Week 7 progress

pushups: 9336

situps: 9557

kicks: 8605

flying spinning back kicks: 52

flying side kicks: 42

tai chi long form reps: 98

broadsword reps: 102

water consumed: 175 glasses

dog walks: 50

journal entries: 49

stories read to Julia: 80

shoulder rolls: 12

minutes of sparring: 15

veg servings eaten: 34

acts of kindness: 101

miles walked: 154.35

geology books read: 0

mineral formulas memorized: 0

kms rollerbladed: 0

papers published: 0

days no t.v.: 50

days no fast food: 80

church services attended: 4

trips to dog park: 7

german book read: 0

I didn't do a great job of recording things this week (like water consumption), but I only counted what I wrote down. Making progress on some fronts....gotta kick my own butt in regards to others. I am reading a geology book though and am making progress. Also working on the mineral formulas. Can you believe I've survived 80 days without MacDonalds?!?

Today I consumed: a pastry, some biscuit cassarole, turkey dinner with all the trimmings, 3 cups of coffee, a beer and maybe 3 glasses of water and a cup of tea

1000 pushups and situps done!

So I finished my 1000 pushups and sit-ups. My shoulder isn't even that bad. I can feel the muscles tightening up a little though. Nice feeling though and good for my numbers. I'll need to do 1000 kicks sometime soon too.

Good day. Got some more done on my hand form too. It's starting to come along. Some parts feel really good, some I'm still working the kinks out of. Making progress though.

Looking forward to a nice family dinner tomorrow for Easter. Should be nice. Going to Easter church too....he is risen, he is risen indeed! Happy Easter everyone!

Today I consumed: half a pastry, bacon and eggs with toast and potato wedges, a cheese and tomato sandwich, a banana, some pasta with veggies, 3 cups of coffee and 6 glasses of water

Good practice session

Tonight I went and trained even though it was a holiday. Mr Repay and Mr Leung joined me. Even though there was only the three of us, it was nice. It's cool to see what other people are working on. Tomorrow I'm doing the 1000 pushups and situps. It should be fun in a sweaty, terribly-sore-the-next-da sort of way. I'm surprised my shoulder hasn't been giving me more grief....maybe tomorrow will be the true test.
Pandamonium is coming up....I've really got to get going on this fundraising thing.

Today I consumed: half a bran muffin, half a pastry, 2 servings of biscuit cassrole, a pack of instant noodles with toast and some candy, 2 cups of coffee, 6 glasses of water and 2 beers

Thinking about a haircut

It's so hard to push myself to do my reps sometimes. Tonight was one of those times but I got them done.
I'm thinking of getting a hair cut this weekend. It would be the first haircut since I got sick. Part of me wants to, but another part of me doesn't want to lose any hair ever again......
I'll have to think about it.

Today I consumed: a breakfast sandwich and hashbrown from tims, an orange, an apple, a pack of instant noodles, a granola bar, a chocolate bar and some casserole, 3 cups of coffee, a cup of tea and 3 glasses of water

Relaxing

Today I got all my reps done before class (for once!). I even did extra form reps to make up for slacking. I don't know what to do with myself now. Julia's in bed and for once I have time to relax. So nice!
I wish it could be like this every day!
Mike has this Friday off so I'm excited to have a family day together. I think we're going to try and go for a walk or something. It will be fun.
I'm going to wait until this weekend to go through my numbers I think. I want to do the 1000 challenge and I think going over my numbers then will motivate me.

Today I consumed: an orange, a bowl of oatmeal, some macaroni and cheese, a couple of cookies, some cheese and spinach things, 2 cups of coffee, a can of juice, and I'm going to have a cup of tea.

Slacking

The last few days I have not been keeping up on my numbers. It seems that it's been go-go-go and then collapse in exhaustion. I'm sure lots of people are in the same boat.
I haven't even tallied last weeks numbers yet:(
Tomorrow I'm home with Julia though so I will pound out the reps.
She started walking today which is pretty cool. She has taken a few steps before and would walk holding your hand but today she started walking for long distances which is cool.

I think the baby days are numbered now....on to toddler years (a bit sad, but good too).

Time to go do a few pushups and situps so I at least did something!

Today I consumed: 2 granola bars, an orange, a roast beef and cheese sandwich, a doughnut, half a chicken quesidilla with some veg and fries, an english toffee coffee, a cup of black coffee and 2 glasses of water and a mug of tea.

Survived!!

So I managed to make it through the lecture today without dying. It actually went ok. I managed to be right on schedule and I think some people may have actually learned something. I teach all the time at Kung-Fu but it can still be intimidating. Sometimes I find my face going red and I get so nervous. Practice does help and I'm sure I'll get better at this lecture thing as I go.

I'm so tired tonight though. I was up all night worrying about today so I didn't sleep very well. I managed to do some kicks, situps and pushups and tai chi tonight but not as many reps as I should. I think tomorrow I'm going to have to do extra. I think too that maybe I'll do the 1000 challenge for easter Monday. I need to get my numbers up.

So anyone up for 1000 situps, 1000 pushups on Monday? I'll probably do 1000 kicks too. What better way to commemorate Jesus rising than doing pushups?

Today I consumed: 1 piece of peanut butter and jam toast, a salami and cheese sandwich, 3 carrots, a hardboiled egg, 2 little oranges, 2 granola bars, a pizza pop, some pasta, a pot of coffee, 3 glasses of water and 1 beer with dinner.

I'm also considering cutting my coffee back. It's been upsetting my stomach lately, but it tastes so good!
Ya, maybe I'll cut it back to two mugs a day. That would be better for my stomach for sure!

Procrastination bah!

Up till late tonight getting a lecture ready for tomorrow. First time lecturing to an actual class.....pretty nervous. Hopefully I end up sounding semi-intelegent!
Took Romeo to the dog-park too.....sorry for the tardiness Mrs Csillag!

Long day but good.

Today I consumed: 2 peices of peanut butter and jam toast, a cheese burger and poutine from my Mom's restaurant, a handful of candy and some leftover shrimp pasta, 3 cups of coffee, 4 cups of tea and 4 glasses of water

Tomorrow I'll post my numbers

Man I want potato chips!

Tonight we had to go to a birthday party. I was hungry and the munchies put out were pop and chips..one of my favourite things to eat. I gave them up for my diet cleanup in I Ho Chuan. It was SO hard not to eat one. Especially when everyone else was. Man!
But I made it!
Still no pop, chips or MacDonalds

Today I consumed:  2 pieces of peanut butter and jam toast, a hard boiled egg, 2 carrots, a tomatoe and cheese sandwich, some broccoli, 3 peices of pizza, a little bit of juice, 5 cups of coffee and 6 glasses of water.

Back pain problem solved!

So when I've been doing my tai chi at home, it's been killing my back. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why. Mike suggested I try doing my form with my Kung-Fu shoes on and boy did it make a difference! We have laminate flooring so it can be a little hard on the feet. I didn't realize though that it could affect my back. But five minutes after I put the shoes on my back stopped hurting. A miracle!
Now I won't have such a hard time doing the reps. I've been dreading them not only because of the length, but because of the back pain too.
So wear shoes on hard floors! It could save you a lot of pain.

Today I consumed: 2 pieces of peanut butter and jam toast, some candies, a pack of instant noodles with a piece of toast, a chocolate bar, some pasta with shrimp and I'm going to eat 2 pizza pops and have a beer before bed. I drank 4 cups of coffee, have a can of juice and 6 glasses of water.

Got a blender so I'm going to try making smoothies this week too

tired but I did it!

Worked late but managed to make myself do my stuff when I got home.

Time for supper and bed.

Today I consumed: 2 pieces of peanut butter and jam toast, a banana, 2 hard boiled eggs, a doughnut, a meet and cheese sandwich and I'm going to have some shepard's pie, an english toffee coffee, 2 regular coffees and 3 glasses of water.

Dog collar wonder

So we got Romeo a different collar for his dog walks.
It looks terrible...it's steel with spiky bits on it, but boy does it make a difference. It doesn't bother him unless he pulls (or I jerk the leash) in which case he gets pinched. I know it sounds barbaric, but it gives me control over him. He's a big dog and can be hard to handle. Our walks this week have been awesome....I've actually enjoyed them. I think Romeo likes them a little more too because we are not constantly fighting each other.
Last night we even went by the house with the scary dog that barks at us. Romeo tried to go pick a fight, but I gave the collar a jerk and he listened to me. For once I didn't get dragged to the fence.

Hopefully this will help train him to walk nice on a leash. Then we can go back to the normal collar again.

Today I consumed: a piece of peanut butter and jam toast, some macaroni with cheese and tomatoes, a cheese burger and poutine (not fast food though), half a cucumber, a couple of candies, 3 cups of coffee and 4 glasses of water.

Back Pain

So, as many people know, I have a really bad back. I have scoliosis and had surgery about 10 years ago. They attached some rods to my spine to try and straighten it. It's not a big deal, but if I'm not careful, it hurts. Today I wasn't careful and my lower back hurts like stink. Makes it hard to do Kung-Fu.
This is where the whole patience and progressing wisely thing comes in. I should have been more careful. Bah! The pushups have been helping though (not right now, but in general). They've been strengthening my back muscles which is good. But when I first started doing them it was a strain for sure.
Time to go lay down I think.
Pain sucks.....hello Ibuprofen!

Today I consumed: a piece of peanut butter toast with honey, half a meat and cheese sandwich, a ham and cheese tea biscuit, some biscuit casserole, 2 cups of coffee, an english toffee coffee from time and 4 glasses of water.

Week 5 progress

Where am I at?

pushups: 6582
situps: 6830
kicks: 6707
flying spinning back kicks: 52
flying side kicks: 42
tai chi long form reps: 67
broadsword reps: 77
water consumed: 157 glasses
dog walks: 37
journal entries: 36
stories read to Julia: 67
shoulder rolls: 10
minutes of sparring: 15
veg servings eaten: 27
acts of kindness: 80
miles walked: 115.35
geology books read: 0
mineral formulas memorized: 0
kms rollerbladed: 0
papers published: 0
days no t.v.: 37
days no fast food: 67
church services attended: 2
trips to dog park: 5
german book read: 0

A lot of 0s....gotta get on that. Totally didn't wear the pedometer like I should have...gotta get on that too. Need to write down acts of kindness as well. Sparring too.......

Oh the struggle!

Today I consumed: a bran muffin, a ham and cheese sandwich and some bisuit casserole. I'm gonna have a cookie too. I drank 3 cups of coffee and 4 glasses of water.

Bedtime

Got a big assignment due tomorrow so I've been working on that. Stupid procrastination!

Tomorrow I'll post my numbers.

Today I consumed: a bran muffin, some instant noodles and toast, some biscuit casserole, a cup of earl grey tea, a cup of green tea, 2 cups of coffee and 4 glasses of water.

Pandamonium coming up

Worked on my hand form today....didn't feel good though. Actually I'm having a hard time with the tai chi and broadsword too. They feel terrible. I feel like a scarecrow trying to do Kung-Fu.

Sigh.

Pandemonium is coming up. I really want to try and make it really successful this year. Usually I barely participate (bad example I know) so it's about time I got behind it and supported our charities. I believe in the causes we are supporting, I just hate asking people for money. This year though I have to get over that.


Today I consumed: a bran muffin, some bacon and eggs with hash browns, 3 pizza pops (healthy I know), 3 cookies, 4 cups of coffee and 4 cups of water

Frustration

How do you inspire people to push themselves? That is the question I was asking myself tonight after the I Ho Chuan practice session.
Not very many people were there and many of the people that were there were not training.

We are always telling our students "Less yack and more smack" but I think we need to remind ourselves of that as well. I for one have been guilty of this. Why come at all if you are going to be on your cell-phone or just hang out at the back? We are not going to get where we need to be by missing opportunities like tonight. Tonight is one training session we are never going to get back, it's gone forever.

I'm trying to figure out how to get everyone to bring it to the next level. My first thought was to just work as hard as I could and lead by example....but I don't think that makes a difference to those I'm trying to reach. I thought about confrontation...but again, is that going to inspire anyone? How am I supposed to inspire anyone anyways when I'm struggling myself?
The problem is that I see so much potential in our group, but that potential is being wasted...sometimes because of an unwillingness to put in the hard, sweaty work. I see so much greatness just waiting to come out, if people would just stop talking so much and start doing.

I think part of the problem is we don't have a demo coming up in the near future. Demos give a sense of purpose and focus that is very immediate. Summer time, when our demo season usually starts, can seem a long way away so it is easy to put off your training goals. I'm going to talk to Sifu Brinker, but I think we need a demo sooner. I'm going to organize one if he gives the go-ahead.
That will hopefully light a fire under all of us and give us something to work towards.

I'm not trying to sound like a jerk...I just found tonight a little frustrating. Time is so precious...we only have a year (minus a month or so now) and I want to make sure that no one looks back and thinks, "man, if I had only trained a little harder..."

Today I consumed: a bran muffin, 2 pastries, some instant noodles with 2 peices of bread, 2 chocolate chip cookies, a chicken breast and rice, 3 cups of coffee, 2 cups of earl grey tea and 5 glasses of water.

Exhausted

Just got home from work about half an hour ago....so tired. Bed time.

Today I consumed: 2 bran muffins, an orange, 2 ham and cheese sandwiches, a donair, a pot of coffee and four cups of water.

Awesome challenge

So in the beginner class every week for the last while we have been doing a weekly challenge. A different student decides the challenge each week. This week was Mr. MacDonald's turn. He actually typed out a t.v. commercial challenge for us. Really cool.
Here's what he wrote:

The TV Commercial workout
I'm sure we've all heard that sleeping burns more calories than sitting on the couch watching TV does - but does that mean that we can't watch TV ever? Nope! Time for the TV Commercial Workout!

For Every:                                                           DO:

Car commercial                                                   Jog in place until the commercial ends

Fashion/shopping commercial                             30 crunches

Food/restaurant commercial                                 30 jumping jacks

Jewelry commercial                                              20 squats/lunges

Travel commercial                                               Plank for entirety

Health/beauty commercial                                    20 hip raises

Movie trailer                                                         30 Russian twists

Commercial for TV show                                     40 high knees

PSA                                                                       10 leg lifts on each side

Fitness commercial                                                Exercise of choice!

Miscellaneous                                                        Water break:)




Awesome challenge Mr. MacDonald!


Today I consumed: a bran muffin, a bowl of cereal, a couple of blueberries, a chocolate bar, 2 pieces of peanut butter and honey toast, some chicken breast with sweet potatoes and peas, 4 glasses of water, 2 cups of coffee and a cup of earl grey tea.

Daylights savings time Bah!

Really tired from the time change. You wouldn't think one hour would make that much of a difference. Julia's tired too. Gonna take a couple of weeks to get back into the swing of things (internal clock-wise) I think.

Today I consumed: a bran muffin, a ham and cheese sandwich, two oranges, a banana, a bowl of chicken noodle soup from tims with a buttered bagel and a bun, some pasta with shrimp and veggies, 4 cups of coffee, four glasses of water and a beer with dinner

Kung-Fu...appearing at a workplace near you!

I actually did some of my stuff at work today. It was kind of weird but good too because I got a lot done. I was logging core in the basement again for most of the day but on my breaks I did pushups and kicks. To be honest I did them in the gigantic bathroom by the core lab. I know it probably sounds weird (maybe even gross), but it's a huge room that no one is ever in. It worked good for my kicks too because I could see myself in the mirror. Totally snuck some kicks in my office too when it was empty today (I share it with about 5 other people).
Starting to break my "Kung-Fu-not-at-work" stigma....


Today I consumed: a bran muffin, a banana, an orange, a ham and cheese sandwich, a chocolate bar, some goldfish crackers, some shrimp and veggie pasta, 7 glasses of water and a pot of coffee

Week 4 come and gone!

Here's my numbers for this week.


pushups: 5357
situps: 5618
kicks: 5467
flying spinning back kicks: 41
flying side kicks: 42
tai chi long form reps: 48
broadsword reps: 58
water consumed: 127 glasses
dog walks: 29
journal entries: 28
stories read to Julia: 53
shoulder rolls: 10
minutes of sparring: 15
veg servings eaten: 19
acts of kindness: 56
miles walked: 92.35
geology books read: 0
mineral formulas memorized: 0 (forgot the ones I thought I'd memorized:(
kms rollerbladed: 0
papers published: 0
days no t.v.: 29
days no fast food: 59
church services attended: 2
trips to dog park: 4
german book read: 0


This coming week my goal is to remember to wear my pedometer and to record my acts of kindness. Gotta get some sparring and shoulder rolls done too.

Oh and Mrs Csillag, sorry I missed you at the dog park today....next week, Spruce Doggy Park (east side of town), Sunday at 2pm?

Today I consumed: a bran muffin, some crackers, 2 pieces of peanut butter and honey toast, a popsicle, some chinese food, 3 cups of coffee, a cup of earl grey tea and 5 glasses of water

I Ho Chuan theme song

I think this song is what the I Ho Chuan is all about for me. It's called "Inner Ninja." It's by Classified.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGhyL8zg3_I

Today I consumed: a bowl of cereal, two pieces of peanut butter and honey toast, 2 pizza pops, some cheese and crackers, 3 cups of coffee, 5 glasses of water and 2 beers

Cats are great

My cat is sitting on my shoulders purring....so nice after a long day. He's the perfect little neck warmer.
I Ho Chuan class was great. Everyone's stuff is coming along. So many neat things going on. I wonder how Sifu Robinson's broom will look in the end. Should be interesting for sure.

Today I consumed: a carrot muffin, a cookie, a bowl of cereal, 2 pizza pops, some pasta, cheese and crackers, 6 glasses of water and 5 cups of coffee.

Being honest with myself

I think I'm going to have to get used to doing my workouts at night. I don't mind it so much. I used to do it this way when I did the UBBT. In some ways my body is used to working out at night after years of evening classes. I've been trying to get the whole morning thing going but it hasn't been consistent. Today for instance, Julia was up a 6 so the hour I would have had was gone. Then work, then hanging with the family...I'm sure it's similar for everyone...you don't always get to do things when you want, you have to do them when you can. I think I'm starting to find my rhythm though.....maybe rhythm isn't' the right word...I'm starting to get used to this whole routine.
Romeos walk was better tonight....actually kind of enjoyed it.

Today I consumed: a bran muffin, a carrot muffin, a ham and cheese sandwich, 2 oranges, 2 pizza pops, half a chocolate bar, a piece of fish and a few fries, peas and carrots, a pot of coffee and 5 glasses of water

Trying to be a good dog owner

Romeo has been loving his daily walks. He gets all excited when he sees me put my toque on. But I've been finding it difficult trying to train him. He's just over a year old so he is still a bit of a pup. I'm trying to train him not to pull on his leash and to not try and run over to every other dog that might be in our vicinity. I find that by the end of our walk my arm hurts from trying to control him and I am angry at him. I think that probably ruins the fun for him too. I'm not a dog person but we got him because Mike loves dogs and we thought it would be good for Julia. Romeo is a good dog but I'm finding it hard to relate to him. Truth be told I find a lot of what he does very annoying and/or gross. I feel bad about that, but sometimes he just drives me crazy.
Other times though he does something nice like he'll come up and lick my hand all affectionate-like. That makes me happy.
I want to make his little dog-life as nice as possible. I think I'm going to have to be more patient with him and try to figure him out a little more instead of just trying to coexist. Sometimes though I wish he could be more like our cats. Them I get.

Today I consumed: a bran muffin, an orange, 2 pizza pops, a bowl of cereal, some pasta with veggies and shrimp, 5 glasses of water, 5 cups of coffee, a cup of herbal tea and a carrot muffin

Ups and downs

It's funny how some days, like yesterday, seem to go by so easy and I can get my reps done no problem. Then the very next day it's so hard to make myself do anything. Forced myself to do pushups, situps and kicks.....ran out of juice for tai chi though. Sigh.

I wonder how everyone else is managing....guess I'll find out at the next meeting.

Today I consumed: a bran muffin, a ham and cheese sandwich, a banana, an orange, some leftover chinese, a bowl of cereal, 4 glasses of water, a pot of coffee and 1 beer

Week 3 done!

Sorry I didn't post yesterday. Our computer bit the dust last night so I couldn't journal. Got a new one today so I'm back on track.
So, this week wasn't as great for numbers but here they are (todays totals included)

pushups: 4455
situps: 4790
kicks: 4583
flying spinning back kicks: 41
flying side kicks: 42
tai chi long form reps: 37
broadsword reps: 43
water consumed: 103 glasses
dog walks: 23
journal entries: 22
stories read to Julia: 42
shoulder rolls: 10
minutes of sparring: 15
veg servings eaten: 14
acts of kindness: 50
miles walked: 77.76
geology books read: 0
mineral formulas memorized: 0 (forgot the ones I thought I'd memorized:(
kms rollerbladed: 0
papers published: 0
days no t.v.: 22
days no fast food: 52 (man I wanted some tonight though! curse you MacDonalds by my house!)
church services attended: 2
trips to dog park: 3
german book read: 0

Yesterday I consumed: a bagel with cream cheese, a veggie sandwich with some pinapple and apple and grapes, leftover chinese food, an english toffee coffee from tims, 2 coffees, 3 glasses of water and 1 beer

Today I consumed: a bran muffin, an orange, half a banana, a ham and cheese sandwich, a cheeseburger (not a fast food one though) and some leftover chinese, 4 glasses of water and a pot of coffee

Aaaahhhh tai chi, the eternal struggle!

When I picked tai chi as my hand form this year I did it with two thoughts in mind: it would be a more low impact way to bring my body back into the swing of things AND it's a requirement already for third degree so it made sense. Tai chi broadsword also is low impact and pairs nicely with the tai chi hand form.
I've been finding it difficult though to do my hand form reps. Throughout the day I put it off thinking "I don't have 15 minutes uninterrupted to do a form rep" so I leave it until the very end of the day when everyone else is in bed and I have an uninterrupted block of time.
Today I approached things differently. I started to count off reps of each form section (there are 4) instead of reps of the entire form. I know it doesn't sound like a big difference, but it made things seem more achievable. I can fit in 5 minutes here to do part 1 a couple of times, and I can do part 2 once while Julia's distracted for 2 minutes, etc. So tonight I actually didn't have a big 45 minute block of tai chi waiting for me.
It was nice.
Doing it in smaller pieces also let me focus on the details a little more as well. When I do it all together in the back of my mind I'm always saying "hurry up so you can move on to the next thing....".
It seems to me that I've heard this advice from Sifu Brinker before (the whole doing things in small bits often thing), but I never thought of applying it to tai chi before. I think this will help.

Today I consumed: 1 piece of peanut butter and honey toast, some goldfish crackers, some biscuit casserole, some chinese food, a cup of earl grey tea, 2 cups of coffee, 4 glasses of water and a beer

Back on track

So tonight was the first practice session for the I Ho Chuan and it was awesome! There was barely any room at all because there were so many people! So many cool things were going on....trying to do arial stuff, cool weapons, different forms, etc. So inspiring!
I got to work on my tai chi with Sifu Hayes, he also helped me with my broadsword form. I hope one day I can move like he does. Very efficient.
I managed to get my stuff done today, thanks in large part to the practice session. Next time though I want to have my stuff done so I can just play....I have a couple thoughts on the broadsword form.

Anyway. Great night and I feel back on track again after yesterday.

Today I consumed: a breakfast sandwich, hashbrown and coffee from tims, also a bagel with cream cheese, some biscuit casserole with a piece of bread, a half glass of milk, 3 cups of coffee (including the tims one) and 5 glasses of water. And no, tims does not count as fast food....at least for my challenge, neither does subway.