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.

Shrek St.Louis Park Middle School Minnesota

Minneapolis YWCA Triathlon Workout 2017 #BREAD

MMA Kick Boxing Uptown YWCA Minneapolis #BREAD

Life and what is important

Workout Class

Holiday Cheer get Fat with Beer =) Cut that Gut and get off the Butt - Running, Boxing, Jumping, Sweating !!!!!

Here we are a week from the biggest holiday of the year where people gather and stuff themselves as full as they can be because they are thankful for all they have. Then they go out and shop for more of the things they think they or a loved one needs. 

I love Thanksgiving as much as the next person but I am not going to let it be an excuse this year for dropping my diet and exercise routine. I have been thinking a lot about how I feel and look in the state I am in now. The term diet does not really mean a short lived plan we put ourselves on but what we consume to sustain our life energy. I need to adopt the diet that will keep me in the shape I want and need to be in no matter what I do for exercise. Really most of how we look is determined by what and how much we eat. There is a saying that abs are made in the kitchen and I agree. Most of what people think is attractive or fit is really simply being a lower body fat percentage. That is something you can modify by what you put in your mouth. My grandma Betty had a saying that rings in my ears event to this day it was "a minute on the lips, a lifetime on the hips". Now I don't know that the idea is solid but it does open the door for conversation. Grandma would also say that nothing tasted as good as looking good feels. These quotes came from a woman who was over weight most of her adult life. 

What I am getting at is I have had enough of dieting and I just want to change my life and my diet for good. I hope you are a little fed up as well and want to join me. Why should most of America be fat and the rate of obesity be ever increasing in our youth? It is time we stop all of this insanity.

I pledge to work out hard the whole week of Thanksgiving. I will eat breakfast on the big turkey day, eat a moderate main meal and have some desert. I will not eat as I have in the past until I feel like I need to puke or even to the point where I need to take a nap. I will go for a walk with my wife and kids after the meal and have a cup of hot coffee. 

I would like you to pledge with me that you will not bring the extra shovel to your mouth and dig your grave a little faster. I want to live a long life for my kids and I want you to life a long life for the sake of life. I would like to get through the holiday season not only having connected with people I love and have not seen for some time but also by being in even better health than I am in now.

Sorry if I seem a little harsh in this post but I feel I need to be some time. I think I am my own best critic. I am always harder on myself than other people are. I do however remember one time that was really hurtful. I was about 12 and wearing a green T-shirt with a pocket and my dad said "5 more pockets and you would make a great pool table."  wow what a great thing to say to a chubby young kid who already had self esteem issues around weight. Anyway I will not be that kid anymore. I will be a hard, strong adult who is here to comfort that kid and defend him. 

45 Pounds lost this year! Biking Boxing and Bootcamp and some Walking dead Zombies to keep me moving

It has really been a while since I last posted. I had been feeling low because I was up over the past couple of years. I was hovering at around 300 pounds last Christmas, way more than I like to admit.  Well I took the time I was not posting and really worked out. I am currently at around 255, a weight I have not been down to since before my wedding 11+ years ago.

I owe my weight loss to a lot of things. Diet is the main change that helped me. I have cut a lot of the junk food out of my diet and dedicated myself to smaller portions. I also amped my coffee and water intake way up. I guess we make changes and where one thing lessons other things tend to increase.

I have been working out a lot. I did a kick boxing class last night and have been doing a lot of boxing workouts on my own. I love hitting the heavy bag and being able to release stress while quickly breaking a sweat. 

I have also been hitting the trails a lot. I did my 10th Red Ribbon Ride this summer and registered for my 11th. I also rode the last Breast Cancer Ride and the Pedal camp ride. 

The last day of the Red Ribbon Ride this year the top tube of my bike sheered right off where it meets the seat post. I was very sad. This bike has seen me through 25,000 mile of charity bike rides, training and bike commuting. It was very customized and love by me over the years. I definitely got my use out of it but it was still sad. Next spring I will be looking for a new road bike. I have done the majority of my bike rides this fall on my 29'er or my new fat bike. 

When not boxing or biking I have been taking a boot camp class. This is everything from sprinting  to kettle bells to pushing a sledge called a tank and more crazy fun. I really like the small group classes because of the motivation and the close relationships you develop quickly while moving towards your goal.

I add to all of this by running on the trails by my house 3.5 miles 4-5 days a week. I have been running with my Siberian husky. He is 11 years old and at the start of the summer could only run a mile or two. Now he can run with me all of the distance I run.  I also walk at a 12% incline at 3.5 mph while watching the Walking Dead with my daughter a night or two a week. Sometimes I pretend I am running from the undead =)

It goes to show that not only old humans but old dogs can learn new tricks and habits. I ran with my Aussi Shep until he was 15 human years old and he lived to be 16 and a half! 

Day 4 Red Ribbon Ride 2016 Leaving Northfield Minnesota #FightAIDS AIDS...

Black Diamond Fat Tire Bike - Minneapolis Bike Week Day 5 # Bikeweek

Minneapolis Bike week 2016 Day 4 #BikeWeek #FightAIDS #FightCancer

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh! Pull ups Push Ups Spins to Fight AIDS

Here we are at week 5 of the meltdown with team #ITakeSelfies 

It has been a great experience so far. I lost 6 pounds the first week and have maintained the same weight since. I feel like I am putting on a lot of muscle. I did lose a trainer =) I guess we wore out the old one. 

Last week I did Gladiator on Thursday, Then Dodgeball Friday followed by working out with our new trainer Andrew for an hour Saturday just before a 2 hour spin. I have to say by Sunday I was worn out.

The 2 hour spin was great. We were training for the 2016 Red Ribbon Ride. If you don't know what it is ask me. Basically I ride 300 miles across Minnesota over 4 days every summer to raise money to fight AIDS / HIV.

Sunday I did a little less workout, just a little cardio on the treadmill. Then back at it Monday with my regular workout. Tues I ran 1.5 miles, did 20 min on the elliptical and did gladiator. We started Gladiator with a 10 min set of 10X pull ups then 20X push ups back to back as many as we could. Then the standard HIIT set and ladder drills at the end =)

I am doing the same workout today as I did Tuesday. We will see how I  feel after.

I did go back to My Fitness Pal because my new trainer wanted me to print out my Macro nutrients. 

Weigh out is next week. I hope I am down a couple more pounds.

Happy St.Patrick's Day!

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh!

Meltdown 2016 YWCA team #ItakeSelfies Down 6 pounds and Holding - TRX, Boxing , Gladiator

Here we are 2016 is off to a Bang!

I am in the last 2 weeks of the Meltdown / Y weight loss competition this year.

The first week I took off 6 pounds and have been in a holding pattern since. My trainer suggested I add a lot of protein to my diet and it seems to be adding muscle. Good and bad since I really want to lose actual weight. I have been using the Lose It app for IOS. I find it easy to use and ad free. I did try the My Fitness Pal app from Under Armour but it was more complicated to enter data and has way to many emails plus it spams me with emails.

In the last 2 weeks I plan to double up on workout so 2X a day and try to keep my calorie intake at about 2400 a day. Based on my weight just the calorie reduction should take off a pound a week.

I started out the competition doing  boxing with my daughter. It has been a lot of fun. Now I have added in Gladiator, TRX workouts with a trainer, Triathlon training and dodgeball. I hope to lose at least another 4 pounds. I can do it!

I will update the blog next week to let you know how my progress is going. Or come join me in a workout!

2 hour spin Red Ribbon Ride YWCA Minneapolis Uptown fight AIDS HIV

Old Irish Blessing Song Benilde St.Margarets Alumni Choir 2015 Christmas...

Happy Back To The Future Day October 21 2015 Marty McFly

Happy Monday! Columbus Day 2015

Pedal Paddle Camp 2015 Day 1 Camp Heartland fight AIDS / HIV in Minnesota

Team Field Nation MS MuckFest START 2015

Start of Field Nation Muckfest MS Run 2015