeted them specifically before - I guess I never really cared. But, I'm determined, and so we'll see in a month how things are shaping up.
Nutritionally, things are good - I've been experimenting with different things on Talapia - black pepper + parmesan cheese, or melted soy cheese on talapia (although tasty, took 15 min. to scrub the pan after I was done eating haha). After workouts or biking I'm devouring a tub of yogurt (650ml), sometimes adding almonds or raisins into the mix. Since being back at work the last few weeks, I've come up with a tasty trail-mix-ish snack to keep me going between meals, as I never know if we're stopping for lunch, or working through it to leave early. The mix is just raw almonds, dried cranberries, and raisins (jumbo thompson). OH! And the good news! FINALLY I found the mysterious Strawberry Fortified Soy Beverage! It resides in Wal-Mart,and for some strange reason, is 50 cents less then the other flavours.. economics would tell me that they sell a substantial amount of it, so they can order more, and larger orders cost less, therefore providing the customer with a reduced price. Anyways, I'm excited for tomorrows cereal to add it to.
Currently I'm very bored, as any blogger is I suppose, but I'm debating to workout on the punching bag after I have dinner, or watch more 70s show... maybe call a friend or two.. not sure. Farewell

Saturday...

Things have been going well on my end, I've put on 5 lbs, healthy weight (lean muscle, body fat). First time in my life I have put on weight from working out, and I'm sure the near perfect nutrition helps too. Today I have to do a machine workout, keep things going.
In other news, I bought a bike (as it's great for exercise, and I'm a pedestrian) from my brother who used it 2x and gave it up (Brand-New 2 years ago, very expensive). It's a 24-speed Brodie mountain bike... no idea what kind of rep Brodie has, but my brother always buys high quality stuff, so I'm certain it will last a long time. Having not been on a bike in 10 years, it was interesting haha. There's a decent size hill at the end of my street to the right, and I biked up that - I have a much easier time jogging up it than biking it! Honestly I could do a 3:1 ratio of jogging:biking. Since I have a larger bike now, I am required to ride on the road, which is nice and fast. Although I'll be doing road-biking for a while, I intend to make use of the trails in Peterborough this fall, and since Peterborough's winter is comparable to Britney Spears conservative fashion sense, I should be biking nearly everyday. I sent the bike to a local shop for a tune-up, and have to get a few things like a better seat, a helmet, a light, and some reflective clothing for the Fall. Although costly for accessories, the bike came at an incredible price, so I'm still ahead. And like all exercise equipment, it is an investment, it's not a pack of gum or bottle of pop.
Went to the trainers this week, and he complimented me on my progress / posture / overall appearence, which considering he is tough as nails is comparable to the President handing me his security cards for a day.
The weather's been great, I've been jogging lots and working out tons, and FINALLY I am not alone while jogging at night! Other people, particularly female are out and about.. Earlier this week I had the choice of eather to stop and talk (she was walking, I was jogging by), or continue jogging, and since I was making excellent time I continued to jogging. However, next time I will use another part of my anatomy to make the decision, and I'll tell you how the conversation goes.
Not sure if I mentioned recently that I got accepted into Fleming Residence, but nevertheless I'm still excited. There are several pro's, and only a couple con's to the shift in accomodations, so it will all work out.
Financially, things are changing, I applied for a credit card again, and this time have more confidence that I will be accepted. I tried online, and they rejected me, then I went in and said I could provide 'security', which is 120% of the maximum credit I wish to receive, so it should help my acceptance. I'm only asking for $500.00, the bare minimum that they offer, if there minimum was $100.00 I would have asked for that. Basically the rationale behind this borrowing, is that I need to build a credit rating as I'm in my mid 20s now, and I've come up with a couple monthly payments I can throw on there that will be maintenance free. Out of all the people I know, I'm probably within the top 3 for money management, so maintaing a credit card should be easier than feeding myself.
Now I'm going to contact a few friends, see what can be done this weekend while the weather is great, maybe set something up for tonight/tomorrow. I have to work this afternoon, but only for a bit. Cheers,

Adverts and Stew.

Alright, so I had some stew tonight for dinner.
Now the main thing is Adverts... specifically - the ones you see when you log into MSN messenger that appear at the bottom of the main window... all the damn retarded videos of celebrity's, fat kids doing dumb things, and whatever else you can think of. I'm just sick of it all... I don't care what celebrity is fucking what celebrity, who they're banging on the side, what cheese they like, or what they're ill-informed opinion is on the price of go-kart wheels. If I had to choose, I would choose adverts that reflected the latest research in technology, or important political topics - G8 Summit, the Polish President that died recently, the Nuclear Summit that just happened, coverage on the Heart & Stroke Foundations battle to get another fitness credit into Ontario high schools, you know - something with substance that will actually mean something... Is it so hard to ask for something worth watching these days? My generation will see over 1 billion adds before we die, and less than a hundredth of a thousandth of a percent are actually worth staring at. But instead I get the latest garbage from Hollywood... time and time again... I saw an advert that claimed Lady Gaga has received over 1 billion views on Youtube, and is now called the Queen of Youtube. WHO THE FUCK CARES?! Her songs have absolutely no lyrical content what-so-ever, represent the most boring-over-used-bass-heartbeat-sound crap that you can hear in any club, which makes me want to tear my ears off using Incredible Hulk hands. Her fame is certainly not from her musical content, and all it is is shock value.. KISS did it years ago with wearing masks and painting their faces, punks did it in the 70s and early 80s with torn clothes, studded jackets, mohawks, and home-made t-shirts with vulgarity against stuff that pissed them off, all she's done is taken SHOCK to a new level with messed up costumes.. its not original, it's downright pathetic. And I've found out that her 'look' was actually stolen from an Irish woman that had been around YEARS before her, so any dose of 'oringinality' that so many brainwashed people think she had is gone... All you have is another pop slut making money off of the same crap that's been projected through the radiowaves for decades already, only by some means getting progressively worse.. I mean I'm not a pop fan, but look at the King of Pop - Michael Jackson... I'm not sure about his discography, but at least I can find meaning in some songs that he sung about... for example Beat It - it was about standing up for yourself, and not giving up.. now take that and pair it against Poker Face, which as quoted by the tramp herself during an interview with Rolling Stone explains the line 'Bluffin with my muffin'... "Obviously, it's my pussy's poker face! I took that line from another song I wrote but never released, called 'Blueberry Kisses.'" Wow... what something to sing about and get the message out... you're god damn vagina.. nobody cares.. honestly they don't... but unfortunately not even 0.0000001% of people that listen to that garbage will actually read the lyrics. Another hit of hers talks about sex and confusion of her own sexuality... you have the god damn world as a stage, and all you choose to share with the world is the fact you're not sure about if you're attracted to men, women, or both? This coming from a singer who does not wear pants... Spears doesn't wear underwear, Gaga doesn't wear pants... what's left? The next pop singer will just perform naked for her fans and give us some bullshit about 'being unrestricted by the heavy weight of clothes' Writing songs about how bad clothes are, and how everyone under the age of 18 that is stereotypically attractive should rip them all off, burn them, and beat the living piss out of anyone that's wearing clothes to win the battle for all people wearing clothes that dont want to.
Another celebrity that really pisses me off is that Kim Kardashian... basically we have a very rich girl, that became a playboy centerfold and made a sex tape with a football player, and got famous from it. Also, wears skirts too tight she can't even bend over... how the fuck is this world going to survive when that is one of the leading role-models... I think her name should be the new definition of IDIOT... when you read it: A Kim Kardashian is when you are so pathetic you buy clothes that you can't even move in... to the point that you can't even bend over to pick up something you dropped. Check the newest edition of Websters Dictionary.
It seems to me, if you do follow celebrity's at ALL, you have nothing more than 'Live in the fast lane' pop stars, faggot boy bands/singers, and people like Nicholas Cage.. while a great actor, has no concept of money management, and claims that he needs 30 million a year to cover his expenses... well when you throw parties for 1000's of people constantly, and own a dozen homes that are all large enough to hold the residents of a small japanese village, and you have more toys then jesus, your wallet may feel a bit thin.
I wish people would just wake up from all the bullshit in life, and see things for what they are. I'm tired of seeing young girls worry about weight, because some damn actress lost 50 lbs for their role, and you can do it too to get ahead! The same goes for actors that start pumping steroids for movie roles, and its so freakin obvious that in 6 months you can not go from looking like Screech on Saved By The Bell, to Bruce Lee. It just doesn't happen.. no Israeli Trainer, special ops marine nonsense is going to convince me otherwise. Stop talking about natural herbs and vitamins, and training 18 hours a day blah blah blah. Just show us the chemical soup of pills and needles that you used.. we all know its true anyways. I mean, sure if you have to put on 10 lbs, workout for 6 months, and do it healthily.. hell you're getting paid TONS of money, may as well earn some of it. The whole world is becoming fatter from lack of exercise and yet nobody seems to clue in that the reason people won't get off their ass is because they have 9206726 celebrity's looking razor thin, or steroid-induced baboons sending the wrong messages (*cough* sports, UFC *cough*). I'm glad I'm going into the Fitness Industry to combat some of this disease that's taken society by storm... I mean, I've never had weight issues, except putting on weight, but that's another story.. I can understand how someone that has some excess weight to lose doesn't want to workout because they want to go from being 20 lbs overweight to 30 lbs underweight.. not 20 lbs overweight to HEALTHY. Even people that are perfectly healthy feel the need to lose weight, and drop sizes, because some moron in hollywood posted it in their blog. I'm willing to bet if that Megan Fox chick from Transformers said that the way to getting her toned body and success was to eat glass and drink lighter fluid, people would do it. Personally I don't know if she actually did workout, or if she just used a crash diet, but she has so much popularity now that nobody would turn a cheek at what she says. Maybe one day I'll become famous, kick the shit out of all the steroid-induced losers out there, force feed the socialites until they are back to a healthy weight and healthy body image, and instate a rule that if you sing a song, you must first have the LYRICS posted worldwide for 6 months before the music comes out. Also, I would ban the use of 'air-brushing' and 'photo-shopping' for all images in magazines and billboards. I've seen how easy it is to take someone that is overweight and give them rock hard looking abs and defined chest muscles etc... it's easier than doing a cartwheel, and takes less time to learn. It doesn't help that there's 1000 diets and supplements out there that all promise fast results, but are actually starving the body of a macronutrient, and causing organ failure down the road. Most of the diets you have to stick on, or you gain the weight back.. nobody has clued in that if they adjust their lifestyle, and their eating habits they don't need to cut out macronutrients and eat a handful of pills, or shitty tasting processed food with a diet logo branded in it? I'm almost certain that the top executives in the fast food industry and the top executives in the weight-loss industry get together every week and discuss how to further screw the world over.. I'll go on the record saying that any diet that forces you to eliminate or significantly reduce your daily intake of a macronutrient (Fat, Protein, Carbohydrate) will only harm you in the short-term and long-term, and is completely backwards to the goal you want to achieve.

World of Warcraft - Over 6 Months without playing & Proud of it.

Ya, so end of March was the 6 month mark, and I'm glad to say that I don't feel any inclination what-so-ever to go back to the game. I'm writing this because I know that I have friends that are addicted, whether or not they want to admit it, and truth be told 40% of WoW players are addicted, with a subscription level of over 10 million, that works out to at least 4 Million people, so don't feel like you're the only one. Don't tell me 'its fun', that's the same response you get from heroin addicts, alcoholics claim to love their booze, and don't tell me Tiger Woods is saying all the sex he had he didnt enjoy. Of course it's fun, that's why you're playing.. it all the game did was send signals to your brain to burn your genitals every 5 minutes, it wouldn't be fun, and chances are you wouldn't be playing for very long.
Anyways, I spent 1000's of hours on that game within a 2.5 year period, so trust me - I did play as much as the rest of them - most likely more at some point - some weeks playing 85+ hours. Thankfully for me I did not have a relationship or job that I was neglecting.
To those of you that are still playing, remember - it's a game, and nobody outside of that gaming community cares what-so-ever about the accomplishments... Achievements don't pay bills, running countless brainless dungeons/raids doesn't earn you anything, and chances are your significant other (if applicable) would much rather prefer a night out, or any time alone vs. hearing you talk to people on Ventrillo/Teamspeak.
It's over 6 months now, and I'm back on the road to college, exercising like a fiend, and have my nutrition finally in order. I didn't do this by myself, I had help, but I made the decision to quit and be done with WoW on my own.
In any OTHER situation besides online gaming, spending countless hours with that many people under the age of 14 would consitute as very weird, if not creepy/illegal unless you're in the teaching profession. So in that respect, you don't need to waste time on the game. Also, unlike real life where if you leave someone important to you they will feel it, most of the time your characters/avatars are fulfilling a specific roll, only for that game. That being siad, should you leave, you will get replaced very fast... and even if you are the best at what you do (heal, tank, dps), it means that you can click a mouse and press a keyboard more effectively than a bunch of other people. You're not actually wielding a weapon, like a sword to a swordsmen, (In fact I would like to see most WoW players try and wield a 5ft Claymore, that would be awesome), or taking hits like a boxer, or healing people like a doctor... it's just mouse clicks that are scripted to change numbers inside tables inside a database that determine whether or not your avatar lives or dies, and the computer generated enemy falls down. Also, the whole construct of an MMORPG is a very simple psychological experiment that makes several companies millionaires. In basic terms, it's a reward system, rewarding the client with different things for good behaviour, and removing things for bad behaviour - similiar to disciplining a child. For example, you kill several hundred enemies - you're rewarded.. if you get through half and they kill you - you die. For killing the enemies, you get wealth, considering greed has been around since the beginning of human existence, this was probably a good thing to include in a game played by humans, who live in societys where wealth is required to survive. So the game continues, starting off very easy so that rewards are quick and fast, and building a dependancy that causes the player to engage in more game time because psychologically they have accomplished something and enjoy the feeling. So you go on and on, the rewards become less and less pronounced(experience required for next level increases, difficulty of quests increases etc). So eventually you have to spend much more time to get a reward. Once you hit the max level, the dynamic is still the same, but presented differently - the reward is when you go through a dungeon, but this time, it's set on a timer so only once a day can you try it - adds an element of risk, meaning you have to try that much harder. However, the reward is still there when you complete it, and completing several dungeons/quests brings us to raids, which are more spread out, and again - harder and harder requiring more time. The so called 'expansions' are nothing more than a package of rewards requiring more time to achieve, combined with a few new features for advertising sake that really don't change the overall aspect of the game - they're just the shiny things on the box that attract people about the same amount as red cereal boxes. When all is said and done, the only thing that WoW has done, is robbed you of years of your life, and compromised your health to the point that withdrawing from the game seems nearly impossible because you have nothing to show for outside of it. I will admit I did relapse a couple times, I'm not saying quitting is easy. To non-gamers they don't understand the addiction, because the medical industry has not written a book on how to handle computer-game addiction. There have not been long drawn out studies of long term effects, and the advertising money is already used for things like cancer and alcohol treatment, so help is hard to find.
If there are any friends of mine out there that need help to combat their addiction, I will be more than happy to assist them. I don't have any medical qualifications, or certificates, I was just a gamer that got sucked into WoW, and broke his way out.

Snow?

Hey,

It's snowing, feels like -4 with the wind, and is not the right weather for jogging. Good news, is this week I broke my jogging record for distance - 15.2km. Took 95 minutes, so 6:15 /km. A tad on the slow side, but speed was not the goal. I do wind sprints for that, which I have to get back to if this damn rain would ever let up. I got back using my machine, doing that workout the other day, partially anyways. Felt alright I guess, I haven't lost much strength from being sick in March. The only other thing to overcome is the 2 hour cardio workout which I haven't done in forever. I'm thinking I might do it today because the weather is crap, and my legs are finally rested and better from the extreme jogging earlier this week. Nutrition wise it's been pretty awesome, I haven't messed up in a long time, and even since starting in January, I've only had one major screw-up - that was pizza and coke one night in February. The diet is pretty basic, and there's not much variety, but it forces me to be creative with things, such as the havarti & roase beef and onions on whole wheat (homemade bread, not store bought). One thing I have to get back into is core workout, my core is very far from where it should be.. I really want the definition back again, I look at my stomach and think that I have let myself go.. I decided to purchase a pair of skates for this upcoming winter while I'm in Peterborough, not because I can play hockey, but doing laps or sprints on the ice is still good cardio, and a change from the regular routine. I haven't purchased them yet, but it's a goal before next winter - off season always spells bargain. Some may ask what happened to my skates from before, but having not been on a pair of skates in 9 years, my feet have grown.
Yesterday in Huntsville I was at a huge bike shop downtown, and found these interesting power bar/energy boost snacks. However, unlike most packaged garbage, this is all natural ingredients, no refined sugar, no sugar spikes from taking it, and is very economical. I'm thinking of experimenting with this stuff to see if I can improve my distance jogging in about a month once I get 15.2km down to a regular jog. The next leap I think should be around 4-5km, bringing distance to 20km, it's a nice round number, and I think I found a route in Bracebridge that will accomodate it.
Easter was interesting, hung out with some friends, figured out a friend proposed to his gf last month which was kinda neat, and learned a new card game that I can't remember the name to (not a drinking one, just a normal one). Also, busted out the baseball glove the last week (prior to the rain), and that felt good. Still have a great spin while throwing the football too! All in all it's been a good last couple weeks exercise wise, the last couple days I haven't done much, but that will change now. It's been snowing constantly today, hopefully it will be done soon, and we can return to that nice warm spell we had..

Jogging

Jogged 15.2km today, 95 minutes. Twice the distance of what I usually do. Very excited, and tired. Going to bed.

Go Go Gadget Plague!

Well I've been brutally sick for basically the last 2 weeks, and things are finally looking upwards. What did I have ? The next stage in viral evolution, combined with the epitome of bacterial disaster wrapped up into one. I'm sure I broke the world record for most sneezes in one day, and also the amount of time slept by someone 24 that is not hung over. I did manage the one day to go outside when I thought things were getting better, purchased a really nice chess set. It was 15 bucks, and I remember seeing the same one in those Sears Wishbook things, and various other catalogues/flyers for over 50 bucks when I was younger. Turns out it was a leftover from Christmas, and they wanted to get rid of it. If you're interested - it's all made out of glass, and one set of pieces is smoked glass. Also, this is not wine glass, the whole thing isn't a decoration. I'm not one of those people that buys random things that I never use just to put in a room that I never go in with lots of nice shit in it... a couple people I know have parents like that... what's the point? If I live somewhere, I want to utilize every room... not designate one of them as an unusable room, and throw some random crap in there to make it look like I'm way more well off than I am... this includes furniture, large globes, fancy chess sets, old books, and other belongings that people display but have no idea how to use or read.. Other than that.. not a whole hell of a lot has changed recently, I went through a slew of old computer games for nostalgia's sake, and stayed current with Big Bang Theory episodes. On the good note, I did get some green tea from China, delivered to me by a friend of mine that was in the city. It's a milder green tea, and it's not bad. By the way, if you buy Blueberry Green Tea from Tetley - be warned! The green tea tastes like normal bloody green tea, however, it SMELLS like blueberries. What a crock eh? I was expecting Blueberry taste! That's right.. I'm not asking someone to run to the Pacific for me, I just want to taste what the hell is advertised on the package! Especially for the price too.. jesus. In other news, with my abundance of sick/useless time, I caught up on some movies... here goes : From Paris With Love - not bad, very predictable, Travolta is not meant to be Bond. Twilight New Moon: Haha F that.. my sister's birthday was recently, and she put on that, and thankfully I was out of the room before the DVD menu popped up. After sitting through the worst hour of my life during the first one, I used some extrapolation techniquues from sciencce, and hypothesized that the 2nd load of crap can only be based on the crap from the first one, and therefore can't be any better. Game Over - Kasparov and the Machine - Documentary on a world champion chess player that lost to a computer built by IBM.. very good if you're into chess. Then again, if you needed that explained, and the title "Game Over" didn't say enough, then you probably shouldn't be playing Chess. Apparently the weather is nice out, and has been for a while but I haven't been out hardly at all.. exercise is a whole other matter... haven't done that either. Once I get back into being healthy thouhgh, things will resume. Alright, the kettle is boiled, and I have some green tea to drink.

Toronto - A windy but awesome time.

So I went to see my friends band Columbia play in downtown T.O. yesterday.. hopped on a bus, 3 hours later I was in the windy city of Toronto. I got a bit mixed up walking to the venue, but I got there using a different route, I don't believe it was any longer. One thing about the city - to those unfamiliar with it, like me, we end up spending way more than we have to on basic things, including using the washroom. That being said, I entered a 2nd cup because I knew they would have the facilities, and thought I'd just buy a medium hot chocolate and lounge around (the 2nd cup was across the street from the venue). However, I did not anticipate paying 3.20 for a medium hot chocolate.. in Dominican Republic I could have purchased a house! The band showed up, it was good to see my friend that I hadn't seen in years, and then I helped unload their gear to the venue, and setup. We lounged around for a while, and then they decided to eat around 9ish. I hadn't eaten since 1, so I was ready to start gnawing off the bar stools like a beaver. My friend and I searched for a while, passing edible, but not really satisfying looking restaurants, then landed a Mr. Sub. I wolfed down a 12" sub, then a band member decided to also eat at Subway, so they joined us... he got a sub..so I thought 'I need another one... '. I devoured that one also, and my hunger was satisfied. We headed back to the venue, waited some more, listened to the ending of the 1st band.. (Loud, wall of noise, inaudible lyrics, 500db too loud). The 2nd band came on, and they were more relaxed and did not do permanent damage to the eardrums. They were good, their music and lyrics were enjoyable. Then Columbia hit the stage, and was a hug success. You could tell they had been on the music scene for quite some time - the preparation, the blending of music & vocals, and the overall feel of the band set them apart from the rest. Furthermore, they did not pound my ears to a pulp. Everyone in the venue really took a liking to them, and it was a good show. We listened to the next band, the first couple songs were bearable, then they became another wall of noise.. I'm sorry but my definition of MUSIC does not include 5 people going 120% on their instruments with a vocalist screaming at the top of his lungs in every song... We decided to pack up during their set, and headed back to Bracebridge. And for those wondering if I gave money for gas - I did. I also bought a box of assorted donuts for everyone, and offered a round of coffee. They did an incredible job playing, and were very pleasant people to be around. Even the Sound Manager at the venue said they were really nice to talk to when he spoke with them, and said it was refreshing to have a polite band inside the venue that sounds professional and organized. There were 2 things weird about the venue though - 1) The venue had no posters up, no signs, nothing that was indicating there was 5 bands playing a show from Canadian Music Week... there was literally a piece of paper scribbled with black marker indicating there was a show, taped to the door. An eviction notice would have had more style. 2) According to Mapquest, the address is 349a college st.. however, should you go to 349.. you hit a clinic. Then beside it, there's a black door with stickers, nothing indicating it is the 'Neutral Lounge', in ANY way, it looks like the back door to an abandoned building that one could find an assortment of pizza boxers, hookers, and illegal arms. So I entered this mystery door, which led me down a flight of stairs to a poorly lit room, which turned out to be the venue... To get to the ACTUAL door, you have to go around to the end of the street, turn right, walk a block, then turn right again.. THERE you will find a small sign that says NEUTRAL. So strange... even if they put up a sign on their back door that said 'NEUTRAL LOUNGE ENTRANCE IS NOT HERE, OTHER SIDE OF BUILDING' it would have been a start. Kind of a weird place, judging by the posters on the walls, and decorations... it serves as a weekly goth hangout. It would explain the low lighting, overly-pale bartender, and black paint everywhere haha. On the way back, shorly after the Tim Hortons stop, we hit up a McDonalds, (certainly not by my choosing), and I was thirsty so I bit the proverbial bullet and decided a soft drink was the way to go.. As it turns out the cashier said the drink was on her.. and so I didn't pay for anything. It was really strange.. maybe a sign tempting me to go back to McDonalds from my years of not eating there? So with my free beverage, I headed back to Bracebridge, and got in just after 4pm.

Enter The Sun.

Play on Words of Enter The Dragon, one of my favourite movies. Back to basics though -

Went for copius amounts of snowshoeing over the last 8 days, which has been awesome, and enjoying the fact that winter's end is almost nigh. With the wonderful weather, I decided to take a jog yesterday, since it had been a while, and jogged 7km. An alright pace, I ended up back at my place after 45 minutes, so I would say that isn't too bad. Bracebridge is hilly, but I'm stubborn, so I don't let them get in the way. That 12 or 13 year asian old figure skater at the olympics yesterday during the figure skating session gave it his best, so me climbing up hills is minute. (Pronounced 'MY-newt', not to be confused with the measurement of time).
I made dinner last night, my biggest feat ever - cooking for a pile of people, creating a monstrous salad, frying fish all over the place, and making Whole Wheat pasta to go with it. Everything was a success, and the timing of the food worked yesterday! I've been eating healthy 99% of the time, minus my brothers birthday, where I indulged in a few slices of pizza and a coke. I figure, I am human, and I'm sure even the religious folk have to believe Jesus had some nasty thoughts, and the comic book fans know Superman used his X-ray vision to look past some garments every once in a while, and even the Jewish have to believe that the smell of Bacon frying is quite possibly the best thing in the world, whether or not they want to admit it. The good thing is, after that minor indulgence, I haven't actively sought out more pizza or coke. I have to go, I'm jogging to a friends house after I eat breakfast, and have some other things to do. Good-bye for now.

Good Day, been a while since I saw one of those.

Recipe for a good day.

• Workout this afternoon (feels great to workout)


• Blood Donation (My good deed for 56 days)


• Martial Arts - Sparring class (Just awesome)


• Whole wheat pasta /w feta for dinner (Simply irresistable)


• Avatar DVD RIP (42 inch TV + S-Video cable + laptop = Terrific)

I'll take Martial Arts & Blood Donation, without the cold please.

Ya, so in around 18 hours I am due to give blood at the clinic.. which I thoroughly enjoy doing. However, I have started getting a cold, and am not sure from what.. the weather has been mild, and I don't share toothbrushes with anyone... If all goes well tomorrow when I wake up, I'll give blood, and then attend a martial arts sparring class.. they always say to refrain from doing anything strenous after giving blood, but I figure I'm in good health (overall, not current), and I'm not 75, overweight, and sat in an office my entire life. We'll see how it goes, I'll know pretty fast when I get going in the class how far my body wants to go.
In other news, I made some more 'cereal', and it turned out pretty darn tasty this time around.. I lost the original recipe around a month ago, so I've been improvising ever since, with good results. This time I added some dried apricots after I cut them up, and it was a good change. The other day I felt like pasta, but knew I had to eat some fish also that night, so I combined the two, and felt like one of the Chef's on TV.. except in my TV segment I don't pre-measure anything in any glass bowls, or have other people do my work. I more/less dart around the kitchen like bees on crack trying to time everything to go off right, and not miss anything.. It was close when I couldn't find a cutting board to cut up the fish (as I logically thought I'm going to cut up this fish, so I need something to cut it on... ), however my Dad informed me that IT WAS FISH, and I should be able to pull it apart using a fork, with relative ease. So after accepting my Certificate of Common Sense, I continued preparing the meal. The result was good, the fish was done slightly before the pasta, (Whole Wheat), but not too quickly to be cold and vile. So the finished meal was Whole Wheat penne pasta /w tomato & mushroom sauce (go P.C. go!), with Talapia fish throughout. All in all, the 2 fillets worked well, and the pasta was a great amount too. I do need to invest in bigger bowls though, mine are too small for the amount I eat.
As far as exercising goes, things haven't been going wel with other stuff going on, on top of brutal snowshoeing weather and a random winter climate. February is my least favourite month.. Valentines Day I don't celebrate... it's a couples holiday, and is as over-commercialized as Xmas. Xmas does have the family get together, and great food, and good deals, so I can tolerate it over the shitty music.. but Valentines is just painful for us single people out there... You'd think by now I'd be used to it, considering I've been single chronically, but I don't know, it's just not a fun day. Part of me was thinking to get smashed, but I decided against it, although I did have a nice drink of Kahluha in Choc Soy Milk. Technically it's not milk, it's a 'Fortified Soy Beverage', but that's too long to type out, and it makes it sound like I have to cross enemy lines, weave my way through tall grass, and outsmart the bunkers in front of me before getting to my soy beverage to buy it. It's FORTIFIED, we'll need to bring in the artillery Colonel! Yesterday I decided to make the best of things, and searched for some comedy to cheer me up - I found Lewis black skits, and someone named Sarah Silverman to tide me over. Lewis black is great, Sarah Silverman I randomly found, and although her comedy is okay, it's very... I don't know... vulgar/offensive? I mean I don't get offended easily at all, but I could understand how other people might not enjoy it. The first skit I heard, I was thinking how she should burn slowly, but then I realized, if you take it for what it is - COMEDY, and look past all the strong vocabulary used, it's actually very funny - you just have to get in the right mood.
That's all for now,

Groceries - Pass. Debit Machine - Fail.

As you can gather, my trip to the grocery store went moderately well. I found some awesome deals on whole wheat pasta, chocolate soy milk, and bread. All in all it was pretty good, until I got to the checkout. I had everything rung through with a grand total of $26, but they informed me card did not work. Like a moron, I swiped 23069 extra times to make sure that I wasn't crazy, because I've never had a problem before with the card, and the swiping motion makes me feel like I'm accessing an account with much more money... kinda like "This swipe is connecting me to my offshore account in the Caymen Islands with a 7-figure balance" haha. Anyways, so I thought all of my deals, and arithmetic (I will compare deals notoriously and make sure I save an optimum amount whenever I enter a grocery store) was in vain. Then I remembered 'Wait a sec... this joint has an ATM doesn't it?' The checkout help which consisted of a teenager that was way too tall for their age, and a woman that had been there about 30 years longer than she had anticipated. Between the two of them, they didn't tell me there was an ATM 60ft from my location, they expected me to be like 'Oh, here's some cash'. I took the United States 'Pre-emptive strike' tactic, and broke the awkward silence with 'Ya, I don't carry cash, cya', before my ATM ephiphany. Then while returning from the ATM trek, some woman used the same line that I did... I was thankful she didn't have a monster truck worth of items to ring through, but the noteworthy piece of info is HER CARD DIDN'T WORK EITHER! There is the remote possibility of two cards both not working simultaneously. However, after she informed the clerk and his aid that the card was brand new, the logical train of thought would be play the 1-piece 'Blame Game' with the card reader! So all in all, I wasted 1.50 service charge on cash, when I went to the grocery store to save money.. However my savings were way more than 1.50, so I guess I can't complain.
I got home, and then realized the dog had urinated on the floor, which hasn't happened in 2 years, so I was very mystified. After consulting my sister on what product to use to clean up the mess, all was taken care of. However, I had water on the stove for pasta, and decided to make a salad to go with said pasta. But this cleaning delay led me to prepare my salad for consumption at the exact time that the pasta was done. It was a bit weird, but both were tasty.

Springter?

Alright, so in the midst of trying to decide what season it is, I have spent quite some time watching movies and working out. Among the movies, I watched a documentary called Bigger Stronger Faster, and it was excellent - exposed steroids, history, culture towards them, etc. Haven't seen a documentary as good as that one in a while, so it was refreshing. I entitled this blog "Springter" after I realized the english language already has 'Sprinter' as a completely different meaning haha. In other news, I've been on the hunt for some fish, on the reduced rack from Metro, but I have been unsuccessful in acquiring some. Although, I did walk through the hell that was rain/snow/strong wind to get to Metro the other day, so I couldn't leave there empty handed, picked up some dried cranberries as my stash is getting low.
Went back the Dentist, and I'll keep the time I was away hidden. Anyways, work needs to be done, and although it can be done imminently, the price rivals that of Bill Gates kitchen fixtures. Nevertheless, I figure with refined sugar out of my diet, and eating superbly healthy in all areas, this will be a one-shot deal, so I may as well suck it up.
Watched Sherlock Holmes - pretty good, Fearless (2006, but I love that movie), Ninja Assassin - good, bit of a weak plot, but then again ninja movies with plots are equivelant to finding Horror movies without boobs.
On the go today, I have to mail a cheque, and walk to metro again in search of fish. I found some Sole the other day, stuffed with something, but honestly it was the same portion as bacon is when it's wrapped around a fillet mignon... simply way too expensive. Other than that, I plan to get back on the workout train, it's been a couple days and I feel like a useless bastard.
Trainer informed me I can have Tostitos, so I'm pretty amped about that, considering no other chips are available for consumption. I made this kickass salad the other day with a heart of romaine lettuce, almonds, raisins, havarti, carrots and olive oil. Took me 45 minutes to eat the bloody thing, a full heart of romaine is an incredible amount of salad.. but nobody else wanted any so I decided I wouldn't let it go to waste.

2010... so far so good

Hey,

So it's been a while, but for the most part things are picking up. Been active at least 6x/week during 2010, and have to say I'm impressed. Sleeping has changed.. I now sleep maximum 7 hours/night, and take a power nap in the afternoon.. under instruction from my trainer, not some 'Mens Health' crap. Nutrition wise, things have undertaken a major overhaul... and I'm optimistic I will get used to my new diet.. For the things that have been removed, we say hello to my 2 good friends "Refined Sugar" and "White Flour". Yep, they're gone, but I did screw up and bought a couple bottles of pop after Thursday's martial arts classes... and I consume them very very fast.. from now on I will travel with a couple bottles of water to quench the thirst. Speaking of martial arts, things are going good in class, and my 6x/week workout schedule out of class is a very nice change from previous years of my life. I bought a workout machine that constitutes as a full gym, and that combined with snowshoeing, martial arts, and walking everywhere has put me in a good mood 95% of the time. Also, I don't feel like a 500lb bastard wasting away the days anymore. For example.. today I needed soy milk, so I walked 20 minutes to the store, got some, walked back. (just over 2km one-way roughly). Every thursday I walk to martial arts class and back, and if need-be, I'll walk to my trainers place.. 5k one-way. Ya, so I'm drinking Chocolate Soy Milk now, eating a lot of raw almonds and dried raisins, whole wheat pasta, Havarti cheese (expensive as hell but very good), whole wheat kaisers, oats, salad, seeds (sunflower, flax, pumpkin, etc) and eating more yogurt. Breakfast sandwiches, Sidekicks, Hot Chocolate, Burgers, Pizza have all been removed from the diet.. which to those of you that don't know me... is comparable to removing ones' testicle with a rusty spoon... those aforementioned items were the cornerstone of my life... With combined workouts on the machine, and off, + martial arts and other stuff, I'll be 100% stronger in 6 months, so I'm looking very forward to that. While I have some spare time not working out or journaling about working out and eating, I'm catching up on some movies as I am not employed currently. Recently for my viewing pleasure I watched Halloween II, Pride & Glory, Quantum of Solace, Law Abiding Citizen, Defiance, Teminator Salvation, Universal Soldier : Regeneration, End of Days & Public Enemies. The detiorating mess that were my snowshoe trails have left me with a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, but on a good note, if temperatures increase a few more degrees and we get the rest of the sidewalks melted, JOGGING SEASON! WOOT! I plan to break my ~10k route, which I haven't done in a couple summers, so it will take a bit to get back into it. I'll be going snowshoeing on Wednesday out of town which will be fun, I really enjoy that recreational activity.. it's kind of calming almost... most of the time I don't listen to music, and I just think about stuff. One thing that I'm glad to report is the progress I've made in some areas already working out, most noteably my pushups on the 6x6. My goal over the next few months is to get my abs back, not that I need to be able to withstand great force in the midsection from martial arts or anything (although it does help), it's more that I know that it's a LOT of work to get them, and it will be a nice milestone to start this year off. Also, no steroids, no protein shakes full of steroids, for all the mma junkies.. I do things properly. It is almost 2am, and I haven't stayed up this late in a while so I should probably head to bed. Tomorrow is martial arts + non-machine workout, so I need to be in tip-top shape. Cya later,

Chris

10 in 2010...

So that's a Bad Religion song name, for you non BR fans. Anyways, I haven't been online much, one of the things that's going well this new year is my lack of time on the computer. Went snowboarding a couple nights ago - cold as hell. Before that I went for a trek to my Aunt & Uncle's place, it's 6.4km to their road, then 1.8km down her road (which I had to snowshoe through because the shoulders of the road weren't wide enough to walk on without getting struck by a vehicle.) It was a good visit. More recently I went for another hike that started 2.5km away from my house, a good warmup walk - to Covered Bridge Trail... which I kinda misplaced, and ended up near my old elementary school, then saw the trail through the bank, so made my way down a bank full of trees, sticks, and other things... if anyone was watching me, they probably thought I was in the witness protection program, and was eluding a mob party with the indirect route I was taking... it turns out I was following some random tracks, not a trail... then the voyage down the steep hill made things more interesting... I found the trail finally, went through it, then instead of finding a continuation of the trail as marked by the map I checked online, I ended up in Meadow Heights subdivision.. kinda pissed as I was off course, but it's not like I randomly made my own trail... I followed the trail exactly as it was laid out in front of me. So I decided to walk across Meadow Heights on the road in my snowshoes, and good thing it was -17 out or else people would have thought I'm the village idiot. I found a snowmobile trail that covered the course of the gas pipeline that runs through bracebridge, so I made my way down it, travelling parallel to the trail I used to get to meadow heights. So the round trip was around 5km on the trail, then 2.5k each way to/from said trail to my house... so 10km wasn't bad.. Today I went for a walk to my trainers house.. a 63 minute walk that included led to a 2.5 hour workout, then a 53 minute walk/jog back to my house. I'm tired, hell I'm ready to collapse.. but it was a great workout. The 10km trek (about 5k each way I'm guessing), was a good enougy adventure anyways, but the workout on top was killer. Beat my pushup record a few days ago, so I'm happy about that..
Christmas was kinda fucked, as was most of December, but I made the best of it, and am determined to get back on track with working out full throttle. Martial arts class tomorrow night, I'm pumped about that - after todays adventure I hope my muscles recover in a timely manner... I felt drained when I got home, so had some roast beef and gravy.. then made a plate of pasta... and actually now that I think about it, could go for some ice cream.. we have some Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough in the freezer I think that I might liberate and consume... Anyways, that's all for now.. Fitness wise things are going great so far in 2010, lets just say I'm glad 2009 is gone and done.