2020 and some new self care and Thankfulness

It has again been a while since I posted. My dad passes away in January of 2019. He had cancer and Hep C. It was a very trying time. I will address a little of that since I have talked here about me as a parent. I know that part of why I try so hard to be a good parent is because of my relationship with my dad. We did not spend a lot of time together when I was growing up. To start he was a drummer in a rock band and on the road all of the time. My mom and he split paths when I was 2 or 3. There was always a void that I did not understand and still work on to this day.  My mom did her best but there is a hole when kids don't have 2 parents around. As I grew up my dad got married and had 2 more kids and got divorced. He spent time with me here and there but we were not close. My dad drank a lot and the best times we had was when he was sober for periods of time. Again this is a big part of why I don't drink much. 

Fall of 2018 I spend more time with my dad than I had in a long time. But as it often seems to do cancer got the better of him. Slow downhill for months then a fast fade into death.I mourn my dad and the vision of a perfect future where he was sober and where we were close that never came to be. 

I never fell off my workouts but I did eat more of the bad things than I should have. Comfort food is not good for you but you do what you can when you are mourning.

I did the weight loss competition at the YWCA over this winter and I lost a pound from Thanksgiving to New years. I remember years where I would put on 30 pounds over the holidays. I hope those times are gone now. I have been focusing on self-care, more time away from screens and things that cause me stress. I have been trying to cut out sweets and stop eating in the early evening.

I am doing the Red Ribbon Ride again this year 225 miles through Minnesota to fight AIDS / HIV and lots of bike training leading up to it.

I will post more this year. I will also love myself more and slow down the insanity of life.

I hope you are doing well in your weight loss and care journey. Let me know if I can help with anything.

Peace,

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

Christmas, New Years and all the food in-between

Well it has been a long holiday season and it isn't over yet. I can't count on both hands how many times I have had to pass by a plate of cookies without taking one. This season is traditionally one where I put on 10 pounds or more. So far I have not put on a pound. I have not been passing up on all sweets I have just been making sure I fill up on good food first. I have also been throwing in a lot of exercising and sleep.

I talked earlier in my blog about how I make sure to eat before I go out around the holidays. Well this year I doubled that, I made sure I ate a big salad and some protein before I went anywhere. I also made sure to drink lots of water. When I was going to eat sweets I ate them at the end of the event. If you wait until the end of an event to eat a couple of sweets and then head home you don't have the option of eating more. I think not grazing on sweets for long periods of time has been really good for me.

I also don't drink much. I drink coffee and tea and made sure I stuck to those over the holidays. When you drink coffee with a little milk or tea and do not add sugar you have almost no added calories. When you drink hard drinks you are more likely to forget and eat bad food. Depending on what you mix them with you can also be adding lots of calories to your diet in liquid form.

Another of my saviors is my treadmill. I have a treadmill in front of my television and make sure I do  an hour of cardio at least 5 times a week. I will walk at a 3.5-4 mile per hour pace at full incline while watching tv. This burns a lot of calories and when I do it in the morning it helps me wake up.

I make a point to make it to the gym for my Gladiator class and Dodge Ball because it is the easiest way to run around and not have it feel like a workout. I think I have actually been losing weight this season.  My new years resolution may not have a specific weight goal this year but an overall fitness and eating goal. We are going sugar free in my whole house and my wife is on board. This does not mean stopping people from bringing sweets over. We just will not buy things with added sugar and we will not cook with sugar. We are moving over to honey and maple syrup. You may think these are similar to sugar  but they are not. Sugar is an inflammatory  and there is noting the same as it. Honey is  a natural antibiotic that is well recognized in Europe. 

I have one last holiday party this weekend and I am confident I will make it. Tonight I worked out and  tomorrow I am going to do the same. I am going to eat a being healthy lunch before I head out and I am bringing a vegetable tray.  I hope to convey my need to stay healthy with the people at the party. It feels strange bringing your own food places but we need to do what we need to do to keep healthy.

I hope your holidays have been super. If you have fallen off the food wagon get back on and keep up the good fight. You are doing it for You.

Peace,

Gabe