Charity

What is it about helping others that creates a sense of fulfillment in ourselves. Whenever I feel down the easiest way to improve my mood is to get involved in some small way with helping others. Later this week I head to Belarus on a humanitarian aid trip. Me and a group of other caring individuals will be delivering food and other necessities to impoverished individuals in the contaminated zone of the Chernobyl disaster.

It will be a long trip across the Atlantic. I fly from Ottawa to New Jersey, from New Jersey to Warsaw, and then Warsaw to Minsk. From Minsk it is a four hour drive to the small town of Chausy. It has been eight years since I have been there. During my last trip I stayed on a collective farm. I had no running water of bathroom facilities and there was 6 of us in a one room house. Sounds awful right? Funny thing is it was a very fulfilling experience! I hope my upcoming trip has the same effect! Wish me luck!

Sick sick sick

Ok, this past week was no fun at all. I got sick on Sunday night of last week and today is the first day that I feel human, a full week later. I spent most of the week on the couch in a daze, watching mindless TV. The good news, I am caught up on all my TV, the bad news, I feel like a slug.

I figure I have lost about a month of fitness progress. All of the missed workouts as well as how much energy and stuff I have lost over the past week. And most importantly, confidence. If you don't feel it that makes it hard to believe it.

So this upcoming week will be an ease back into it kind of week. I did a very slow jog this morning, and ugh, it hurt. And it was slow as molasses in January. Things can only look up from here.

Have a good week everyone.

In a rut....

It has been a bad week. Just a number of little things but they do add up. My workouts haven't been great, and I missed a few due to my boss being in town. My weight has ballooned big time, I am at my worst ever for about 1.5 years. As I said, just a poor week.

Looking forward, this upcoming week will be a good one! Lots of exercise and good eating habits. It is time to get control back once and for all.

Positive thinking

Why do we as a human race continue to focus on the negative things around us. Most of us concentrate on the worst thing that can possibly happen, then we obsess about it until it eats away at us. In the end, very rarely does that obsession come true. But then we start the cycle all over again.

I am no different. If you have been following my blog you know that I can certainly be a negative thinker. One example is my battle with weight. I always assume the worst will happen each Monday morning when I get on the scale. The crazy thing is that by that point in time there is absolutely nothing I can do about it!

We could all use a bit more positive thinking in our lives. Each morning when you are still laying in bed think about three things that you are great full for, that will start your day off on a positive note!

Stay safe everyone....

Think Positively

It is so easy to have the mid-winter blues at this time of year. In fact, I usually fall into a funk in the winter months. The cold weather, the snow, lack of sunlight, all contribute to a poor state of mind. I am trying really hard to think positively this winter and stay out if the funk. There are many things to look forward to, in fact each individual day is worth looking forward to!

I recently rejoined a charity as a board member and it has done wonders for helping my attitude. It is funny that by helping others we often help ourselves in the process. I would recommend that everyone get involved in some process where you are helping others on a regular basis. I think you will find that it creates a greater sense of contentment in your own life.

So get out there and volunteer to something you are passionate about.

Spring?

It is beginning to feel a lot like spring in my neck of the woods. It has been above freezing for a number of days now and most of the snow and ice has been melting. I have still been running on a treadmill indoors but I noticed a large running group outdoors today. Maybe it is time to get my cold weather gear out and do some cool spring running!

From a biking perspective there is still no way I would go outdoors, it is still to wet and cool. When you are doing 20mph on a bike with the wind in your face it can get really really cold!

I still would like to do more weight training to strengthen my overall fitness. I really only focus on cardio and I think weights would do me some good. My problem is that I am still a slave to my heart rate monitor and cardio just plain burns more calories. I know that maybe longer term a stronger overall body would enable me to burn higher overall calories but I can't get myself to believe that.

Kettle bell workouts maybe?

Progress?

I might finally see some progress on the scale this week. I have been tracking my weight throughout the week and I am on track for a loss tomorrow morning. Of course, I have to get through today first.

It was a swim day for me but I skipped the workout. A little later this morning I am helping to load boxes onto a truck for shipment to Belarus. This is a six hour job and will be very physical work so I think I will burn lots of calories doing that. The side benefit is that it will get me out of the house so I won't get the opportunity to snack all day!

I have a few trips planned for the upcoming weeks so maintaining weight will be difficult. Next weekend I leave for a week in Vegas for a work conference. There will be many food temptations at the conference so I will need to be very careful. Luckily they have a good gym at the hotel so I hope to continue my workouts on that trip.

My second trip is to Belarus to deliver humanitarian aid. There will be very little food there so I think I will not gain weight during that trip. In fact, I will be moving heavy boxes all day every day so my calorie burn will be way up for that entire week. I am starting to think about what food I will need to pack to take with me.

Stay safe everyone!