Here I am in Halifax. The trip was long, yet rather short, looking at it from the perspective of what needs to get done now that I am here. I guess its the homily of life that I should enjoy the journey, because once I arrive, there is a lot more work that needs to get done.
So basically Tracey and I loaded up my uhual trailer rental; which incidentally, they upgraded for free(!) because they were so impressed with what a loyal and responsible customer I was during my stay! So we loaded her up, and I said good-bye to Tracey, which was rather hard, but in all of time on this earth I think that how you say good-bye reflects the person you are. A short good-bye, not drawn out, and a hope and expectation for the future seems to be the best. Sobbing and hugging affairs are too hard and they stay with you, lingering, taking away from the excitement of the journey.
Anyway, I hit the road with a heavy heart and high spirits, which made for very difficult musical choices. Do I want sad music or upbeat? I settled for Amy Millan (of course) and Led Zeppelin. Plus, I have sattelite radio, which is awesome for travelling. Everything seemed great, learning from mistakes I had made in past road trips, i always made sure to fill up with gas when I was around half empty (or half full), but just outside Cornerbrook, the rain started to POUR! It was a deluge, farms were being flooded, cows were drowning...it was epochal. Plus it was evening, so it was so dark I could barely see a thing. I am white-knuckling it on the steering wheel, grasping at ten and two for my life, while giant semi trucks blew past me at top speed. Then the fog rolled in rendering my high-beams useless. My tank, I noticed, was one quarter empty and I needed to pull into Stephenville for some gas. So i got into the off ramp, lead under the assumption that Stephenville wasn't too far off the highway. But I was duped! It was almost thirty kilometers away, and it was too dangerous to try and turn around! I cursed and cursed..my blood pressure rose and I sweated. I made it into Stephenville, and found my way out...it was a 45 minute diversion.
In the back of my mind I was intending to catch the ferry, but I had decided when I left that the guiding principles of my journey were 'relax and take it easy...guy!', so I wasn't too worried about my detour once I had gotten out of it. I cruised into Port au Basque at 11.25 and I went down to the ferry. to my surprise I was let on board immediately for a 11.45 departure! I was literally the last person allowed on board; they closed the gates behind me. This was really awesome, and I praised God for this Blessing! I got a small dormitory berth and fell asleep for a few hours; dreaming, strangely, of being on the Titanic when it was sinking.
The next morning was glorious. The sun was shining, a stark contrast to the rubbish weather I left behind. There was so many deciduous trees, all of them gearing up to turn their awesome colours for the season. What a drive! It went so smoothly, I got into Dartmouth and found the uHaul storage relatively easily. Then went to the hostel...where I write this very "blog" entry.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Time is on my side?
Time is going so quickly, masha Allah. I will soon be on the road to Halifax, and I am getting pretty excited. When I first moved to Newfoundland I found things very hard. I mean it was very difficult to get things done, whenever I needed things to go my way...they always went tits up leaving me in the lurch for whatever it was I was needing. This 'luck' continued throughout my time here, but strangely enough when I made my desire to leave known, strangely, everything seemed to change...like my path out of here is being divinely cleared and paved. I haven't left, but it just seems that things are going to work out, irregardless of the outcome. I am feeling quite happy about that.
I haven't recieved my Dalhousie letter, but its coming. I feel it, though I hesistate to speculate on its contents.
I feel the need to write down a few assertions;
1) I need to be patient and gentle with others and myself.
2) I need to accept what I can't control, and understand what is happening to me.
3) I need to be positive and laugh often.
4) Eating well and exercising my body and mind is paramount to my ultimate well-being.
5) Sex is like air. It only matters when you are not getting any.
I haven't recieved my Dalhousie letter, but its coming. I feel it, though I hesistate to speculate on its contents.
I feel the need to write down a few assertions;
1) I need to be patient and gentle with others and myself.
2) I need to accept what I can't control, and understand what is happening to me.
3) I need to be positive and laugh often.
4) Eating well and exercising my body and mind is paramount to my ultimate well-being.
5) Sex is like air. It only matters when you are not getting any.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Working Out.
I have been going to the gym a lot lately, and because I like to go, but dislike spending too much time there, I have searching for a decent routine that will;
1) Maximise my gains.
2) Not waste my time.
3) Make me look like a hero.
I have worked out in the past but, I have found that I wasted too much time, doing too many exercises, too many reps, and not working towards a singular goal. Here is as an outline of how I changed things, and being very successful at it.
1) I have set a goal. That is to become as strong, agile and quick as possible.
So with this in mind, I realised that the common exercises that are typically done in gyms have no real purpose outside the gym. In all practicality I want to be good and fit to complete a wide variety of physical tasks and naturally excel at sports. I fail to see how a bench press will help me augment rock climbing, or canoeing in a very useful way. So I have changed a lot of exercises in one important way; I only perform compound exercises with expansive joint articulation. This is of course whenever possible.
2) I work towards intensity.
What this means, is that I vary my reps and sets wildly. I vary their speed and direction, but I always work until controlled failure whenever it's safe.
3) I understand how muscle develops and why.
Without getting into the details, this insight allows me to understand what is happening with my body when I put it under extreme stress. Muscular hypertrophy is an exciting field because there is still so much to learn about it. I know about muscle physiology and that allows me to be strong. Period.
4) I eat properly and get adequate rest.
This means listening very carefully to my body and what it is telling me through pain and aches, or tiredness or hunger. I give it the fuel it needs, and it grows and becomes stronger
5) I understand the mind-body-soul connection.
Learn this or you will not be properly balanced and your body will fall in upon itself. It will rebel against you and you will have lots of disturbances. If you understand and disciplined enough to maintain balance, you wil be happy and the world will come to your feet.
1) Maximise my gains.
2) Not waste my time.
3) Make me look like a hero.
I have worked out in the past but, I have found that I wasted too much time, doing too many exercises, too many reps, and not working towards a singular goal. Here is as an outline of how I changed things, and being very successful at it.
1) I have set a goal. That is to become as strong, agile and quick as possible.
So with this in mind, I realised that the common exercises that are typically done in gyms have no real purpose outside the gym. In all practicality I want to be good and fit to complete a wide variety of physical tasks and naturally excel at sports. I fail to see how a bench press will help me augment rock climbing, or canoeing in a very useful way. So I have changed a lot of exercises in one important way; I only perform compound exercises with expansive joint articulation. This is of course whenever possible.
2) I work towards intensity.
What this means, is that I vary my reps and sets wildly. I vary their speed and direction, but I always work until controlled failure whenever it's safe.
3) I understand how muscle develops and why.
Without getting into the details, this insight allows me to understand what is happening with my body when I put it under extreme stress. Muscular hypertrophy is an exciting field because there is still so much to learn about it. I know about muscle physiology and that allows me to be strong. Period.
4) I eat properly and get adequate rest.
This means listening very carefully to my body and what it is telling me through pain and aches, or tiredness or hunger. I give it the fuel it needs, and it grows and becomes stronger
5) I understand the mind-body-soul connection.
Learn this or you will not be properly balanced and your body will fall in upon itself. It will rebel against you and you will have lots of disturbances. If you understand and disciplined enough to maintain balance, you wil be happy and the world will come to your feet.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Healthy Living with Crohn's
This morning I jumped onto the scale and was surprised to learn I weighed 225lbs. Not so long ago I weighed 260 and I know for sure that 4 months ago I weighed 245lbs. Yes, to answer your question, I have been working out. I also have a gastrointestinal disorder, Crohn's disease, which I highly recommend you go out and get if you intend to lose some weight. Yup, nothing melts off the pounds than stomach disease.
My Crohn's disease has changed my life a rather lot, now that I think of it. Having lived with stomach and intestinal pain for so long, I was under the impression this is how the entire world lived, with gas, stomach distension, infrequent bowel movement and general all-around pain...I had been to doctors as early as 1997 complaining of discomfort, but it was shrugged off, and eventually I did as well. So now I have a name and face that goes with my pain, it also can give me insight into how I can adapt and live well with it. Crohn's is related to asthma and eczema, and I have both (although eczema not so bad these days, more when I was younger); and alledgedly what happens is that my auto-immune system attacks the healthy gastrointestinal tissues, weakening and rupturing them. I love statistics and the statistics are that 1 in 10 of Crohn's sufferers will eventually succumb to the disease, typically to septemia, or massive infection because the bowels rupture and waste seeps into the body. That one person will get very sick very quickly with high fever, vomitting, diarrhea, mental confusion, elevated blood pressure and eventually heart, liver, or kidney failure will kill them.
The key for me, for now, has been to stay away from raw foods, and bulky fibre foods, or insoluble fiber. And I have had to drastically limit my meal portions. What I am eating is typically what can be fit into a handful. Unfortunately due to my constraints in my current living situation this is often hard to get, especially with healthy foods, but nonetheless, it means one half or one full sandwich, depending on its size, one piece of fruit, or similarily portioned cut of meat, soup or chili. So far this works. I am eating more often, but it feels a lot better. If I have eaten too much during the day then I really feel pressure, especially when I exercise.
Yeah sure, there are symptoms of my disease, discomfort and whatnot, but so far it has been manageable.
My Crohn's disease has changed my life a rather lot, now that I think of it. Having lived with stomach and intestinal pain for so long, I was under the impression this is how the entire world lived, with gas, stomach distension, infrequent bowel movement and general all-around pain...I had been to doctors as early as 1997 complaining of discomfort, but it was shrugged off, and eventually I did as well. So now I have a name and face that goes with my pain, it also can give me insight into how I can adapt and live well with it. Crohn's is related to asthma and eczema, and I have both (although eczema not so bad these days, more when I was younger); and alledgedly what happens is that my auto-immune system attacks the healthy gastrointestinal tissues, weakening and rupturing them. I love statistics and the statistics are that 1 in 10 of Crohn's sufferers will eventually succumb to the disease, typically to septemia, or massive infection because the bowels rupture and waste seeps into the body. That one person will get very sick very quickly with high fever, vomitting, diarrhea, mental confusion, elevated blood pressure and eventually heart, liver, or kidney failure will kill them.
The key for me, for now, has been to stay away from raw foods, and bulky fibre foods, or insoluble fiber. And I have had to drastically limit my meal portions. What I am eating is typically what can be fit into a handful. Unfortunately due to my constraints in my current living situation this is often hard to get, especially with healthy foods, but nonetheless, it means one half or one full sandwich, depending on its size, one piece of fruit, or similarily portioned cut of meat, soup or chili. So far this works. I am eating more often, but it feels a lot better. If I have eaten too much during the day then I really feel pressure, especially when I exercise.
Yeah sure, there are symptoms of my disease, discomfort and whatnot, but so far it has been manageable.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Moving to Halifax soon.
Wellity, wellity, well!
That Blessed time of the year is here, Ramadan! And a Happy one for everyone out there!
Sorry about not posting in a while, but in no way do I believe that many people read this blog, there is nothing too interesting here anyway.
To explain my absence, where I am living at the moment has spotty internet access; also not too much is going on of interest for me to write. My life is as boring to me, as it is to you, dear reader.
I am going to Halifax soon, and setting up shop...having abandonded my plans to visit Africa for the moment. My life is always travel, travel travel...its time to settle in for a somewhat long period of time. Truth be told, I am always looking for that next exciting chapter of my life to bring me the peace and contentment I am so eager to find; unfortunately I don't know when I will expire and I have started to become scared that I am wasting my time. Although Africa will be exciting and an adventure that will change my life and imprint itself on my lasting memory...I need to make an investment now. Maybe finish my degree, get a house....who knows....maybe I can trick some girl into marrying me and have some kids.
That Blessed time of the year is here, Ramadan! And a Happy one for everyone out there!
Sorry about not posting in a while, but in no way do I believe that many people read this blog, there is nothing too interesting here anyway.
To explain my absence, where I am living at the moment has spotty internet access; also not too much is going on of interest for me to write. My life is as boring to me, as it is to you, dear reader.
I am going to Halifax soon, and setting up shop...having abandonded my plans to visit Africa for the moment. My life is always travel, travel travel...its time to settle in for a somewhat long period of time. Truth be told, I am always looking for that next exciting chapter of my life to bring me the peace and contentment I am so eager to find; unfortunately I don't know when I will expire and I have started to become scared that I am wasting my time. Although Africa will be exciting and an adventure that will change my life and imprint itself on my lasting memory...I need to make an investment now. Maybe finish my degree, get a house....who knows....maybe I can trick some girl into marrying me and have some kids.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
