Sugars and Breads

 

So by now everyone has heard about so many diseases and complications that are said to be coming from our diets and what we eat.  The foods that we eat are not just bad but they're becoming worse as GMO's and pesticides, etc. have increased in the production of our foods.  

I've been less active physically and for the past couple of years have started to feel pains and discomforts which is pretty normal for someone my age.  But although it's normal, it doesn't mean it has to be the case for everyone.  There many people in their 50's and older who do not have to live with degenerative conditions and symptoms just because they're middle-aged.

I've never been particular about certain foods as "I eat to live and not live to eat"- as they say.

So I'm working on reviving my complete meal and workout exercise system which I can scale with time, and I purposely want to keep it extremely simple.  It has to be simple because it has to be functional, and it's meant to be able to get started immediately.

Often times, we think too much about these things when we decide we're going to do them, and that's usually part of the problem (for me especially).

The first thing to do is to set a goal and a plan.

The 2nd thing to do is get it down on paper.

3rd, keep it simple so that you can get started right away.

4th, get busy.

I've already started while I'm still on #2 and #3.

I'm cutting back on certain foods on the "NO" list and have started eating foods on the "YES" list.

I've developed a "yes" list and a "no" list and now I'm working on creating complete meals from the "yes" list.

Next, is a trip to the supermarket and on my "yes" list, I've decided to select foods and supplements that I don't have to go out of my way to find or anything too exotic - in order to remain consistent w/ my meal program.

Now, I'm currently researching what meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack) options I can put together from my "yes" list foods...

I'm going to order glass (not plastic) "Tupperware" so I can create a variation of meals to prepare and store to always have ready.

***If you don't store and prepare your meals in advance, YOU WILL go out of your meal plan when you're caught hungry and w/ the ability to eat the wrong things.  

Going out of your home almost entirely guarantees that you will be having to eat out - (fast food restaurants, etc.)

That's why you have to plan ahead and either eat before you go out or take your meals with you.

CONDITIONING:

It's not that everything you eat outside of your list is wrong, it's more about building a pallet of taste and preference for certain foods while training yourself to lose interest in other foods.    We're looking to play a "long game" instead of a temporary diet fad.  So at some point, we've got to take our diet seriously.  With time and having developed new and better eating habits, one can loosen up a bit but in order to run well, you have to hit the ground running at first.

Straight off the bat, sugars, breads diary products are pretty bad for most people, and the cause of so much inflammation w/in the body that cause pain like arthritis and burning, and bloating (gastric issues).  

And they say, cancers and dementia-related illnesses (and there are many of them out there) have a lot to do with inflammation w/in the body.  So we must cut these out of our diets ASAP.

And of coarse, with any meal program, you must also have a workout program along with it.  

My TABATA program is super-simple!  

(check out my previous blogs on TABATA 4-min workout)

3-4 simple and doable exercises for 1-min intervals with 10 second rest period in between.  You go at it hard for about a min., and that's why it's call high intensity interval training (HIIT).

4 min long program, 3x a week (to start)

and 5 mins stretching before and after.

That's an exercise workout program (less than 10 mins long) right at home, 3 times a week.

Longevity is the key.

Often times, we create a whole new workout program; go to the gym and spend 1-2 hours loading up on exercises to end up discontinuing in a few days.

Getting started is always the first problem.. and keeping consistent is always the 2nd problem.

That's why for meal and workout program, you have to start SIMPLE and EASY to manage.   Create something that is scalable.

But the FIRST GOAL is to focus on LONGEVITY and developing new habits and routines that are reachable and realistic.

(To be continued)... 

Gonna step it up!

For the longest time, I've identified ways to step up my health game ... It's been a few years now, and I'm closer now to pushing that big red button of change. 

I've got a huge list of do's and dont's and I'm going to pull the trigger. 

New food and new habits.  Exercise and eating right. 

I'm going to post more on this as I progress.  I'm going to do a casual start but my food list will be pretty strict as far as what I will exclude. 

We all should do what we know is right -- even when it seems like we're the only ones to benefit from it. 

Jav.

Se nos van los viejos!

Our old folks are leaving us.

We've lost a number of our family members.

Tio Ledy, Cousin Papo, ....  That family has suffered so much trauma and loss.   

Don Jorge, my father-in-law and Papi almost 5 years ago.

Pray for Titi Eli and Tio Junior who are both hanging on by a thread of health.

Hopefully, we can get out to PA to see them before they're gone.

jav.

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Get your fill

 Bruce Harris Trio

Chet Baker (trumpet), Paul Desmond (alto sax), bob James (Keyboards), Ron Carter (contrabass), Steve Gadd (drums).

TESTING

I'm testing a live feed off of youtube right now. Testing the stream cam and audio.  Audio will be extremely poor due to being away from the webcam (the webcam is on the ledge of my window pointing to the street).  

If this works, I can do live streams off of my blog site (future casts).  

Thanks for watching.

My Kali training

I decided to start training in Filipino Martial Arts over the summer. I'm also looking into some Silat techniques.  Many of these South Asian martial arts borrow from each other.

Most people have heard of FMA as Kali, Escrima and/or Arnis.

It's concentrated in double stick striking and blocking but it also utilizes sword, knife and even hand techniques.  In fact, it's mainly a blade training martial art where the maneuvers of the rattan sticks are actually being substituted for blades - typically swords.

Most people were introduced to FMA by Dan Inosanto. 

Below, check out my video of some basic Kali strikes in my practice routine.

There is still a lot of foot work, striking patterns and range techniques I want to bring to my training.  Kali training can be done with regard to swing/strike patterns but after some time, a training partner is necessary. 

 

Pictured above are my rattan sticks, my composite ginunting training sword, a karambit plastic practice knife, 2 rubber training daggers, and a Brazilian made steel Bowie knife Papi used to own. 

Becky holding the ginunting training sword. She's lethal with her cuteness and she ain't afraid to use it either! 

Check out Doug Marcaida. A real badass:

Sector disarming:

In FMA, the training is with sticks but it can just as easily be with swords, knives, a combination of weapons or empty hands.

 

3 years: Papi

I can't begin to remember the nightmare that began that early morning when I received that call that Papi wasn't waking up from his sleep. 

And then to see him through the security cam laying down asleep, as he always slept. Nothing looked unusual. My heart racing as it is now even recounting it.   ....

I miss him.

We all miss him. 

I'm going to try and get to the cemetery and sit a while, take a short video, pray and meditate.

3 Years ago at the cemetery I read Psalm 8:

O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.

Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:

All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;

The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.

O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

Papi was such a strange man (in a sense).  He was definitely a product of his up-bringing and to understand him, you seriously needed to understand his youth, how and where he grew up; what the culture and conditions were like when he was growing up, etc...

Part of the problem was that he wasn't very talkative about those times. He did talk about his father, his mother, etc.  I remember him talking about how hard it was for his father maintaining "La finqua" (the field) or the land that his father owned, trying to maintain it, and how hard it was for his parents as they were aging and all the siblings were finding their way to the states to find work, etc.

I guess you can get a lot of detail out of those accounts to determine some information on Papi and what he had to go through.

I know he really loved his parents - that's for sure.

I also got some more information about Papi and what he had to go through when he told me of the time when he first came to New York in the 50's how he started working at an electric factory of some sort assembling standing lamps.

And then when he decided to take a 6-month Barber training and that lead to a 40 plus year career cutting people's hair and hair styling.  He never made a lot of money but he was able to always save and put aside money for when it was truly needed.  His practice of saving money had on a number of occasions allowed him to respond to family emergencies like the time of the fire on Townsend Ave., and the death of his Father and sister in Puerto Rico.   But also when Stevie died and ultimately for his own passing.

It was those nerve-wracking rentals of his bedrooms at the apartment that ultimately assisted with his own funeral and burial expenses.

But I always wished that Papi was more of a communicator because I always felt like I didn't truly know him.   He wasn't a talker or very introspective.  If he was, he wasn't out in the open.   I think perhaps that because of the limits of only having a 5th grade education that this might be part of the reason...  but I don't know if I totally believe that.

Our relationship was a simple one.

A simple, "What's going on" type of conversation and then we would watch some baseball or boxing, or some Spanish TV, w/ some jokes and simple comments in between, and that was pretty much it.  Papi liked to laugh and smile.  He could be a real wise guy too.

I guess it's just because I want more of him and I miss him, and I want to just go see him again ... for some small talk.

I pray I will see him again.

I want to see that welcoming Papi smile he used to give.

......................