2017 in review video 11 inside Mendenhall Glacier

My 2017 in video review video 8 Trail running!

My 2017 in video review video 7! Norther Pike fishing Ely Mn

My 2017 in video review video 5! Skiing in 360

My 2017 in video review video 4! Rock Climbing Vertical Endeavors (Minneapolis)​ with Angela Skelly​

My 2017 in video review video 2! Spinning for the Red Ribbon Ride​ with Friends including The Minneapolis Jaycees​ Angela Skelly​ Kathleen Sprole​ Eric Mize​

My 2017 in video review video 2! Spinning for the Red Ribbon Ride​ with Friends including The Minneapolis Jaycees​ Angela Skelly​ Kathleen Sprole​ Eric Mize​

My 2017 in video review video 1! Kickboxing with Anthony Meyer​ and Ciera at the YWCA Minneapolis Health and Fitness​ was a huge part of the year.

Sledding in the Snow with Kids, Kickboxing Zombies, Rock climbing and Running

I have been doing it!  My weigh is stable and I am down a little. I have been working out every day and adding weight to my free weigh lifts. Working in a lot of dead lifting both with dumbbells at home and with bumper plates at the gym. I love to hit the gym but I always need to work out from home.

We have had two snow bouts so far this winter and we have fully embraced them both. Getting out sledding with the kids is one of the real joys of winter. It's also a great way to be outside in the winter and get some exercise. If you don't think so just try it. Running up a hill with a sled, zooming back down and getting up so you can run up the hill again. What a fun way to burn calories while having fun with the kids in the winter.

I have also been getting back into kickboxing. I created a little drill on Friday where I pretend the heavy kickboxing bags are zombies and I have to fight my way past them to get to safty. Wow this is a crazy hard workout. I ran my kids through it this weekend and they not only loved it but thought it was very hard.

Watch the Zombie Kickboxing drill


Sunday we went to REI to return some items and the rock climbing wall was almost empty. We climbed for about an hour. Wow are my arms out of shape for climbing. But I love it so much and now my oldest son does to. We are going to climb at Vertical Endeavors next week for a day. Come join us if you want.

To really drop some weight I have been staying away from candy and sugar. I also added my kale smoothies back into my diet and cut my carbs. Its interesting how hard it can be to eat clean as a parent. My wife does not need to watch what she eats since she is naturally thin. My kids don't like most of the healthy food I need to eat and I end up annoyed and challenged. Will power needs a lot of enforcing over the holidays!

I know I will make it. I love to run and be active. I will keep in shape and fight the battle of the holiday bulge while enjoying all of my free time with the kids.

I hope you enjoy your time and stay happy with yourself.

-Gabe

Sledding in the snow with the Walking dead and Protein waffles lets Loppet together

We have SNOW in Minnesota. Seems funny to be as excited about it as I am but we have not had enough snow the last couple of years. The last 2 nights I have been out sledding with my kids. I really enjoy getting out, the snow makes everything so fresh and clean and white!!!

I want to do some fat tire biking this winter. I know the Loppet has some events for bikes and skiing. I am going to do them, who wants to join me?

Last night I made dinner, it was waffles. I usually make my own but my mom gave me a box of some healthy waffles. The box had a story about their invention and about how hole grains with protein are really good for you. The box also talked about how the modern day pancakes are nothing like the old school flapjacks from times of old. 

I added 6 eggs, and milk to the recipe and it was super. Served with honey or real maple syrup and fruit. It was a dinner everyone loved.

My recipe :

4-6 cups whole wheat flower

1/2 cup flax seed

1-2 cups Greek yogurt

2-4 tsp baking powder

1 cup milk (or more to how think you want them)

3/4-1 cup peanut butter

* if you want a really big protein boos add 3/4cup whey or other protein.

You can eat them fresh or freeze and warm up in the toaster.

I think like the waffles we have changed much of our food into processed garbage and we don't even think about the changes. We need to get back to cooking whole food that are not full of sugar or worse corn syrup.

I have been eating a lot cleaner this week and getting my cardio in. I purchased the 7th season of the walking dead for my daughter and we watched an episode last night while I walked on the treadmill. I love movies and walking. No better way to get in some low impact endurance cardio under the belt.

Tonight I am going to do the same. Sled, walk then clean for friends coming over Saturday. I will also spend some time writing Christmas cards. I love this time of year and now that my foot is feeling better I can really get my exercise groove on!

I hope you have a super weekend and keep up all of the great work!

Happy Friday!

-Gabe

Cutting weight and dead lifting some weight off, winter nights and SAD lights enjoying Christmas in the North #Minnesota

Losing some weight is always a good thing. I have been really hitting the weights and treadmill since I got over my gout attack. Ish I hope that never happens again. The NSAID I was on seems to have worked but I feel it was also making me put on weight. Or not =)

I have been walking on the treadmill at a 5-12 degree incline at a speed of 3-4.0 Mph. It really seems to help. I have been doing some spinning on my fluid trainer as well as hitting the free weights. I have about 400 pounds of Olympic plates and 2 bench's in my weight room. On of my favorites is still the 50 pound dumbbells. I will stand and do curl set after curl set with those while watching a movie.

I am down 5 pounds in the last week and have 3 to go to be back at my pre gout weight. Then on to the fun. My focus is not eating crap - like sugar or processed things. I will let myself do fruit and nuts and cheese at holiday events but I need to hold it to that. I am also not going to drink a lot of hot cocoa or drinks with added calories.

My kids are always a great help with my weight loss ....NOT

Part of my journey is realizing my willpower is about me. If my kids get sweets or make sweets or buy junk food its my responsibility to push them away and not eat the junk.

I still feel required to eat something if someone made a special treat for the holidays but I try to stay away from force feeding situations.

My grandma Betty always quoted me "a minute on the lips, a lifetime on the hips"  while this is a little morbid and mean I get it. As I get older the weight goes on a lot easier and leaves a lot harder.

What are your plans to stay fit over the holidays?

I will be doing a lot of pre planning, thinking about what I am eating, pushing away and exercising.



I will add next week how I have done but I hope to make it through 2 events this week and not gain a pound. I can do it!

Wherever you are on your parenting and self body love journey I wish you luck, you can do anything you put your mind to!

Gout attack - Thanksgiving - Bentlyville and a 2 hour spin

Well here we are. I did not post much in November or finish the Nanowrimo this year. I started a new job, I love it! I also had my first attack of gout and some other fun.

When should I start? I am now working in Downtown Minneapolis about 3 blocks from my old location. I am driving and busing to work and waiting until spring to start biking to work.

I have been trying to keep my weight stable or lose some. I had been on a roll but it gets tough as you know when you don't workout on a regular schedule. I had been doing morning workouts 3-4 days a week and kickboxing 1 evening with my daughter. Well mornings are out and the kickboxing class filled up for the session. We will be doing it again next session.

I worked out the night before Thanksgiving and was feeling pretty good. Then came my sore foot. Thursday it got sore, Friday it hurt more and was swelling, Friday night I work up in the middle of the night in pain. Every time the sheets touched my food I cringed.I went to the ER in Grand Marais the next morning and the DR put me on medication for gout. He didn't need to look to long since I have a family history through my grandpa and my mom. He gave me a non steroid anti inflammatory. He also said I could start working out a little when the pain was gone. He suggested cycling or swimming. Well I figured I would be back walking around that day or the next.

It turned out it took me a week for my foot to go back to almost normal. Saturday we stayed in Grand Marais but I didn't do much. Sat around and iced my foot. It was really hard for me since I love to walk around. I actually really have a hard time sitting at all. Then Sunday we packed to go home. We visited Bentlyville and the kids pushed me around in a wheelchair. I am sure this was a lot more fun for them than for me.

We made it home Sunday night and over the next week my foot got better. Saturday I did the 2 hour spin for World AIDS day and felt pretty good. Next up is for me to get back into weight loss and get to a comfortable weight.

The plus side is I have been hitting the weights more. My bench is increasing and my arms are really coming along. Now on to losing some tummy flab!

I just read an article about loving your body and I agree. I need to love myself and embrace that I can weight less or more but I need to not hate my body or the way I look. We all need to love ourselves more and then we can love others better.

Its not a war against food it a life with moderation. I will always keep trying.

We are in the month of December and more food and sweets gets consumed from now until new years than any time else. We can choose to embrace friends and gatherings with moderation and still have a great time. This goes for booze as well as food. Many of you know I don't drink much but for those who do, try to keep it reasonable.

I will commit to doing cardio 6 days a week for the rest of the year and a goal of feeling happy about my body. What is your rest of the year goal?

Wherever you are on your parenting or body journey keep up the good work. Nothing gets better without effort.

I am here for you!

Post 3 #NanoWrimo2017 Nanowrimo in progress write 50,000 words in November = Book

Post 3 #NanoWrimo2017 Nanowrimo in progress write 50,000 words in November = Book

Unedited!

The saying painted in ancient letters below the painting was  - “the biggest trick the devil every did was convincing the world that he did not exist”.

We throw up one final prayer for those we love and who have left us. Putting on heavy jackets we slowly move out into the cold dark night, snow has turned back into rain making it feel even colder. Raw tear stroked cheeks are drenched with freezing moisture from the sky. And we walk, walk in silence to a place where we will all talk more joyously. We walk through the night each filled with thought of loved ones remembered and thinking about life.

Funny how fast we can shift from mourning to jovial when given the proper time. We arrive in a great mead hall lit with candles and a warm fire billowing on each side, 4 in all.  A light music is playing from a pair of harps and mandolin players in the corner. Against the longest wall is a table filled with meat and cheese, drinks and deserts. Not a person enters without looking and smiling at the feast that is  to come.  A small bell is hit with a hammer over and over, the eating and talking commences.

I walk to the table, small plates and forks are piled. I take mine and move forward, roast beast with cheese, pickled horny toad with crumpets, elk with eel sauce and Asian worm chocolate cake fill my plate. It is so heaped that a chunk of roast beat falls off as I walk to my table. A lap wolf runs over to the meat on the floor and quickly gobbles it up. The table I sit at is huge twenty people around with a giant candle in the center surrounded by a hundred smaller candles. We greet each other with a wave and hello and seat to feast.

The laughter and smells make a mood so loving you would hardly know we had been praying on departed souls only moments earlier. A server brings by tea and mead and espresso made of dried beans excreted from a cat. I ask for a goblet of all three and back up to make room on the table. Even though the table is very large every square inch is covered with food and drinks and peoples elbows as they converse close to neighbors. What a joy it is to take the time to talk about loved ones and all that brings us together in the fabric of humanity.  We all eat and eat and eat until no one can fit another morsel into their gut. There is still much food everywhere but in fear of bursting everyone is done eating. The fires are stoked and the harp gets louder. The newly formed family begins to say good byes and coats are brought out by helpers. The rain has shifted back to snow and there is now a thin layer of ice coating everything outside.

As we walk back to our electric carriages we drift off in small groups and mutter about the night. It sure was a nice service, the meal was over the top, the conversations and people were great. We commit to come back again next year. There will always be more death and there is always a need for prayer and community. We are mindful that we take the time needed to remember those we have lost and spend time with those still here that will be for a long time and are close to passing over.

The journey home is not a long one, dark and dreary with a certain delight you can only feel after mourning is over. The night is young but it is black as pitch. The road is wet and slippery. We pass a few other people on their journeys somewhere into the night.

When we think back on places and times that

Day 2 #NanoWrimo2017 Nanowrimo in progress write 50,000 words in November = Book

Unedited day 2:

We find ourselves driving across a plane of life so full of noise and busyness that we can’t concentrate long to see the endpoint on the plains in front of us.  If we lose track of the long game of life we may ne be prepared for everything it has to throw at us but if we don’t allow ourselves to be consumed by the craziness of now we risk losing time all along. One of the hardest things to do as a human is to live in the now. Not in the past or in what we will be doing in the future but living in right now. The present is just that, it’s a gift and we will never have it again. As children time seems infinite, as old age sets in days fly by like sparks and time grows ever faster. Take time now to embrace the crazy, smelly, dirty, hard and fun. Life throws a lot at us and we need to try our best to take that lot and run with it.

I was once told that life is change and that growth is optional. I don’t disagree but sometimes its much harder to change and grow than we would like to admit. We get pretty stuck in our proverbial rut and even if its not going the way we want we don’t give ourselves the power to turn the steering wheel and head cross country into the jungle on that next adventure.

At a vespers service for those who have passed we take a pause, marked in a book the silence fills the great expanse of the cathedral. It feel good, right, a little strange in our loud and ever to fast moving world. Singers and a lone violin paint a chilling and bright background to remember those we have passed and speed them on to heaven with prayers. Together we weep for those we will not embrace again on this earthly plain. We know we will see them again in another place in another time maybe in another life. We dream that at the end of what is now, there is a better place, heaven to some rest to others. The ancient greeks would pass and walk the elysian fields the Vikings go to Valhalla and  everyone will go somewhere. Those with not faith in a higher power have a more morbid belief on what happens after we pass. A burning of the bones, worms eating and crawling through our brains. I prefer to have the happier though that we go to a better place and join our friends and family and maybe also pets that have passes before us.

We pray that those who passed not knowing god will be allowed to enter heaven through gods grace and our prayers as an entry key. Imagine a loved mother sitting at the gates of heaven and looking down into the black abyss of hell. Knowing at that point that there is a god and a devil.  Maybe she should have though a little more about it when she was on earth. Maybe she could have lived a better life. Lots of maybes but this one is not lost. As this mother sees the devil claim others she sees a light. Those who she spend time raising have given her the key and god has granted her mercy. Although she did not know god directly while she walked the earth she moved in his image. She worked all she could to raise her family, she helped the poor, she did not embrace a life of heavy sin. There is salvation and there is a solice knowing that living a good life can be just in itself.

The ancient ones painted a story depicted by pictures in an alley. The alley was in a castle long forgotten and in ruins. What was on the wall was a man who was dressed in robes helping the poor standing next to a man in a suit smoking a cigar.  The picture depicts the trick that happens in life when the good are so humble they blend in with everyone but the devil can also blend in with those who he is most like. 

NanoWrimo Unedited day 1 writing start Mindful life be happy and chill

I am currently doing the NanoWrimo from time to time this November my blog post will be unedited sections of my ramblings. I do this to be creative and while children run screaming around me. I will be back to my normal weight and child focus writing in December. Enjoy!

Day 1:

Today is the start of something amazing. Shouldn’t every day be amazing?

I wake up in this space that I created. I have the ability to be positive and creative and make today my day, my world needs me and needs more than anything for me to love myself and be kind to all. I wake up and look at the ceiling and it’s a blank slate.  A place for my mind to imaging all of the wonderful things I am going to do today. I can walk to the coffee maker and put on a pot of my favorite coffee, I can let the dog out in the backyard, I can go out and get the newspaper that has been waiting for me for hours just to pick it up. I can also walk to my couch and do some writing or lay in bed with my wife and relax a little longer in a comfortable bed and be warm.

When we wake up in the morning we should be happy, when we wake up in the morning we should be free of the restraints of anything. This day we can be who we want to be. If there is something we don’t like we will take positive actions to change it for the better.

When we practice self love we can then give more to the world and to other. Self love is not something pornographic or sexual it is simply loving yourself. If you don’t know what this means think about slowing down, taking personal time away from everything including technology, relaxing and giving your mind and body a break and time to regenerate.

One way we can do this is to spend the time we need in life to get past things that upset us.

I was recently at a funeral for my last grandmother. She lived a great life and was 90 when she died. I took the time to mourn. Although this was not as sad of a funeral as some that I have experienced. Grandma grew up very poor and in a farm family. They seldom wore or could afford shoes and they would walk miles and miles on weekend to fish in the creek. They would then bring home and eat any fish they caught. Not a picky bone in grandma when it came to eating fish or wild game.

She lived as much at peace in life as you can be. She had a lot of challenges, most she overcame in her 90 years of life. One of the things she always pushed was prayer and love for family. She did not embrace wasting a lot of time on technology. She spent time at church or at home and that is where you would find here. You could call on the phone and she would almost always pick up on the other end of the line with her wired old style phone.

In the last years of her life I made sure to visit as often as I could. I really did and I feel grateful for this. I learned a long time ago that you don’t want to feel regret in life because once you feel it seldom can you change anything.

When I heard grandma passed I cried and then prayed her home to heaven. A week later  was the funeral. Grandma was a Catholic and wanted a traditional funeral. Wake with prayer service was filled with family. Mass at church. I said I could help.  I read a couple of things. One was the time prayer. A time for this and a time for that. Today I take time for me. I was also a Eucharistic minister and a pall bearer. The bible passage was the same one I read at my other grandfathers funeral. I think its funny that there is a time for everything in life but most people don’t take time to mourn or time for themselves as they race through life.

Life is Messy Woman yell for help while Baby screams into the night - Heroin in Juneau Alaska

As I was jogging tonight I though of my trip to Alaska or rather a part of it I must have put somewhere deep in my head to forget.

I had just got back from my visit to Glacier Bay and was staying in Juneau. I went shopping after a little hike and was walking back to my hotel groceries in hand. It was a pitch-black night about 50 degrees the mountains creeping in from all sides. I had my bear spray on my belt since I knew there were bears all over this town. I heard a woman yelling then it turned to screams for help. I hear a baby start crying and smashing noises. For a second I though I must have been hearing things. I was hearing something it turned out to be a bad case of domestic violence 100 yards ahead of me. Across from my hotel there was a house and a lot that looked abandoned. There was a truck camper in the lot, a little one like you fit on the back of a pickup truck. I don't know what all was inside the little camper but as I walked quickly towards it I heard a woman screaming for help and a baby screaming in pain. I also heard smashing and a man yelling. I almost rushed right in with my can of bear spray. Really I was a second from doing it bear spray in hand. Then I thought about my kids and family. 

I quickly called the police and told them what was going on and where I was. Picture me standing shaking, bear spray in hand, across the street from a trailer with what sounded like a woman and child being killed. I remember my cousin saying that Heroin had gotten bad in Juneau. I think this was part of the result. I started yelling that I called the police and a drunk man came out of nowhere and started yelling at the people in the trailer to stop. I yelled more and less than 2 minutes later 4 squad cars rolled up silent but lights flashing. 8 police got out, I yelled where to go and they all extended beating sticks. I could still hear the baby crying and the woman crying for help so I don’t think they were dead. I darted into the lobby of my hotel as the police broke into the trailer. After that I hid. I was scared someone would come for me. My hotel was across the parking lot from the camper and my room access was outside facing the camper and the police. Anyone looking would know where I was. 

After that nothing happened. Silence filled the night. I am still alive and I think the woman and child are. I know their screams will haunt me for the rest of my life. I don't know if I did exactly the right thing but I think I did. 

Life is scary and messy, embrace what you can and be safe.

Death of the last Grandparent , Driving 4 kids around Driving me Nutz, Fall Weight loss and more!

So I learned last week that my last grandparent, Helen Hinton had passed away. She was 90 years old. She was a loving person who always saw the best in life and lived unconditionally. I was not close to my dad growing up for many reasons. He and my mother separated when I was 3 years old. Good or bad that was how it was. I saw my moms family a lot and my dads family a lot less. Over the years I lost my grandparents on my moms side, my grandpa Hinton passed away a long time ago in his 60's. He was a green beret in a select group named Merrill's Marauders he picked up some nasty jungle rot in his foot and passed before his time. Grandma lived alone in Winthrop Minnesota and as I got older I started to visit on my own. Usually 3-4 times a year I would drive down with the kids and bring lunch. It was a good time to connect. On January 1st of this year I got the call that she had a stroke and would be in the nursing home. Well it kinda sucked. She hated being there but she needed full time care. Me and the kids visited 5-6 times over the 9 months she was there. a week and a half ago I got the call that she had a massive stroke and would not be on the earth much longer. I packed the kids up in the car and we went and visited one last time. Although grandma could not talk I know she could hear me  and I could feel family members that have already passed smiling down from Heaven ready to welcome her home. 

We learned 3 days later that grandma had passed away. We celebrate her life tomorrow night and a Catholic funeral will follow on Friday. I am happy I have no regrets about my visits with grandma and she will be happy in Heaven. A note of advice - make the time in life to visit loved ones, even if you think life lasts forever you never know what will happen and you can always work more tomorrow.

On a more annoying topic driving 4 kids around AHHHHH!

I traditionally resist signing my kids up for things that are to far away or that require a large time commitment of parents sitting and waiting. You just can't do it when you have 4. In the past we have had grandparents help drive to and from tennis and swimming lessons and other special after school events. This year our oldest is going youth ministry at our church, service work feeding the poor and helping run club on Sundays. This means at least 3 days a week to and from our church 30 minutes away. Then our youngest is in preschool 2 days a week and at the YWCA 3 days a week. each one of these is 2-3 hours and requires drop off and pickup. Leaving me about 2 hours or less of time to get work done. On top of my day to day kid driving there are special events, these seem to happen at least 2-3 times a week. Either a choir or orchestra concert, meeting with teachers, come club after school or a field trip or sporting event. Then there is all the stuff that I want to do, like Twin Cities Startup Week this week  #TCSW I swear we need Uber for kids =) 

Only partially kidding on that, if you have kids you either know what I am talking about or you soon will. Funny thing about this is when I talk to my mom about it she says she never did as much running around for family stuff as I do. What has our generation done to itself?

My weight oh my weight. 

I have not gained weight since last week but I have also not dropped weight. I have been working out more. Adding in power lifting and trx as well as a little running. I am holding off on a lot of running until I lose a little weight. I have been doing 40-60 minutes of cardio on a non impact arc trainer 3-5 days a week. I am also still kickboxing with my oldest every week. I think or rather I know I need to keep decreasing my portions and stay away from sweets. This is really hard with the funeral because I tend to stress eat. I will make it through somehow.

I hope you are having a great week. Wherever you are on your parenting and weight loss or workout journey I wish you the best. Come lift with me anytime!

-Gabe

Coffee with Mushrooms and Fasting oh My ( Organo Gold W Ganoderma lucidum/ Reishi )

So I have been working on losing weight with little change and I am always looking at ways to make some extra money in my spare time. In a family with 2 adults and 4 kids things are always expensive. After messaging with a friend on facebook who I met through a beach body p90 group I decided to try a new coffee - Organo Gold.

It is very interesting the idea is basically blend organic good coffee with powdered mushrooms. The result is a fairly smooth less caffeinated coffee with the benefits of an ancient mushroom. I tried it for a day and it seems like something I can get into. That was Friday.

Then we went to the cabin for the weekend. Caught some fish and hung out in the beautiful Wisconsin fall weather and Sunday we headed home.

Sunday night about 3am I woke up dizzy. More dizzy than I have ever been in my life. I was laying in bed spinning and when I tried to get up I almost fell down.  I got up for a little while and went back to bed. When I woke up a little later I saw the news of the shooting in Las Vegas and decided to do something I haven't done for some time. I fasted!!

When I was a child my mother and I would fast a whole day and pray to get in touch with the great spirit and as a kind of giveaway. I didn't eat anything all day and I prayed about the world and the future.

Well when I woke up Tuesday morning I was feeling great, I had lost 8 pounds since Saturday and everything was good. I don't know if the dizzy spell was a detox from taking the Organo Gold or not. I am willing to give it a try again. I know that I felt better mentally after fasting for a day. Both because I spend the day busy and praying and because in todays world it is  not often that many of us actually feel hungry.

I am not going to starve myself as I get back on a roll with eating less and exercising more but it is interesting to really feel your body hungry. Many people in the world feel it all the time.

Tonight I am back to kickboxing at the gym. Come join me sometime!

I hope to write next week and have my weight keep going down. Where ever you are in your journey keep up the good work and focus on Self love, Love you as you are and it will make positive change much more possible.

Peace,

Gabe

Fall weather Seasonal Affective Disorder and Holiday Treats + 360 Video

Greetings Friends,




We find ourselves at the end of September once again. The daylight is almost exactly equal to night hours. It should be getting colder although we just had 3 90 degree days in Minnesota which breaks all sorts of records. School is in swing for children along with all of the PTA PTO, lessons and practices for parents. Everything seems to combine and make it hard to lose weight. But if you do it right this can be one of most beautiful and comfortable times of year to exercise.

The light is fading so what do you do?
Many doctors suggest bright lights in the morning and a broad spectrum light box for 20-30 minutes a day. The Mayo clinic suggest that 80 percent or more of people living in a northern climate experience some degree of SAD marked by a general decline in energy and active hours.  You don't need to let this get you down just take some steps to deal with it.

 Going outside is the biggest way to get sunlight. Even on a cloudy or winter day the sun is many many times brighter than lights inside your home or work and your mind will know the difference. When it gets really dark out try to take a short walk during your lunch or coffee break when it is light outside. You should also consider drinking more water and supplementing with natural vitamins.


I love this season for getting out and going for a run or walk. Its cool and you can dress in layers to stay warm starting and work into a nice sweat in the cooler comfortable weather. This time of year I switch from road biking to mountain biking to take advantage of the colors and eventually change to fat biking in the snow. If you are local to the Twin Cities I would love to have you join me on a ride. Aside from outdoors many health clubs start to ramp up with youth and adult evening programs. I know I put most of my muscle on over the winter. I usually hit the gym 3-5 days a week and concentrate on free weights and muscle building activities along with low impact cardio. Two great ways to also deal with SAD.



I love the Danish way of dealing with the winter months. They take a month or more off work and stay at home. Hygge - get cozy at home, bundle up with lots of candles and a fire, sip some tea and get close with loved ones. I know I am stocked up with candles, wood and my favorite Harney and Sons tea!

How ever you do it enjoy the season!

I  am working to lose some weight and making sure I think long term but its one bite at a time. At 35 I find I can no longer exercise off the weight I put on from eating more than I should. I have also been finding that I like the sweets that my kids bring home more than I used to. Maybe I am just exerting less willpower. The trick it so be kind to yourself and love your body. You may not be in the shape that you want to be in or that the crossfit ads you see on facebook show but your body is the only one you have. Negativity never helped anyone, but is has hurt a lot of people. Work on one day at a time, eat as well as you can and move your body. See friends, get outside and laugh a lot.

Until we meet again,

Blessing and be well!

-Gabe

Mindful Parenting and Weight loss through Danish ways and skillful thinking

Happy Spring / Summer,

Seems like we have the seasons all mixed up this year. We had heat like never before, then rain like never before, now cold that is not in season.

This all adds up to a strange growing season and keeping the clothing for all seasons close at hand.

I have been reading a couple of booking on living Danishly and on Danish Parenting. Add these to the self work I have been doing on mindfulness and it's an interesting mix.

The Danes believe that work and life need to be in balance, The average danish worker puts in a 37 hour week and takes 5 weeks of Holiday. In this time they spend a lot of  energy on family and community connections.

I have been trying out this with my family. As a stay at home dad with a family of 4 mindfulness and intention is a big thing. I don't mean intention as I intend to do 1 thing I mean parenting and spending time with intention. I try my best not to waste time of energy on things that 1 don't help my family and 2 don't help me. as I work on this I have been seeing what seems to me as a lot of wasted life energy. I see people plugged into screens ( electric ones) all of the time. Not really doing anything but looking. I remember Garrison Kelior talking on MPR about how he loved TV but never had time to watch it. He was to busy living life. This seems to make sense and is the way I want to live.

Mindfulness really get into listening to your self. Last night we got back from a great trip with the kids to Ely Minnesota. We has fires, fished, hiked, ate and had a great family time. I did not exercise as much as I would like but I made that choice to be more with the family. When I got home last night I was really tired. I was going to spin for 2 hours to get ready for a 100 mile bike ride I am doing this weekend but I listened to my body. I could have done it and the old me would have done it. I was sore and tired and am doing 2 a day workouts all week. I decided to clean up a little and go to bed early. I relaxed my body and mind and did not over do.

In that time that we give our mind and body space we can really know what we need to do. I find that I need to slow down, do less things, realize how many distractions there are and embrace the important things.

To me this means exercising in my free time, screen free summer, taking time to be with family and friends and prioritization of life energy spend.

As my weight goes I am up a little. I just signed up for another workout round with my friend Tony and his Gladiator class and I am moving back to cutting sugar our of my diet.

The weight will come off.

In being mindful always think of the glass with marbles, gold balls, sand and water.


If you fill your glass

1 . Family time - golf balls
2. Friends and extended family - marbles
3. Work - sand
4. Volunteering and extra commitments - Water

Then the family works, your friends have time, you work and have time to do extra things in the community.

Often in the USA people treat work as golf balls and leave no room for the things that make life worthwhile.

If you make extended family and parents golf balls it also does not work. The goal of a family unit is to raise children that are ready for the world. Make your immediate family safe and the most important thing in your world.

Mindful parenting is hard so is mindful living.