Whoa, we're all going to be fat

I'm swamped right now, but I did get a chance to see the start of this article, which says that 42% of the US population will be obese in the near future.

The chances are higher for you if your friends are obese, too.

A four year old burger

Here is a video about a weird person with a four year old burger and fries:

Here's something about crash diets

You know, I'm trying to get my body back, the one I had when I was a lot younger. I know the pressure of trying to get fit. Let me tell you a secret: crash diets don't work.

Don't believe me? Read this article, covers a fair amount of information.

And to the question "So what if I am obese, it only affects me" ... I have one thing to point you at, too: this article.

Quick link

Here is a link to an article about how 95% of Americans don't get enough exercise.

Whoa, that's a big number - so go for a walk.

A couple of Nutrition links

I was reading this morning, I signed myself up for a few emails ... they keep coming, I keep reading.... this is pretty good stuff here:

School meals idea is here. I like the idea of teaching English in the kitchen. Makes it easier for me to eat steak and get paid for it ;)

And the other article of interest is the one from CNN, where they're saying that kids with Allergies are bullied. I don't like bullies, and I dislike allergies almost as much.

Hey I thought I would add this in, as it was emailed to me today. This article is about the most common fitness blunders that people make. This article, also emailed to me is about wasting your time working out.


Anyway, here is another link about Chefs helping teach nutrition.

Awesomeoness

There are a few articles I read today that I thought were just awesome.

These are seriously awesome. Read them.

Pumped-up P.E. at Comer Prep

More kids working with personal trainers


dang, there was at least one more, but it got sucked into the interwebs.

Read hearty!

An idea to help you at school

Here is a slide show from WebMD that might make you think about what you eat before coming to school, after you leave school ... basically, what you eat and how it might help you be a better student.

How to eat properly while on the run

I love this guy-good name and good advice on how to get yourself healthy while being busy.

Stop eating "not so good for you food" from fast food places, save money and start eating much much better:

Here is the link, I love Funk Roberts!

Another quick post

Hey, what can I say - it's August and I'm getting ready to get my Tim Horton's on.

Here is a post about Diabetes.

In the article, there is a graphic using Woordle. It's cool, my mom says so.

And here is a Lego version of a scene from Batman.

Man, this is just scary

An article about a student going into shock after eating at the school cafeteria.

Shame, really.

The more you read ... the healthier you are

Sounds sort of paradoxical, but an article that supports this idea is here.

Vacation is going awesome.

I heart August.

Food labels

Here is an article about figuring out food labels.

Should be an easier read than the text book - kidding!

Something that works

Here's an article about somethign I've known for a while: kettlebells and simple body weight workouts are something you should look into if you are trying to get or stay in shape.

Article is here

Keeping a food Journal

So ... here's the thing ...

I'm supposed to be not teaching right now ... heck, it's August. But, I read this email (with link here) this morning, and thought "That is a good way of doing the Culminating in Health for Life"...

teaching never ends.

Still another place to look

You know, I should be doing a lot of stuff. I should be marking, I should be reading, I should be waiting by the phone for my wife to call me.

Instead, I'm trying to occupy my mind with things that just don't matter, trying to keep my mind away from worry.

So, I'm reading about Nutrition. That link is to a blog that give tips about what to have in your fridge, cabinet and freezer.

This link will tell you how to cook a steak

Look it up, s'all good.

Another place to try

I'm using this blog as a place holder for me, for the time being

I really want to get here; and getmyself some fancy new shoes.

Ewww

I'm hoping this post finds everybody enjoying their summer, or school. Me, personally, I'm getting ready for summer school at the moment.

In any case, I ran across this when I opened my Facebook this morning, and though about you guys.

here you go:">

It's all over .. or is it?

According to iCal, I'm done with Module 5, 2010. I'm done my double duty for King and country. But the the fact of the matter is, looking after my health (and YOUR health) never ends.

I'm back to almost a regular schedule today. Friday was a day off, concerned with marks and recruiting for my rugby team. Saturday, as the song goes, is a rugby day.

Sunday was a recovery day; KB workouts on the beach, warm weather and lots of sunshine did a great job getting rid of the tail ends of the winter blahs.

This morning, though, was pretty cool, man.

Day 21, Wednesday May 5

This is the last day of this culminating activity.

Breakfast was a sausage breakfast belt on a plain bagel with an XL coffee. I jsut had to finish this way. To make my point to myself. I need time in the morning to make myself a better human being.

Lunch was a tuna salad with extra vegetables. It was good.

Wednesday's dinner was a BBQ with the end of the left over meat; there was some ham, but I stuck with roast beef as it tasted better with the little corns, potatoes and peas.

I didn't get many pictures of my meals ... well actually no pictures of my meals.

I think the next time I do this Culminating Activity, that is something I might require of myself. It's just that next level stuff.

I'm not really looking forward to rugby in the next few weeks, especially over the next few days. The blisters are coming along, but they are still not healed. I know that they stand a good chance of getting infected and going really grossly septic. I'm still cleaning them nightly at the YMCA, but who knows if this is the right idea. They still hurt.

I've dealt with infections before in my life, and no amount of bravado will help here. As a matter of fact, I can't attest to the fact that bravado is the last thing you need when dealing with skin infections.

At least I am done with this assignment, though. On with the APA style report!

Day 20, Tuesday May 4

Ok, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

It's almost happening. It is almost over.

As yesterday was, today did not start off well. Stiff and ragged, feeling somewhat depressed about a buddy of mine who has to move out of his house. I'm trying to help, but I'm not sure how much help I can be.

Breakfast, too, made me feel a little beneath my own standards. Tim Horton's again, despite the fact that I had left over meat, ready to go in the fridge. At this point, I just can't spare the effort, although I know I should be making myself look good. I'm too exhausted to contemplate.

The book I am reading, too, is reminding me that in tough times, when you are "in hell, you have to keep going.". I will continue to eat something for breakfast, even if it does not comply with my stated needs of gluten-free. I'm firm in my belief that I am a better person, let alone teacher, if I eat something before work.

My lunch was also the same this day: tuna and chili and vegetables. It's also just so much more simple to get someone else to prepare food for me. I learned today, though, that the cafeteria lady makes some menu changes for staff when requested politely. I'd like to eat the tuna, just not the bread. Perhaps a tuna salad, with extra veggies for tomorrow. All I can do is ask.

Dinner was a gluten free meal, though. I checked with Pizza Pizza and got a delivered meal with no gluten in it. Cool. At least the dinner part of this assignment is going well. Yummy, perhaps not the most fat-free meal I'll eat this week, but at least it went down well.

Later, in doing some extra looking around, I read an article from Vic Magery on gymjunkies, com. It outlined a few ways to speed up some fat loss. It's something that I can fully endorse, except for the eating nuts thing. Some have a lot of gluten in them - you just have to be careful what you ingest. Other than that, it's a good article.

After doing that reading and getting the kids in bed, I went again to the YMCA and cleaned my wounds again. Lots of gross stuff going on there, but after they are cleaned up, the wounds look better and better. I'm not posting any pics of them up on this blog (well, not any MORE pics then, he he he he he)

Man, I'm tired.

Day 19 Monday May 3

I'm just at that point. Just off the deep end, just ready to spill onto the floor of the empty pool. Uggh. Mondays. Is there any reason why we can't outlaw them?

Anyway, this was a poor start to a long week. For real.

Breakfast was another of the Timmy Ho's bagel and sausage dealios and an XL cup of coffee. It's just too quick and easy.

Instead of a trip to the whirlpool, I just went straight to work. A real downer, something I should at least take note of. I'm not going to go into what I might catch in the whirlpool, but let's let it go at the fact that I'm not going to expose the wounds on the backs of my feet to whatever it is in the water at the Oakville Y.

Lunch, too was a mad dash to suck back calories from the cafeteria in the school: a tuna sandwich, some veggies and some really good chili. Tasty, but a lot of calories.

The dinner meal was a good one, prepared yesterday. Good pieces of roast beef with a bowl of veggies (corn, potatoes and mushrooms) with water and a gluten free cookie to finish off the meal. I felt much better after sharing that with my family.

After the kids were in bed, I went to the Oakville Y. I said I would not expose the wounds to the water, but the sauna should be fine. I cranked up the heat, took off the bandages and sweat for a while. The wounds cleaned themselves up rather nicely.

I got back to my house more than ready to sleep. All in all a good day; not much to get done, and lots of time to sit and feel miserable about my feet.

Day 18 Sunday May 2- Ow, but a good ow.

I woke up Sunday morning with two big pains: my heels. O. M. G.

My back was a close third. Just lots of getting my back worked on Saturday without much sympathy from the rather odd group I play rugby amongst. Heck, one offered to take the twoonie sized chunk of skin from my heel and get it stuff for posterity, like a moose head up on the wall.

Yup, those are the guys.

Anyway, I was in a fair amount of physical discomfort on Sunday morning. I wanted to stretch and get my body moving; I did a walk to Tim Hortons for the Sunday morning coffee ritual. That was a good start to the day. Read the paper and found a few ideas for my next research project, but more or less stayed low key for the morning.

11am saw me at the Fitness Depot in Burlington for a kettlebell class. That was 75 minutes of intensity. I'm used to working out at a certain level, but the instructor took the class a but higher than I have been used to on my own. At the end, I was pretty sweaty and the humidity didn't help very much. Neither did the DOMS from rugby, nor the gaping wounds on my heels.

I got home and took my kids to do the week's grocery shopping. I was somewhat mindless, and tried to stay with a list. However, since I had two extra sets of grabby hands, I ended up with a lot more gluten-laden food than I expected.

Dinner was a combination of stir fry and noodles. It was good, but kind of bland. It filled me up and I let one child do piano and took my other child out to do some gardening. The expected rain that was supposed to fall all day never happened, and my top seeded lawn needed some watering. We "supervised" the lawn being watered and had a great conversation.

I went to bed too late, after trying to get my wireless network back up to snuff, following a rather harrowing weekend. Seems nothing but my laptop is logging in. Not my desktop, not my wife's laptop, not the Apple tv. Drag.

Day 17 Saturday May 1

Thank goodness April 2010 is over. This is what happened to me on the first day of May. Basically this is how I felt about April.

I didn't want to curse myself by wishing it to be over sooner, but that was a tough month. Check out the number of times I went for a run in March - a sharp contrast in April is plain to see.

That is the level of stress I have been going through as of late. I wanted to go north to a cottage, but was soundly outvoted by my wife, 1-1. Just kidding, I needed to get some gardening done - my lawn doesn't top seed itself, much to my disappointment.

Saturday is a "coffee time" session at my house in the morning. I got the Toronto Star read, commented on this article to my wife and then got on with the gardening around my house and then left to get to Brantford for a 1:30 rugby game. Food was a little light, but that's ok. Less to puke up during the game ... just kidding.

Lots and lots of water, though. Got some of my book read on the way there and back.

Snack after rugby was a veggie wrap; red peppers, salad stuff and onion with some ranch dressing. Wolfed that down then went to church.

Then, as a reward for good behavior, took the kids and my wife to Boston Pizza. Which I should not have done. Pizza was good, at least my pizza was good, but the service and the ability to get my wife's order correct was brutal to say the least.

Meh, we all made it home in one piece... well, except for me. My heels are just killing me.

Too much eating out, man. Not enough healthy choices being made there. And they are all expensive, too. Need to mention that in my final report - which I'll begin in class this week on Thursday, May 6.

Oh, that sounds so good to write/read/hear me say out loud.

Day 16 Friday April 30

Oh, this was a cool day.

I had breakfast - a very quick 500 calories of Timmy Ho's goodness. It seems that when I am rushed, I go to Tim Hortons and rely on them far too much.

Lunch was an awesome prime rib with my wife. Yes, ya heard me! She had a Dr's apptment, picked me up and took me to meet the sawbones. After, as a reward, I got steak.

And there were some veggies, too. Cauliflower and Broccoli. Good.

Not surprisingly, I wasn't hungry when I got home for dinner and got ready for skating lessons. My kids ate bagels and I just chilled with water and conversation.

Snacks later were almonds and a stretching session for Saturday. As we all know "Saturday is a rugby day" - which is a line from a famous song.

The rest of the day was filled with getting marking done, prepping for the last few days of the course and meeting with my bosses about various things and just plain "stuff I don't have time to deal with during the double."

Day 15 Thursday April 29

This was an ok day.

Breakfast, I am sorry to say, was a fast food Tim Horton's sausage BELT. This comes in at about 500 calories, which is to say, 'a lot"

With a fair amount of Gluten, too. Bagels at Timmy's are made with wheat and will upset the stomach of a person who has Celiac's disease.

Lunch was better, almost finishing off my lunches for the week.

Dinner was better than the other two meals, as Thursdays are Gymnastics night; we made omelettes when we got home. Eggs and veggies ... together!

I have to admit, I have not been doing as much research into the subject of Gluten as I should have. However, in my defense, I have not been able to solve the network issues in my house. Seems the electricity went down and up a few times Wednesday and affected my router... and the electronic attached to it. At least I got my marking done and showed the students in my class an updated mark.

I will be preparing a report to share with my fellow teachers at the end of this module, replete with some basic recommendations to them and to myself about teaching like this in the future.

Of course, all feedback from the guinea pigs ... I mean students in my class are greatly welcomed.

Day 14 Wed April 28

This was a tough day. The days after rugby training, particularly early in the season when the coaches feel the need to do lots of playing, are hard.

I got up nice and early, and my legs and back were feeling it. A lot of it.

I wanted my whirlpool in the worst way. Breakfast was an astounding 510 calories from Tim Hortons. A breakfast Belt and a coffee. OK, not the greatest start to a day, but I will go with the weenie mantra "At least I did something!"

Lunch was a little thin, so I grabbed a tuna sandwich from the cafeteria and had my usually awesome lunch.

Dinner was equally cool; but definately not gluten aware; it was Pizza Pizza. Man, it was really good, but just not what I needed to do.

Anyway, before I picked up my children, I stopped by the Burlington Public Library. Seems there is a Celiac's disease fair coming up May 8th. (or 9th.... can't recall) might have to check that out.

Day 13 Tues April 27

I have rugby at the end of this day. That is what got me through this day.

Breakfast was a little different; eggs and veggies. I'm trying to keep up with the Gluten free meals, and so far, as long as the ingredients are there and semi-ready, things go smoothly. It is something I need to keep in mind.

Lunch seems to be the easiet to control these days. I bring a big lunch on Monday, then survive the week eating it. Things just go smoothly that way, and I need smooth at the moment.

Dinner was a bit out of control, but eventually, I got my family to eat the rest of the yams I bought, the rest of the ham from Sunday. Sandwich and soup night at Chez Chesser.

It was good.

I was a little late for rugby, but made up for it with some extra fitness when everyone else finished. It felt good to be able to do that again, as I have not been able to do that type of fitness all winter. For the record, after rugby practice, I did the following, all with a 30 lb KB:

10 x 3 sets one arm Swings (each arm)
3 sled drags
8 x 2 sets KB Snatch
8 x 2 KB press.

Stretch. Especially the hamstrings.

I also tried out a sport KB Long cycle lifts for a few minutes. I need to try that with two bells next time. I think I nearly drowned myself in water when I got home; I think I have two or three litres of water.

Day 12, Monday April 26

I'm so excited about this week; it's short and that's a good thing to hold in front of me at the moment.

I'm trying to get my students scared enough to read this post and continue to work towards getting a credit.

Monday is always tough, man.

Today, I worked a little on the diet; that is I followed it.

Breakfast was really good: steak and veggies. I nuked the steak in the microwave, while I chopped up some green peppers and carrots for the other part of the breakfast. Coffee from Tim Hortons was really good, as always.

For lunch, I had what I prepared Sunday night; chopped vegetables (peppers, carrots and celery) with some tuna (Sweet Thai Chili flavoured) and hummus. And lots and lots of water; about a litre for lunch.

I feel good after eating like that.

Dinner was ham slices from a slow cooker with some yam slices and a salad. It was good, but we nearly finished off the ham.

I splurged for dessert and had a Rice Krispy square or two. That was tasty.

I didn't run today, but I did stretch. That made everything feel good.

Unit Four, Task Two

And now for something completely different:

Here are a few links from which you can glean the general idea of what you should be looking for when picking a topic for your in class presentation on a Social Service or Agency.

Social Services:
Oakville YMCA http://www.ymcaofoakville.com/
Hamilton, Burlington, Brantford YMCA http://www.ymcahbb.ca/
Oakville Salvation Army http://www.salvationarmyoakville.ca/soc_serv.htm
Good Will http://www.goodwillonline.ca/
Kerr Street Ministries http://www.kerrstreet.com/
Halton Family Services http://www.haltonfamilyservices.org/
Mississauga Food bank http://www.themississaugafoodbank.org/

The due date for the presentations are May 3 or May 4.
(yes, I know May 3 is a Monday - April 30 is a PD Day; other wise that would be the day it's due.... we almost done! Wahoo!)


And here is one for your First Aid kit, too:

St.John’s Ambulance:
http://sjatraining.ca/

Day 11, Sunday April 25

Again, this was an odd day, but one with a few advantages.

First of all, I went to church yesterday, and so, didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to get there. That was pretty cool. We stayed around the house for a while,as the weather was not the best; rainy and cold. I got a chance to sleep in until about 8am.

Breakfast was eggs and veggies; a nice series of gluten free calories. Oh, and coffee.
Lunch was an omlette with water
Dinner was steak, yams and a salad.

All really tasty food; nutrient dense and good for me. I'm impressed, aren't you?

The day worked like this:

I like to read the paper on the weekend and it was waiting for me as I went out for my coffee walk. My kids came with me, which made it kind of fun. We were telling jokes and listening to the iPod's new playlist and being, well, kinda silly. Good for the mental health.

After breakfast we kind of did not very much. I went for a drive with everyone to the Organic Garage in Oakville. I wanted my wife and kids to see the place. No one was terribly impressed, but my rabid monkeys did in fact nearly get us kicked out of the store.... no, not really, I'm just seeing who is reading this.

The next place was the Whole Foods place. When my wife saw the insides of this place for the first time, I knew she was impressed. I was worried that I was going to run into a bunch of my students (the other species of rabid monkey in my life ... he he he he just kidding, I'm trying to see if anyone is reading this far ...) but that didn't happen. We looked around for gluten free stuff. I actuallt saw Teff flour - something I'd read on the internet and told the lady with whom I work about. It's a grass from the Horn of Africa that is gluten free, which is capable of being made into flour for cooking.

We bought a few items: gluten free pasta (aka "rice pasta") rice cakes, wafer cookies and chocolate chip cookies. The first one I am going to leave alone for a bit, the last ones were consumed in the van. I had to try at least one; it IS research, after all. They were good cookies, just skinny and somewhat merely OK.

We went out for lunch, and I issued a challenge to my wife: that we eat a gluten free lunch and share. I had an omelette with ham and water to drink. I was offered rye bread, but since I know it has rye in it (duh - the name kinda gave that away) I asked that it not be included. My wife had the steak and eggs (I was so proud). We did ask about the home fries, but since they were prepared in vegetable oil, we thought they'd be ok. It was very yummy - and gluten free.

For dinner, we readied our usual fare of steak and yams; both were really good. I'm thinking the eggs/steak/protein thing is fast becoming my favourite meal, ever.

Oh, after the kids went to bed, I went to do the weekly shopping. Yes, I get to control what goes in the house, which will be to my advantage when it comes time to write up the final report for this exercise. I got a list from my wife and got the veggies, the organic soap and the meat for the week - (ham, tilapia and quick fry steak) Tonnes of veggies - yams, onions, peppers and asparagus. That's going to be really good off of the BBQ.

Finally, I went to the organic section of the store - something I usually associate with socks and sandal wearing hippies. Meh, whatever. I found the pasta made from rice there - for half the price of Whole Foods. At WF, it was 6 bucks for a 500g of pasta. At Metro, it was 2.50.

I wish I made that up.

Day 10 Sat April 24 Rabid Monkies, Aliens and the Devil.

I spent most of this day just hanging out with my family; as such, my diet was better than normal. I did some adventuring with my family, too. More on that later

First, my fitness. Well, when I am taking care of my kids, seems that fitness takes a back end. Except today; today was the day I had to live up to my promise for to my mids. They earned rollerblades. For real. Each has daily tasks they have to do; they do them, they collect stamps/stickers/stars on a calendar. After a few weeks, they trade those stickers for something. They both agreed to live up to their commitments for behavior, respect and chores. So, I had to pony up with rollerblades.

We went "rollerblading" for about an hour together in the park near our house. That was cool - but I forgot to take pictures. Ah well, I'm sure we'll be doing that again. I didn't really wok up a sweat, but I was way more active than if I had been sitting on my rear end on the couch.

I'm still eating the wraps, even though I know they aren't the best for me. But if I m filling the wraps with veggies, then I figure I'm doing ok. Breakfast was late on Saturday morning, some time about 10am. I was hungry, so I had these:

2 wraps, whole wheat.
salad for the insides
red pepper (finally finished)
some ranch dressing

(incidentally, I have since been surfing and discovered that the dressing, more than likely, has gluten.)

Then, I took out the steaks for dinner and left with my kids for some shopping.

I picked up a copy of a Love and Rockets CD I've been waiting for, that and a copy of the legendary movie "Strange Brew". I'm hoping to show at least a part of it to my 3C English class by May 12.

I wanted to get new rugby cleats, but my children were running around the store like rabid monkeys. I'll try again Sunday, but probably by myself.

We got home and I BBQed some flank steaks, perfect for chopping up and eating with some yams and potatoes. I baked them on the BBQ, too. That, and I did some planning for a garden this summer. I now know where I am going to grow my tomatoes and cilantro. Sunday I will go and get the stuff needed.

As for research, which was unforgettably interrupted by a queen bee the size of my middle finger, I was looking at quite a number of sites:

Like Resources for Parents, this one pay site which almost suckered me into paying 20 bucks US a month, and the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse.

The last one was probably the best. I have yet to really find one for Canadians, but I'll just assume that Canadians are the same biologically as Americans. Until the radioactivity in the US changes them into something from District 9.

Seems that adults, like myself, are the ones that will have the toughest time changing from their current life style to one which is gluten free. Talk about a "D'uh" idea. For real? I am going to have changing eating patterns that I have established in the last fifteen years? No stuff...

It also seems that the numbers of people who are gluten sensitive is on the rise, at least since the 1950's, anyway. Research is being done as to why this is so.

Which is why I am pursuing different online friends which support my new dietary needs. Vegans, although usually more than just a little "left of centre" for me (read that as "weird and Communist") people of all political stripes are affected by Celiac
s Disease and people are choosing a vegan lifestyle for all kinds of reasons.

I will, more that likely, not have to go that far. I like steaks and good burgers far too much to give them up. However, getting more vegetables and fruits in my wheat laden diet is always a good thing. I'm really liking the pre-made salads at Metro. It feels like I am cheating, they are so easy to do. Fer real.

I also found out that there will be another Predators movie this summer... Awesome.

My final idea for the day: carbs aren't evil, but they are standing right beside Satan, I just know it.... ;)

Day 9 Friday April 23

Oh. My. Goodness.

If you don't know what the term DOMS is, let me tell you: Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness .. (DOMS). What does it REALLY mean? It means after a long workout, the stiffness in my abs, my calves, my shoulders and my feet. Seriously, my ankles look chewed.

Anyway, got myself going this morning with an awful long look in the mirror .. wondering "Am I getting to old for rugby, or WHAT?) But the scars and bruising on my left bicep look really cool, so we'll just say NO to that question for the moment.

I'm sorry to be so boring, but I had another steak and veggie wrap for breakfast. But a light one, as there wasn't much left of the steak AND today is Poetry Cafe.

Yeah, Poetry Cafe. I love that day.

Basically, once a module I get to eat in class and read poetry. It's a good enrichment activity in the classroom. At least people no longer associate poetry with boredom; now they associate poetry with yummy food. I'm sorry to say that I did not take a pic, but the fruit trays were awesome. Lots of melon, strawberries and grapes. Also, three or four things I had never tried before: middle eastern ravioli, some sort of dessert, some Doritos (which I really do love, but haven't had in a while) and samosas.

Let's do pause here for a moment. Click here for a wikipedia entry on Samosas.

Go read that. I know they are "bad" for me.... but there is just so much yumminess there. And it's for a good cause: Poetry.

I know that is just justification for another gluten-laden meal. Relax, I was kidding. I am also aware that as a part of my making myself "gluten aware" I am eating an awful lot of stuff that isn't helping me get to a better level of health.

DUDE! I just squished a BEE in my basement! Uggh! The one thing I can't stand about spring are the bugs... man! Thing was the size of an APC!

Right, for dinner had a veggie wrap (no steak left) and some water. Off to skating.

After skating, had a snuggle with my kids, put them to bed and then went back to the Y for a late night whirlpool to try and get my body a little less sore. Watched some NHL hockey for the first time this season and went to bed. Golf! Leafs Golf!

Day 8 Thursday April 22

Happy Earth Day!

Right, today was a good day, all things considered. Got back to my routine, with a steak and veggie breakfast. This time it was a steak and veggie wrap. Try this:

Sirloin steak, reheated in the microwave. (I cooked it Tuesday, these are still leftovers, stored properly in the fridge)
slice the sirloin to make 6-8 strips of meat.

add:
red peppers
onions to taste (I usually don't add these Mon-Fri ... it's tough to teach after eating them ... he he he he he he he)
lettuce from a bad of pre-made salad (I like the fiesta mixes)
a little steak rub (just a pinch)

It makes a pretty solid breakfast, and pretty quick; so long as everything is already chopped up and within reach. Anyway, got the kids off to school and got my whirlpool in at the Oakville Y before work.

Lunch was a tuna sandwich with extra veggies and hummus. Oh, and prunes. Lots of prunes. I'll have to look and see if prunes are gluten free (which I highly suspect) but they serve another purpose in my diet.

Dinner was another left over: pizza from the other night. Sigh.

Then I went to rugby practice. I mean Rugby Marathon. Got there at 6:30, finished at 9pm, under the lights at Sherwood. Lots and lots and lots of scrummaging. Quite needed, to be honest, as there were a lot of cobwebs that needed brushing off. But basically a lot of fitness needed to get through this. I had it.

But the new cleats I bought chewed the skin around my ankle like a little dog. I'm going to have scars from those things. And they hurt the bottom of my feet, too. A little more plantar fasciitis, anyone? When the end came, I had intended to do some extra fitness, but just had nothing left in the tank.

Anyway, I got through that, got home and was really hungry. So, instead of something good for me, I finished off the pizza. Sigh.

I think I am seeing a real pattern in my diet here.

Day 7 - Wed April 21

Back to good health, thank goodness. Steak and veggies for breakfast (sorry no pic - as it was, I was rushing around getting things back to as normal as they get for me around here) It started out well, but ended badly, at least as far as "Living Gluten Aware" goes.

But it was sure good to put something in my mouth that I could chew, I gotta tell ya.

Breakfast: Steak and veggies - no gluten possible. None.

Lunch: Tuna sandwich with veggies and extra veggies from home with hummus. (Still yummy)

Dinner:

Ok, a brief explanation of dinner. I told my wife what I am doing here. I gave her the link and had her demonstrate some interest in what I am doing here. We needed to get some groceries, which isn't the usual thing at my house. Normally I go grocery shopping on Sunday night, but I didn't go at all this week. We went and picked up a dinner at Fortinos.

When i say that, it is kind of putting a nice edge on things. We picked up pizza and a caesar's salad for dinner. With cheesy garlic bread, too. As I was putting the items into the oven, I reminded my wife that I was keeping a food journal about gluten for this blog. She responded to me that she didn't want to go gluten free just yet. She did ask that I look into the gluten free pizza offered by Pizza Pizza.

I smiled and put the pizza and garlic bread into the oven and waited. We put together the salad and ate the yummy gluten-laden stuff. It was good. Not steak and veggies good, but good.

I went for a nice long walk with my family and watched my kids practice their bike riding skills while my wife and I had a great time, just talking about "stuff". Seriously, it is that perfection in a day that Morrie Schwartz talked about in the book/movie Tuesdays with Morrie.

I did finish the talk on my iPod, the one about ideas about celiac disease and gluten free living. I actually enjoyed learning about this topic - and I now understand why my wife asked me to look into this idea. As one of the speakers described what celiacs disease looked like in children, she basically described some of the things I have seen with my youngest child. Irritable, some loose stool, some smelly stool, some growth delay .... there were at least six or seven ideas that ran through my head that I checked off in the van as I thought of her. Something that I should think a reasonable parent would investigate further.

But the "Gold star" test for Celiacs, a biopsy of my daughter's intestines, would not be the way to go, I'm sorry to say. Man, I'd rather they do it to me.

I looked into what Teff is, as requested by a fellow teacher here at the school, the young lady with a child who needs a Gluten free diet.

This was a rest day; I had intended today to be a rest day and everything was just sore from puking the day before. I rested and got some more good news about rugby, the Special Education course I took online and other stuff in general. I tried to get to bed on time, but was a little excited by the prospects that were opening up for me, thanks to the good news I got.

Day 6 Tuesday April 20

This is the one day of the year I usually mock people for missing school, and I missed school. Uggh. A real loong day of barf, upchuck and other awful things coming out of my mouth. Not a pleasant thing to do - but that is how it started. By the end, it was all much better.

I didn't have a breakfast; man I couldn't hold down water at this point in time. I rested between sessions of driving the bus. Later on in the day, I looked at some soup and some veggies. Water helped later. I almost tried the Pedialyte in the fridge, but thought better of that and had some watered down Gatorade instead. Much better tasting ... and that is saying something.

Still later in the day, I tried some more solid food and went for a walk with my kids. That made things feel a lot better. And I kept it down, which was awesome; just made the evening go by so much better. What did I eat? Tomato soup with a side order of veggies (carrots, cauliflower and broccoli). It was delish, but not as good as steak.

The walk certainly helped. I tried to listen to the lecture on my iPod, but slept a lot of the day.

Day 5 Monday April 19

This was a hard day to get through. It just felt as though I was in a haze the entire day. I did eat well, though. The day ended off on a sour note, too.

Breakfast was brief: a ride through at Tim Hortons with a sketchy looking million calorie Sausage BELT. I will look up how many calories that was online. Honest I will. And a coffee.

Lunch was the usual: veggies and hummus. No almonds, as I was pretty much told not to do that anymore. Lots and lots of water.

Dinner was awesome: steak from the bbq with yams and a salad. Honestly, it was the best thing I put in my body in a while. Lots of Horseradish, too. Awesome. Lots of extra steaks, too for breakfast for the week.

I did some kettlebell training at night. I had to, as the family was unsettled, to say the least.

About 4am, I woke up with a brutal stomach ache and proceeded to evict everything out. Not a pretty sight, especially considering how long had elapsed since I ate.

Needless to say, I was not feeling well, and neither was anyone else in the house, by 6am Tuesday morning. (which is the subject of my next post)

Day 4 Sunday Apr 18

This was a hard day to stay on course. A lot of distractions and a lot of opportunity to cheat on a diet that has not quite sunk in yet. Although I did get a couple of interesting opportunities to continue looking into eating Gluten free.

First of all, what I did for a workout: nothing. I was too busy from the time I got up to really get anything done. How often does your eldest child make her first communion, anyway? Right, so I knew that getting out of bed in the morning. Had a lot fo last minute cleaning and vacuuming to get done. (I guess I did have a sweating going when I was cleaning the house.... ok maybe that was something.) But no walk, no run, no lifting at the gym.

What did I eat? OK, going from breakfast, which was a coffee, again. It wasn't the best thing in the world, but there was very little food in the house. That, and I knew there was to be a lot more food later. Lunch was two veggie wraps - peppers, lettuce and tomato with some tziki sauce. They were pretty good. After Mass, came home to a early dinner which was salad, chicken-pasta casserole and veggies. Of course, the pasta has gluten in it, as did the cake that was presented to my daughter. I tried to go light on that.

After everyone left, I was pretty tired. However, I did get a chance to talk to my sister in law; she's a registered nutritionist. Some interesting ideas were exchanged about Celiac's disease adn the motivation for this project. I showed her this blog and she seem impressed. I also showed this blog to my mother, a no-nonsense Physiotherapist. She complimented the diet (espeically the veggie wraps I was eating) but did not like the workouts I was doing. She's worried about my health and I can respect that. Later, I got a chance to surf to iTunes and did a search on "gluten free" and "Celiac's Disease" and got a few hits.

I downloaded a lecture from three medical professionals and got it on my iPod Touch for the commute in tomorrow (Monday). I also got an App called "Gluten Free Living" and will be looking into that as time permits. Both were free on iTunes. There were a few others that were not so free, but left them alone for the time being.

Day 3 - Sat Apr 17

Today was also a bit of a busy one - that seems, so far, to be the presiding condition for the culminating activity.

In any case, I had planned on going to the beach with my children and let them play while I work out. When I went out to grab a coffee in the morning, it was so cold I could see my breath; the beach was out. Instead, I knew I would be going in to Toronto for an errand, and so planned a side trip to the Oakville Y for a workout. That happened. This is what I did:

10 minute run
then three rounds of:
bench flies (35 lbs x 8 reps)
presses
KB snatches (50 x 8 reps)

then three rounds of:
hinge rotations (good for therapy inside the shoulder, so I am told) (12lbs x 10)
behind the head tricep extension (30lbs x 10)
KB snatch pyramid (50, 55, 60lbs x 10 reps each round)

then finish with a 10 minute run.

I'm thinking that was an awful lot of snatches; I just like them; full body compound movements; which means everything gets moving. Lots of muscles working.

In any case, my diet these days is not very good. Breakfast, as mentioned, was from Timmy Ho's. Lunch was a good one; I made a few veggie and chicken wraps before going out to meet up with my family and get their nails done. Those were good, but as I was putting them together, I wondered about how much gluten I was eating:

wrap (x 3 ... I was hungry)
roasted chicken from a chicken I bought earlier in the week)
yellow peppers
mustard
Lemon Dill hummus (to make the wrap stick together ... yummiest "glue" ever)

In reading the nutrition Info label for the wrap, for each wrap it was about a hundred calories. 300 Calories, just for the wraps themselves. That's a fair amount. Might have been better (not neater) had I just eaten this off of a plate. Meh, I was on the run and ate in the van. Putting this on a plate was not an option. Gluten was more than likely in the wrap and the mustard. Weird, no? I read that gluten is a "fixative" - something that helps products like mustard, ketchup and other condiments stay the same.

I got back later than expected from running a few errands - I got rid of three or four old computer parts here, I picked up a film here and ran around to see what was going on here. I attended an impomtu meeting about a clinic I am organizing for May 15th; should be a cool thing. I got home and was immediately ordered to pick up a family meal at Swiss Chalet. Again. Uughh.

I had the quarter chicken dinner with a salad and did not eat the bun or the gravy. I went easy on the ketchup, but my kids gave me a lot of their fries. Oh, and some onion rings. They are yummy, but they irritate my stomach. Something to take note of, that.

I did do some lurking around the Organic Garage website; there isn't much there, I'm sorry to say. I did make some new friends on facebook; a nutritionist and blogger; I'm pretty sure I've gotten her link/blog on this blog here. I also did a couple of iTunes searches for Apps and podcasts; I'll load them up tomorrow.

All in all, not an awesome day in terms of progress being made, but at least I'm not standing still.

On a technological note, I am so glad that Blogger backs everything up every few minutes. I nearly lost this post twice! Phew! Back up your hard drive!

Day Two - Friday April 16

Today was a bit of a success and a bit of a let down. Let's start with the training; I did a 30 minute run in the morning. I intended to do some lifting, but needed a good stretch and warm down. My legs were just aching after the last few days.

For breakfast:
yummy steak and eggs at Sunlight Grill. A tad pricey, but totally worth it. Didn't eat the "home fries", had the rye toast. (Which I will talk about later in this post)

For lunch
Swiss Chalet quarter chicken dinner with salad (I think it was the salad ... hmm .. that's my story and I am sticking with it) as the staff ordered in lunch. Also yummy.

Snack
Almonds and water (didn't measure, but a bunch)

Dinner
ok this is where things began to slide for me. Two slices of cold Pizza, leftovers from Wednesday. Rushing out of the house for a family thing. Something of a weakness in my diet plan here. Should have something ready to go in the fridge for just such moments.

Got home and went out to a buddy's place for a small birthday party and we ordered food then, too. I ate chicken wings, salsa on pita bread ... I forget what else, but it was all fried and awesomely delicious. Seriously, it was probably a thousand calories of yummy. But lots of gluten, I am sure. But how often do you and your best friend turn forty?

In any case, I am feeling good this morning as I write up yesterday's workouts and meals. I want to also share the "research" I did over lunch with my co-worker. Seems one of their children exists with Celiac's Disease and is going to help me become more "Gluten aware" during this "Culminating Activity/Research Project" I am doing. Seems there are quite a number of people on this planet that are gluten sensitive and are not aware of it.

She pointed me in the direction of a few natural/organic grocery stores in and around our workplace that have knowledgeable staff. She complimented me on not eating the home fries, but pointed out that most breads have gluten in them, including rye bread. I will avoid that in the future. Going to a place like the Organic Garage is what I think that will be one of the next things I try out. That, and I will try to make some healthier food choices this weekend - but that will be tough as it is my eldest daughter's First Communion. Lots of cake and other sweets, gluten-laden and low nutrient dense food.

Meh, I will do my best.

Day One April 15

Right. And here we go:

Last night was a really cool KB demonstration by Ajamu Bernard at the Fitness Depot in Burlington. I'd like to say that I go to things like that on a regular basis, but that'd be a lie. I was impressed; it was a little over an hour including a warm up, kb swings, presses squats and deadlifts. At the end, my legs were fine but my thumbs, already bruised from Rugby, were sore. Here is the workout as a list:

10 -15 minutes warm up (various body weight and kettlebell lifting techniques)
10 minutes swings
10 minutes deadlifts
10 minutes squats
15 minutes presses
and a warm down/ clean up

As for diet, well, it didn't go as planned. I was rushing to get to a family "thing" and I had to grab and go. Then I knew I wanted to get to the KB thing. I hate not getting the time to properly prepare a meal, but that is life for me at the moment. It was Tim Horton's Chili which, although a fast food, is yummy and as I look at the list of ingredients, seems healthier than other choices on the menu. Next time I will pack something and be better.

I got home and had to do a bunch of things to set up my Friday for work. That will go better, I already know that for a fact.

As for research, I did the Mr. Obvious thing to do. I hit wikipedia and did about ten minutes of reading there and found three recipes from bloggers:

Teatree's Gluen free cake

yummy tahini hummus from About.com

Veggie burger that I made up the other night:
red peppers,
onions, diced
chimichurii sauce
and put on a burger bun
(for this one, I used store bought regular buns; I'm sure they were not gluten free.)
olive oil
patience

cut to the size of a burger, put on a BBQ lightly oiled with virgin olive oil and let cook for ten minutes. Should/ may char the skin of the pepper, which you can remove if you wish. Some times I do, some times I don't depends on how charred it is.
Garnish with the other stuff, enjoy.

Seems, too, that there is a person with whom I work who has a lot of first hand knowledge of Celiac's disease; which is an allergy to gluten. Hmm learn something new everyday...

I also found that video on how to make Chimichurri sauce. I now know that Cilantro and Parsley are going into my "All edible Garden" at the end of April. Then I'll make my own.... mmmm steak!

Five question start up.

Culminating Activity

Part One “Five Questions”

1. As previously posted on this blog, I will select “Diet” as my topic for this Culminating Activity this time. I’m going to try to improve my diet by going as “gluten free” as I can. I will also mention what it is that I am doing to continue my physical fitness. I’m going to set up the blog so that my students, (and my boss - Hi Ric!) can read about my progress. It is this way that I think I am engaging both myself and the students in learning.

2. I am going to form the entries in this manner: Start off with what ever it was that I did that day as a workout. I’m going to try and get three or four workouts a week. With rugby, running and bodyweight/home gym/ kettlebell workouts being the primary way I’m going to get these done. I may get to the Oakville YMCA once in a while, but I kind of doubt it. I’m just too busy to get there to workout.

I will continue the posts describing and linking to sites that I find that support and explain and further inform me and readers of the blog about food that is gluten free and other ideas that surround gluten free diets. In order to not forget, I will also put any helpful websites I find on the list of links to the right of the blog.

I will try and post pictures of the food I prepare (I will have a camera in the kitchen with batteries) and get those up when I can. I may have to edit as I go. My knowledge of iPhoto is going to help me here.

3 I am going to do this Activity for the next 21 days straight. I will be done exactly three weeks from now, which as I look at iCal, says May 6. For this reason, therefore, it will require me to keep up posting on the weekends as on weekdays. That is to say, I will keep this blog daily for the next 21 days and get this done and out of the way. I got too much stuff to just do week days and mess around like that. I may have to take written notes and/or notes on my laptop as I go and then post later, but I should be able to have a post for every day.

4 This being a blog for a classroom activity, I will have to limit my pictures and artwork to things for which I own the copyright and places like Creative Commons and Picasa. Those two websites are pretty good; with search engines and copyright free material. As I mentioned earlier, I will try and keep taking pics of the food I prepare (might be gross, might be cool. At least you’ll see the BBQ in my backyard, perhaps even my attempts at getting my “garden of stuff I eat” up and running). I like tomatoes, especially ones which come from my backyard.

5. I am going to keep the blog up to date. More than likely it will be one day behind most of the time, in that I will write about the previous day’s “stuff”; workouts, research, recipes and anecdotal notes about reactions from me and my family the following day.

This may affect what I can get done; my memory isn’t quite what it used to be, but I know I enjoy writing, so I think I can get through it with the help of my Macbook and my fingers. I will also start and keep a separate “rough draft” on the hard drive of this Macbook, which I will be backing up on my home external hard drive once or twice a week.

I heart Time Machine. It just makes backing stuff up soooooo much easier, man. Fer real!

I start, you start

This is the start of my 21 days of blogging about getting on the road to better health. I'm going to be posting about my attempts to learn and develop Gluten Free diet for me and my family.

Why?

Because I was asked to look into this a while ago, and am now using the time and tide to my advantage.

What?

I'm bending the rules to my own advantage. I'm going to be using my time to find out "stuff" to make me healthier. Background, research and yummy recipes and cooking tips.

Why?

Because I already do a fairly good job of working out; now I need to my diet under control. Well, not control, sorry poor choice of words. I need to get my diet better than it is now. And going gluten free, even as just an experiment, is a step. A step in the right direction? I dunno, let's find out.

Considering Cost

One of the most important factors when getting into a new Personal Activity Program (PAP) is cost. I mean, is there an aspect of you that money isn't a part of?

One of the reasons I am posting about this today is that I got a timely notice about setting up a home gym from one of the dudes who's blog I follow. His name is Vic Magery and he's pretty good.

The post to which I refer is here. I have to tell you, I think he's bang on with his advice about setting up a gym for very low cost. If you want to see what you can do on your own with this equipment, check you tube. Vic's got a lot of stuff there, too.

Oh, and Zach Even-Esh. He's pretty good, too.

OK, thanks. Go and be healthy!

oh SNAP!

Man, I got the wrong questions out to class today.... dang.

(Grumble, grumble)


That, and we "have" to do some reading and some Unit Two terms. Remind me.

Ok, see you tomorrow.

Dang, I hate when I do that.

"New Cure"? Hardly.

Seems there is a "new cure" for ADHD. That is, you can get to the point where you no longer suffer from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The link I ran across tonight is here. Give it a read.

Me? I just call it eating intelligently and making sure you know that if there is a problem with a family member, it is everyone's response that matters. If there is one that demonstrates a self-serving attitude, then the job of eating better and living healthier is made that much more difficult.

Imagine that you are a smoker, trying to quit. (By the way, Halton Region can help) That's awesome. Now, what if someone who lives in the same house laughs at you and blows smoke in your face everyday you are not smoking? How hard is THAT?

Now, then, according to the nutritionist who put the article together, once you make a couple of changes to your diet, you are all set. Me? I think curing ADHD for any one person is a bit more involved, but if you want to give it a try, eating a healthy breakfast can't hurt.

Unless it's made out of steel; then maybe.

Keep working away on your blogs; only 19 days left in class!

APA Style report and things that make me go hmmm

On the white board in my classroom is a written up description of what I am looking for in a APA Style report.

Yes, it's due today, April 13th. Yes, yes it is.

You are also supposed to have completed a blog post and or a written web quest on an advertised product completed as well. Some may have done it as a blog post, others decided to hand in a printed off copy. I'll be marking those tomorrow and getting feedback/ marks to you by weeks end.

Seem technology is not everyone's friend. If you've forgotten the Culminating Activity, you might want to click on over to my Classroom Portal and take a look again. We now have 30 days left in the course... yup, we got a month left in class.

Anyway, make sure you know what is due when; I'm not really in a forgiving mood when I look out at the classroom and see a lot of dancing, facebook and chatting going on. For those bored, here's a quote to google and read up on:

It is my right to care nothing about myself, but I must be willing to accept the consequences for that failure, and I must never think that those who have chosen to work, while I played, rested and slept, will share their bounties with me.

M Collins

Have an awesome Tuesday.

Oh, yeah, there is a link on "Reading a Nutrition Label" which will prove handy when trying to finish the next Poster Assignment... I'm thinking I'd like to make sure the point is made: It's due when it's due.

Something else that makes me, as a teacher, go hmmmm, too.

Right, last thing that makes me go hmmm...

Lunches and Links

I'm still eating. I mean to say that I like eating - I used to like the stuff that we saw in the film, but these days I actually like tasting my food. Online food pages are something I enjoy reading. And not pages like this.

Someone asked what I had for lunch - I'm not sure they believed me, but I really am trying to eat healthy during this time of year. So, this is what I had for lunch:

Almonds (I didn't measure how many, but a bunch)
Lemon-Dill Hummus ("some")
Chopped red pepper
Baby carrots ('cause they taste better)
water (outta my really cool water bottle)

I'm trying to carefully reduce the number of calories I consume, while keeping constant the levels of nutrients and protein in my diet. Breakfast could be better these days, but with time constraints being what they are, I'm finding grab and go fruit and a Timmy Ho's coffee about the length of time I have.

Dinner tonight (It's Wednesday, which means Pasta Night at Chez Chesser) will be Pasta with extra chicken brest and a caesar's salad. Should be tasty, man. And quick - which is the important part for me.

I'll let that digest, try to get my iPod to working condition and get back out for a run before too late.

Something to keep in mind

He, who has health, has hope; and he who has hope has everything. - Arabian Proverb

Oh, right one more thing

Sorry, just one more thing for some in the class who like to offer excuses...

What? Where's the pic?

Somebody whined about the shot with the Earth and the moon being up on the top with the title of this blog.

Meh, whatever.

I took it out. Seems there is no pleasing people these days. Set up your blog and get a few links on there. It's easy, just follow the instructions/demonstrations. If you are sneaky and willing, you can use some of my blog links. Personally, I'd like to think you're better at this internet thingy than I am, but Thursday's webquest exercise provided me some fodder that I am losing my "digital accent".

On a bright note, I'm sitting on my comfy chair at home and doing school work. Next, I'm going to sign up for another online class through Nippising University to start the last week of May.

Oh what fun we're going to have on a one horse open sleigh!

Is this REALLY necessary?

One of the things I try and teach to people is that they need all parts of their lives to be in balance in order to be healthy. Perhaps, and I am merely thinking outside the box here, there should be some sort of Digital Health considered.

There is a Frontline video that I will post a link to later on that discusses internet addiction, but for the time being, here is a link to an important issue about digital security. I want you to read it and be able to say something intelligent to me regarding this issue.

Peace out, see you tomorrow. Which is today, as I am staying up past my bedtime. I don't like running to late, it keeps me up. W/e.

Chesser

Heart and Stroke

Hello!

Heart attack and strokes are very bad. Why they are bad is a topic for conversation later on in the course we're doing. However, until then, here is a test of whether or not you are at rick for a heart attack or a stroke.

Have a good Thursday, man!

Once upon a school

A really cool video presentation that you might consider when thinking about school.

See you then.

Welcome!

I will also put this link to my classroom portal in the Links to the right of this post, but start here, man. Lots of forms and the like.

"I'm cool, my mom says so."

First post

I am just starting this blog, and need something to hold a place.

This is a cool contest, I think I will apply.