Ride the Wave
Don’t base your idea of happiness on others and what they have achieved. Life is full of forks in the road and we need to be happy with the choices we have made.
Ride the wave.
Recently, I had the opportunity to go down to Costa Rica for about a week. It was a great experience and to risk sounding cliche….it was life changing. While there, I spent a lot of my time just being in the moment. I enjoyed great food, great company and even took a surf lesson.
It was the moments after that first time surfing when it hit me. I was sitting on the edge of the jungle under a small thatch roof pavilion; looking out at the ocean. The conversation had died down and we were all sitting there on benches made from driftwood. It all sort of ‘clicked’ and came together. I felt like I found myself. I understood that what I was doing in that moment was exactly what I was supposed to be doing. It was a little moment of nirvana/enlightenment. I had achieved my inner ‘Dude’
My challenge now is: how do I keep this vibe going while I’m back home in Buffalo?
Sunday, June 2nd 2019 is going to be the first ever Dudeism services in Buffalo, NY! Fellow Dude, John W. and I are starting up a Dudiest congregation. We are still working on the official name, but that will come in time. Feel free to join us! Use our contact form for more info.
Doing Little Things to Boost Self Esteem
Recently I have been swamped. With the formation of Diligent Loiter Entertainment, LLC I haven’t had time to be me and do all the fun hobbies I enjoy: Blacksmithing, Magic, Music, Woodcarving, Podcasting…the list goes on. Well, this has taken a toll on my self esteem. I don’t understand why it has, but it has. Maybe it’s because I’m trying to do too much and expect too much from myself. But, that’s not the focus of today’s blurb. Today is about what you can do to help boost your self esteem using the skills and hobbies you already have.
I’ve been focusing on boosting my self-esteem lately. What I’m doing is looking at the things I enjoy doing. For this example, it’s playing guitar. I really like playing the guitar; one thing I’m not too happy with is my singing voice. I feel that, even though it’s confident, it’s not as musical as it could be and my range is rather limited. So! To combat this, I’ve been learning songs that fit my vocal range and sound. I have been told that I sound like the singer from Social Distortion so…I have been learning and playing a bunch of Social Distortion! My vocal range/singing style is very similar to his and when I play a Social Distortion song I feel good about it. It actually sounds like it’s supposed to without trying too hard. This boosts my Self Esteem and I like that.
Now, I’m going to start looking at my other hobbies and see what I can do to help myself feel better about those hobbies and me as a person. Sometimes, taking a step back and re-evaluating what you like to do then approaching it from a “this is for ME” standpoint instead of “this is what I want OTHERS to see” point of view is the best option. It’s your life and you should live it your way. I have forgotten that recently. It’s something we all do from time to time. We want others to look at us in awe of what we can do, when really, all you need to be is you!
Long days and pleasant nights,
Joe
Whitesville Marsh Fishing Camporee
Over the Father’s Day Weekend, Nicky and I went camping with the Boy Scouts of America. We went to the Whitesville Marsh Fishing Camporee as leaders for Troop 736 out of Angelica NY. Here are some pictures showing all of the fun we had!
A Delicious Borsch Recipe
Holy Crap. Look out. It’s a Borsch recipe from someone who’s heritage didn’t have Borsch!
I can normally get all the ingredients from the local grocery store for under $25. You WILL have leftover ingredients, so get creative and come up with some other meal ideas with the extras!
HoKay. Below is the ingredient list (For the spices, I just do what feels right throughout the process)
Ingredients:
1 lb Stew Beef (or beef chunk, trimmed and cubed)
1 teaspoon each: dried basil, groun black pepper, smoked paprika
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
6-8 cups beef broth (more broth = more soup! I use two boxes of Wegmans organic or Swanson broth depending on sales)
1 medium to large onion, diced
3 Carrots, diced
1-2 Celery Stalks, diced
3 Large Beets, diced
2-3 Large Potatoes, cubed to about an inch
2 cups shredded cabbage (1/4 of a cabbage) (I slice mine by hand, it’s good enough)
2 Tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
2-3 green scallions, diced
FOR THE SAUCE!
1 medium onion, diced
2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed/sliced/diced/minced/whateva
1 small can (like 1 cup size) tomato sauce or puree
¼ Cup of Ketchup (you read that correctly)
1 cup water
¼ teaspoon each: salt, black pepper
Directions:
Here. We. Go.
- Coat the bottom of a large pot (I use a Dutch Oven) with some olive oil.
- Warm that sucka up over some low-medium heat.
- You’re about to sauté, not deep fry.
- Drop in the beef and cook thoroughly
- Add some salt and pepper to taste
- Once the beef is done cooking, remove from the pot and place in a bowl for later.
- Start sautéing your mirepoix (onion/carrot/celery mix)
- Once it’s all nice and cooked up, add the beef back into the pot, add the beets and add the broth
- Add a little more salt and pepper, add some paprika if you feel inclined and add some dried basil.
- STIR IT UP! MmmmMMMMMmmmmMMMMMmmmMMMMMmm
- Get that thing back up to a nice simmer, reduce heat to low and let it ride/simmer for the rest of the time.
- Set a timer for 45 mins.
- When the timer goes off, start making the sauce!
- Put some olive oil in a frying pan
- Sauté the onion and garlic until golden brown (you know what’s up)
- Add the tomato sauce/puree, ketchup, water, and salt/pepper
- Simmer until the sauce reduces down to a nice marinara consistency (probably about 10 mins or so)
- ADD THAT SAUCE TO THE POT!!!!!
- While you’re at it, why not add in those cubed up potatoes, they look like they could use a good soak.
- Set a timer for 10 mins.
- When that timer goes off, add in the cabbage, fresh dill, fresh parsley, and scallions.
- STIR IT UP! MmmmMMMMMMmmmmMMMMMMmmmMMMMMmm
- Set another timer for 5 mins.
- When the timer goes off, turn off the stove, remove from heat and cover.
- STIR IT UP! MmmmMMMMMmmmmMMMMMmmmMMMMMmm
- Let it sit for at least an hour.
- It should still be warm enough at this point so dish it out and enjoy!
- You can serve this delicious meal garnished with a sprig of fresh dill if you like to be fancy.
- If you want to go old school Russian hardcore traditional style, add a dollop of sour cream or mayonnaise on top.
- I know this sounds weird as hell, but I tried it with the sour cream and it was REALLY Freaking good.
- It kinda made it taste like a baked potato
- The sour cream will sort of separate out and look gross as little sour cream balls. It’s normal.
- It still tastes great.
- So good.
- MmmmMMMMMmmmmMMMMMmmmMMMMMmm
- So good.
- It still tastes great.
- I know this sounds weird as hell, but I tried it with the sour cream and it was REALLY Freaking good.
*To make this paleo, swap out the potatoes for some rutabaga. You just need to boil the rutabaga separately for about 20 mins before adding it into the soup*
If you have any questions, feel free to ask below. If you have any comments or suggestions, also, pop them down below!
Fair Trades: A Lesson From my Father
The year was 1993. I was seven years old. I was into Power Rangers, baseball and cartoons. I loved cartoons. I learned a lot from watching television as a kid. Growing up, I was the type of kid to try everything I saw on TV in real life. Not just the crazy stuff, but the life skills as well. I remember watching an episode of a cartoon that was teaching how to trade things. I couldn’t believe what I was learning. I knew what trading was of course. I would trade my cookie for someone’s gummy bears at lunch, or I would trade my M&Ms for someone’s Skittles, but I didn’t realize that you could trade things that you didn’t want or need for things that you wanted! This was a huge revelation. I knew a kid who lived up the street from me who had an Etch-A-Sketch. I had always wanted one. I thought that I would try trading the kid for it. I liked all of my toys; even though they were mostly hand-me-downs. I didn’t want to part with any. Then I saw it. A little red toy bicycle from an action figure set. Nothing moved on it, it was just one solid piece of plastic, but it would have to do. I really wanted that Etch-A-Sketch. So I waited in my front yard until I saw him go outside to play. I called him over to my yard to see if he wanted to play. That’s when I began showcasing my little red bicycle.
I took the 1.5 inch tall 3 inch long toy and began playing with it like crazy. I even let my friend play with it too, so he could see just how much fun it was. When he was playing with the bike, that’s when I said, “You know… you can have that bike if you want. We could trade for it!” He asked me what I meant and I said, “We can trade toys! I’ll give you this cool little bike and you can give me your Etch-A-Sketch” He wasn’t too keen on the idea of giving up his toy so I went to work selling how awesome this bike could be. I went over to the picket fence in the front yard and started doing “Jumps” from post to post with the bike. I said, “See, the bike can do jumps and everything. You’re Etch-A-Sketch can’t do jumps” He agreed with me and eventually I was able to get him to trade his awesome toy for my not-so-awesome one.
I was so proud of myself. I was able to take a worthless toy and convince someone to trade a treasure for it. I was King of the World! For about 20 minutes. I went to the backyard and sat on the swing. I was playing with my new Etch-A-Sketch when my dad came out to see what I was up to. He asked me where I got the Etch-A-Sketch from and I told him the story of what transpired to result in my having a cool new toy to play with. That’s when the cruel dark fist of reality came crashing down on my soul.
My dad told me that what I did was wrong. I pleaded with him that it was a trade and he WANTED to trade with me; he WANTED the little red plastic bike. My dad taught me that in order for a trade to be fair, both sides need to get equal value. My toy bicycle wasn’t worth the same as the Etch-A-Sketch. The kid up the street was not getting a fair deal. It was a hard concept for me to learn, but I came to understand what he meant. My dad told me that trades are like a scale. On one side you have what you are giving up and on the other you have what the other guy is giving up. You want those scales to even out. He also told me that trades can be uneven in value if the items mean something to the other person. For example: if the kid had the same toy set that they bike came from but he had lost his bike and wanted to replace it so he could have the whole set again, then it would be a more fair trade. But since that wasn’t the case I was wrong for making that trade.
My dad made me go down to the kids’ house and explain that I was wrong for making the trade with him. That it wasn’t a fair trade. It was one of the hardest things I had to do that year. 1993 taught me many things, how to swindle kids out of cool toys but also that it’s totally NOT cool to do so. It also taught me that doing the right thing usually pays off. Fast forward four months to Christmas morning. Guess what was under the tree.
This toy is similar to the one that I traded for the Etch-A-Sketch. 
Paleo/Fitness update 7/23/15
This is just a quick update.
Nicky and I are both working towards getting into shape. The goal isn’t to be body building elites, its to just be fit and not succumb to the pitfall of obesity.
I saw a stat that said less than 1% of obese people will ever reach a healthy weight again. I also saw a stat that said only 6% of smokers will quit and I did that so…Time to be the1% BABY!
I’m almost under 280 for the first time in over 3 months. This feels good.
Next post will be another “Life’s work” “Personal Legend” post about the “Wave of Awesome”
Thanks for letting me be a part of your life.
Joe
Time to go Paleo
I have not been the cleanest of eaters. In fact, I have let my body go to shit. I need to air that out and admit to it before I can change the fact that I’m a buffet molester.
The reason I was able to quit smoking was because this time, I was doing it for me. Not anyone else. That is the same approach I’m taking to my new weight loss.
When I quit smoking, I exchanged cigarettes for junk food. Now, I’m ready to lose all the weight I gained.
Time to be honest. I currently weigh 292 lbs. and I look like this:
I don’t want to get “ripped”. I don’t want to get “sexy”. I just want to be healthy and fit.
This time, I’m doing it for me.
My Letter to the CDC Tobacco Department
I heard a PSA by the CDC regarding tobacco use. It prompted me to write them the below letter.
Comment and let me know what your thoughts are.
Long days and pleasant nights,
Shoeless Joe
To Whom It May Concern,
My name is LJK2 and I started smoking 15 years ago. On May 16, 2014 I smoke my last cigarette. I’m coming up on one year smoke free. I do not have a hole in my throat, am cancer free and have no serious medical issues. I am writing you today to tell you how I was able to quit and what I found hardest to overcome.
First off, I had read a lot of articles online, read every flyer, seen every commercial, and heard every advert. I had “shock” advertisements thrown in my face. I faced public ridicule daily for 14 years. 14 years is a long time to hear that you are hurting yourself and that you are hurting those around you. It got to a point where I was so depressed from smoking that the only thing I could do to relieve that stress was smoke. It was a scary cycle to be caught in. I had tried many times to quit smoking. The patch gave me nightmares that were so intense I would wake up terrified and would need 2 hours each morning to finally calm down. The gum worked for a couple weeks, as did the lozenges. I went on the medication and ended up having to see a psychiatrist. I even tried acupuncture. The acupuncture worked the best. I was able to stay smoke free for 3 months. But none of these methods stuck with me. I always went back to my oldest friend, cigarettes.
All of these failed attempts were mainly because I was quitting because other people told me to quit, not because I wanted to quit. That is the kicker. I never wanted to quit before. I felt like I was a hopeless case. I had been smoking for so long and everywhere I looked I saw my fate. I would get so nervous about cancer and serious illness that I would need to step outside every time one of those commercials came on and have a smoke to calm me down. It was indeed a scary cycle to be caught up in.
I had heard that “dual use” and “cutting back” isn’t a healthy option to cigarettes. I was under the impression that in order to stop smoking you needed to purchase this drug or that product. I felt like it was hopeless to quit smoking. Then, one day, a friend and I decided that we wanted to get in shape. We recognized from the outset that our smoking habits would come into play down the line with our cardio so we decided to plan a quit date and come up with a plan. That plan? Cutting back and dual use. Our plan was to ration how many cigarettes we would smoke each day and how early each day our first cigarette would be. We were both heavy smokers so we started out with a daily ration of 10 cigarettes a day with the earliest being after 8:00am. The next week was 8 per day and earliest after 9:00am. It went on this way until we got to 4 cigarettes per day and we decided to keep it at 4 and move the first smoke of the day hour higher. The final two weeks, our plan was to ration 1 smoke per day, but only if you needed it. It was this final phase where I began utilizing e-cigarettes. It worked so well that the last cigarette day was a week earlier than planned. I did continue to use the e-cigarette for 3 more weeks, but only as an as needed basis.
Along the way I found an app for quitting smoking call “Kwit”. This app sends you alerts when you hit certain milestones. It was a huge help for me. This app tracked how much money you’ve saved, how many cigarettes you haven’t smoked and how long you’ve been a “Kwitter” for. This was the best tool for me. When I would get a craving I would browse the app and see how my quitting was helping me out. It was nice to focus on the positive instead of the negative.
I feel as if there are too many horror stories of people who were forced to quit after they lost everything and not enough stories of people getting out before it’s too late. It was the Kwit app, rationing and substitution that brought me to where I am today; a couple weeks away from one year smoke free. I wanted to let you know that even though my story isn’t tragic, the “bad” ways to quit are the ones that worked for me. I feel like the shock style of PSA has gone too far and there should be a softer touch. I started smoking as a way to rebel against those telling me not to smoke. It was that same rebelliousness that the shock adds made me feel. I knew smoking was bad for me. It was shoved in my face daily. But it was kindness and positivity that got me through.
Thank you for your time.
LJK2
4** ****** Dr
*******, NY 14***
The Power of the Plan
If you are anything like me, you find it extremely hard to know what to do next. It may even get to the point where you say, “Fuck it! A nap sounds pretty good right now…” Well, there is a way to fix this. Instead of waiting for free time to figure out what you want/need to do, how about you make a plan!
There are 3 main phases to how I make my plan of attack when it comes to my “life’s work”. I have just begun this method and it seems to be working out fairly well for me. It would be going so much better if this damn weather would cooperate. -5 air temps are no fun.
*Hint: A large desk calendar comes in super duper handy*
Phase 1: The Monthly Plan
This is where you will plan out what you need to do this month. This can include what days your bills are due, any doctors appointments, etc. The main items that should go on anyone’s calendar. If you are an internet content creator, this is where you would set up your publishing dates. Think of the monthly plan as your Final Step for any projects. This is all of your due dates.
Phase 2: The Weekly Plan
Every week is going to be different. That being said, you should pick a day to plan out your week. I like to do mine on Saturday nights (I know, I’m lame). I usually plan through the next Sunday, that way I have more than a day’s notice to prepare for what I have planned.
For the weekly plan, you should figure out what goals/milestones you need to hit each day in order to make you monthly goals actually happen. These are not scheduled by times, just what needs to get done each day to bring you closer to your goals. For example, on Monday, your task could be to reach out to potential sponsors for your podcast. Then, on Friday, one of your tasks could be to make sure you received a response from that sponsor.
If you have a blog, youtube channel, etc and you know that you want your content to go live on Friday mornings at 5:00, then your weekly plan should include the small steps that will get you there. Some posts or videos will take more time to research and perfect. This is where your monthly plan comes into play. If you have set a publish day for each of your projects, your weeks leading up should include the small steps to get you there. When you have an idea for a project/post you can add to your weekly plan the groundwork phases for what your need to get to the final product. Once you know you are close and you can set a firm finish goal, that is when you enter that into your monthly calendar.
*I know this sounds confusing, but once you get started it seems to just come together. If I was more computer literate, I would have all sorts of diagrams, but I’m not that smart. Yet.*
Phase 3: The Daily Plan
Once you have completed your weekly plan, you need to start scheduling things. For your daily plan, you want to schedule out everything you want/need to get done. I have a full time job so the majority of my day is blocked off for that. I also like to workout regularly, so I need to schedule a time for that. I need to set aside time for what I call my “life’s work” which is all of this stuff; Barefoot Buffalo blog, my youtube channel, my podcast, everything that I am doing that isn’t my “real job”. A typical day for me looks like this:
As you can (maybe) see, is that I just block out times where I intend to work on shit. Inside each of those I have a description that tells me exactly what to work on, when that item is due to publish etc. I’m still working out a ton of youtube videos. There aren’t even on my Monthly Calendar because they aren’t even in the recording phase. Once I get the videos/posts everything into the editing phase is when they go on my calendar.
To summarize, the three phases go from the big picture down to the small picture. You plan your main items first, then fill in with what needs to get done then figure out exactly how to go about getting it done.
When you have a plan, especially like this, it becomes extremely easy to not get off track. If you have every little step planned out, you won’t find yourself with free time thinking ‘I know I want to do something, but what do I want to do?’ You’ll just end up wasting your free time trying to figure out what it is you want to spend your free time doing.
Your plan doesn’t need to be as complete as mine. I need mine to be more specific or else I end up taking naps. And naps are not productive. They feel great! But, they don’t really do much to further you along your path.
I use Google Calendar. I have my iPhone calendar set up so that I can see my Google Calendar in the iPhone’s Calendar app. It was a pain to set up, but it’s worth it. Super streamlined and accessible everywhere.
If you have any questions or suggestions, leave a comment and I’ll respond! I like talking with people. It let’s me know someone actually reads these things.
Long days and pleasant nights,
Shoeless Joe
Personal Journey February 2015 Update
OH MY GOSH! It’s been way to freaking long since I’ve done any posts about personal legends. I have good excuses, but that’s all they are excuses. Nobody has time for excuses.
Here is my update regarding my own person legend. I was let go from my full time job. The company decided that it didn’t want to be a company anymore and everyone got the boot. Shitty. I powered through though! I ended getting a new job, this one is for a better cause. I went from a collections agency to a Mental Health and Chemical Dependency Provider Network. I feel like what I’m doing now isn’t just getting a paycheck, but helping (behind the scenes stuff) to help others get better.
On the 16th, it will be 9 months smoke free. That one is big for me. Nothing helps you move forward like leaving your bad habits behind. While I left smoking (the bad) behind, I also left some good behind as well. I pretty much had to. I had to let a part of me die that day. As a result there were some other casualties as well. I severely injured a lifelong friendship. I wish it didn’t happen that way, but all of my memories with this person had our mutual friend cigarettes in them as well. Whenever we would talk on the phone we would both be smoking. It was our way of staying connected over long distances. That has been hard for me, but it also has been good for me. He has a family now and doesn’t need to be spending time wasting it on hours long phone calls with me. I’m happy for him. He’s doing great for himself and we do still keep in touch. Just not nearly on the scale it once was.
So, I quit smoking, lost my job, didn’t go back to smoking to deal with the stress of that, found a new job, and Barefoot Buffalo came back into my life.
I admit, I had pretty much left Barefoot Buffalo to die. I wasn’t feeling it. How could someone who was dealing with so much shit, write articles about being happy? My dad had just passed away and I couldn’t handle trying to make others happy when I could barely make myself happy. I tried to bring back Barefoot Buffalo, but it never stayed. After all of that though…it seems that instead of me coming back to barefootbuffalo.com, barefootbuffalo.com has come back to me. The ideas about the cosmic energy in all of us and our personal legends all of that shit has come slamming back into me. I now understand that being in hard times is a good place to be when writing articles about being happy, finding happiness and making the most out of your life. I was living the depressed life for over 2 years. I have gained a lot of experience being down and bringing myself back up. I wish I was writing during that dark period. I would have had a lot of unique takes on being happy and how to get there. I was trying some strange ways to be happy. Of course I tried the usual coping mechanisms like stress eating…Yup. Let’s call it stress eating…. Whoops.
That’s where GYM419 came from. I had made the decision to stop being depressed and fat and just be fat. Now I’m getting all happy and shit and it’s time to not be fat too! I realized that this site isn’t really the place for posting workouts. I will be posting on twitter and possibly facebook what workouts I’m doing. I may even make a sister site. Who knows where life will take me!?
I sure as hell don’t know.
I’m just here for the ride.
Long days and pleasant nights,
Shoeless Joe
Yo, if you are looking to pass some time, check out Urban Dead (Not a sponsor, I just play this game and fucking love it. If you decide to play, join my group: I Am Jack’s Smirking Revenge) Urban Dead is a free-to-play, browser-based multi-player game where you play the survivor or victim of a zombie outbreak in a quarantined city center, alongside tens of thousands of others.
“In death, the city stirs. Its borders still locked down after a sudden government quarantine seven years ago, Malton’s trapped civilians make their way through the derelict buildings, surviving the changing seasons to rebuild their fragmented society from the rubble upwards. Military cleanup squads patrol the empty streets, stationed in the city for the long haul, while embedded scientific groups continue the experiments that brought them here.
And the dead rise up and thrive, trailing through the ruined streets of the city, milling between buildings and clawing through makeshift barricades and diversions, reclaiming the city as their own.”
I suggest joining my group (enter I Am Jack’s Smirking Revenge into the group field of your settings) and checking out these links to help get you started.
Hint: Start with the “Free Running” skill. It makes the beginning of the game soooo much easier.
Negativity Breeds Negativity with Emapthy
Everyone who has any sense of wonder at the universe has at least heard of the phrase, Negativity Breads Negativity. But why is this? Why is it that when someone is having a shitty day, your day seems to fall apart as well?
I have been dealing with a situation recently where someone close to me has been crying a lot. I don’t feel like I’m in a position to ask what’s wrong. I don’t know this person on a very personal level and I have only known this person professionally for less than 3 months. It was going on for a couple days straight and every time I heard her sniffling begin I was overcome with a sense of deep sorrow. My heart felt like it sunk to the floor and I felt like I was on the brink of a nervous breakdown. Now, why should I feel like this? My day was going splendidly. I was happy listening to a podcast and pounding through my work, then BOOM! super sadness attack.
The only thing I can think of is empathy and the idea that humans are all cosmically linked.
Why does negativity breed negativity? Why do bad vibes fuck with your good vibes? Why do good vibes brighten bad vibes? We all have that friend who can light up a room just by being in it, and we all have that friend who brings down everyone’s mood when they enter the room. Why is this?
Empathy is when you share the feelings with someone else. You understand their emotions and you sympathize with them. You mood actually changes to match the feelings you are around. I believe that everyone is built with this subconscious mechanism to help their loved ones cope with situations. If you are feeling down and someone comes over with that slightly sad look on their face and gives you a hug, you feel better. Knowing that someone else understands how your feeling sparks that fire of happiness. It won’t necessarily make you feel happy and ready to take on the world, but it gives you that jumpstart.
Everyone is linked cosmically. We all have spirits that use our bodies as vessels to occupy this dimension. Our spirits are all linked. We can understand each other just by looking at them. Have you ever stared into someones eyes. I mean actually stared into someones eyes. If you haven’t I suggest you do. Ask someone you are close with to stare into each others eyes. Nothing sexual here, no feelings intended. You’re not holding hands and smiling at each other. It’s best if you are close enough so you can’t even see their mouths. Just eyes to eyes. Hell, you can even just stare into your own eyes in the mirror. HOLY SHIT! It’s the craziest things you can do. Tell me that we are not linked. When you look deeply into someones eyes, it feels like your souls are connecting. You can get lost in your own gaze if you stare deep enough into the mirror. It’s the craziest experience.
What does all of this have to do with negativity breeding negativity? I’ve been rambling, I know. It’s just that it’s been so long since I’ve written on here and there are so many ideas I want to write about. They all seem to be seeping out at once. But these ideas do have a lot to do with contagious moods.
Because we are all linked and our minds like to imitate others emotions we tend to drift towards the strongest emotion in the area. A negative person is typically the complainer. They like to voice their negativity. That is why you always seem to get sucked into that void of ugliness. It’s all around you when there is a negative person there. Imagine negativity as a heavy emotion and happiness as a light emotion. It’s easy for negativity to weigh down happiness.
I’m so excited to be writing that I haven’t thought out a proper outline for this post. I apologize. I got the itch and I don’t want to lose it. I’m back on track with my personal journey that I’m just diving in!
Back to my story. The coworker who was crying. I was being brought down from her “heavy” emotions. I wasn’t sure how to respond as we are not really that close. I ended up letting her supervisor know that she seemed upset and that I though it could be work stress related. I hope that when they met they were able to address the underlying causes of her being upset and frustrated at work. The coworker did end up seeming better later in the day.
If you see someone having a bad day, try to do something to make it better. Even a small compliment could boost someone’s mood. It doesn’t take much.
Alright, I’m sorry for the lack of professionalism with this post. My next posts will be more thought out. I just had to get these ideas down. I will expand in future posts. I am also going to be revisiting some older ideas and making them more complete. My personal journey took some crazy twists and detours, but I find myself back at Barefoot Buffalo…that has to mean something……..
Long days and pleasant night,
Shoeless Joe
GYM419: New Goal = New Plan
So, I was informed that I will be running in the Tough Mudder this August. That being said, I now have a new goal. With the new goal, I now have a new workout plan. The first thing that I need to work on is my upper body strength. Not muscle size. Actual STRENGTH. That’s what lead me to the Onnit Academy. There, I found a free eBook Download, Pull Ups for Max Muscle. This booklet lays out a one month plan to “Maximum Muscle & Upper Body Strength”.
The workout are broken down into groups: Grease the Groove Workouts 1 & 2; Conditioning & Core Workouts 1, 2 & 3; Arms & Shoulders Workouts 1 & 2; and Back & Core Workouts 1 &2.
I won’t be posting the workouts here. Find them at Onnit.com/academy. I will be tweeting out what workout I’m doing each day.
Basically, what I’m saying is…click on over to Onnit.com, learn some shit and work towards a better you.
Gym419 has the philosophy that there is no quick and easy way to lose weight. We believe that you do not work out to lose weight, losing weight is a side-effect of working out! You should be working out to be better suited as a human being.
Remember: It’s all on you if something goes wrong. I am not a certified trainer. I’m just a guy who is working out and sharing his workouts with the world!
GYM419 WOD #7: LEG DAY!
The dreaded leg day. The format is the same as the Upper Body workout: For this style of training, you want to use a 1-10 scale for effort. A 1 would be sound asleep a 9 is when you can’t go any harder/further (but you really could if you dig deeper) a 10 is when you truly hit failure. That being said, a 5 would be like walking up a flight of stairs. A 6 would be like taking the stairs with a full laundry basket. You get the idea…I hope.
You will be doing 2 exercises per body part. One main exercise and a second exercise during your “super set”. You will be doing a set of 12 reps (Level 5 intensity, basically a warm-up), then a set of 10 (Level 6 Intensity), then a set of 8 (Level 7 Intensity), a set of 6 (Level 8 Intensity) then comes your super set, where you do another set of 12 (Level 9 Intensity) followed immediately by the second exercise for 12 reps (Level 10 intensity).
If you are just starting to workout for the first time, I suggest doing the Machop sets. If you haven’t worked out in a while, but know what you’re doing I suggest the Machoke sets. Just until you know how the training is going to treat your muscles. I don’t want you wimping out after the first week. The Machamp sets are where you should be as soon as possible.
Machop: 8-6 Superset 8-8
Machoke: 10-8-6 Superset 10-10
Machamp: 12-10-8-6 Superset 12-12
Quads: Split Squats super set with Full Squats
Hamstrings: Lying Leg Curls super set with Good Mornings
Calves: Standing Calf Raises super set with Barbell Reverse Calf Raises
Abs: Incline Sit-Ups super set with a 90 Second Plank
And there it is. Your complete Lower Body workout. Subscribe for daily updates. Follow us on twitter @barefootbuffalo These should be getting on a better schedule soon.
Gym419 has the philosophy that there is no quick and easy way to lose weight. We believe that you do not work out to lose weight, losing weight is a side-effect of working out! You should be working out to be better suited as a human being.
Remember: It’s all on you if something goes wrong. I am not a certified trainer. I’m just a guy who is working out and sharing his workouts with the world!
GYM419 WOD #6: Intro to Cardio
Cardio. We all hate it. So why torture yourself? Instead of spending hour upon hour on a treadmill we are going to hit it hard and fast. How does 20 mins sound? Doable? We’ll see…
For cardio, we are going to do High Intensity Interval Training. Each minute you will adjust your intensity. This may be speed, but could also be inclining the treadmill. Whatever it takes to be at the intensity level for that minute.
Machop/Machoke/Machamp: All do the below today.
Format:
Min 1 = Intensity 5
Min 2 = Intensity 5
Min 3 = Intensity 6
Min 4 = Intensity 7
Min 5 = Intensity 8
Min 6 = Intensity 9
Min 7 = Intensity 6
Min 8 = Intensity 7
Min 9 = Intensity 8
Min 10 = Intensity 9
Min 11 = Intensity 6
Min 12 = Intensity 7
Min 13 = Intensity 8
Min 14 = Intensity 9
Min 15 = Intensity 6
Min 16 = Intensity 7
Min 17 = Intensity 8
Min 18 = Intensity 9
Min 19 = Intensity 10
Min 20 = Intensity 5
GYM419 WOD #5: Complete Upper Body Workout
And so begins the Half Body Split routine. For this style of training, you want to use a 1-10 scale for effort. A 1 would be sound asleep a 9 is when you can’t go any harder/further (but you really could if you dig deeper) a 10 is when you truly hit failure. That being said, a 5 would be like walking up a flight of stairs. A 6 would be like taking the stairs with a full laundry basket. You get the idea…I hope.
Anyways, here is today’s workout. You will be doing 2 exercises per body part. One main exercise and a second exercise during your “super set”. You will be doing a set of 12 reps (Level 5 intensity, basically a warm-up), then a set of 10 (Level 6 Intensity), then a set of 8 (Level 7 Intensity), a set of 6 (Level 8 Intensity) then comes your super set, where you do another set of 12 (Level 9 Intensity) followed immediately by the second exercise for 12 reps (Level 10 intensity).
If you are just starting to workout for the first time, I suggest doing the Machop sets. If you haven’t worked out in a while, but know what you’re doing I suggest the Machoke sets. Just until you know how the training is going to treat your muscles. I don’t want you wimping out after the first week. The Machamp sets are where you should be as soon as possible.
Machop: 8-6 Superset 8-8
Machoke: 10-8-6 Superset 10-10
Machamp: 12-10-8-6 Superset 12-12
CHEST: Bench Press (Barbell or Dumbbell) super set with Dumbell Flyes.
Shoulders: Seated Military Press super set with Side Raises
Back: Lat Pull Downs super set with Rows
Triceps: Rope Push-downs super set with Dips
Biceps: Preacher Curls super set with 21s instead of the standard 12 reps.
Gym419 has the philosophy that there is no quick and easy way to lose weight. We believe that you do not work out to lose weight, losing weight is a side-effect of working out! You should be working out to be better suited as a human being.
Remember: It’s all on you if something goes wrong. I am not a certified trainer. I’m just a guy who is working out and sharing his workouts with the world!
GYM419 WOD #4: Rest Day
Sunday is the day of rest.
Beginning tomorrow we will be moving into a new format for lifts. We will be doing half body splits. For example:
Monday = Upper Body
Tuesday = Cardio
Wednesday = Lower Body
Thursday = Cardio
Friday = Upper Body
Saturday = Cardio
Sunday = Active Rest Day
Then the cycle continues with Lower Body on Monday, Upper on Wednesday, etc. the cycle keeps going U-C-L-C-U-C-L-C with the active rests thrown in.
The workout formats will all be the same. They will follow a reverse pyramid format with a superset for each exercise.
Machop: 8-6 Superset 8-8
Machoke: 10-8-6 Superset 10-10
Machamp: 12-10-8-6 Superset 12-12
You will be using weights that you are comfortable with. You want to be challenged with every set, but you only want failure during your superset. That being said, everyone should be doing the Machamp level. Don’t cheat yourself. Use smart weights and you can handle it.
This will all make sense tomorrow.
Trust me.
The rotation takes two weeks to complete. After two rotations there will be a week of standard style workout splits. Then we get right back into this format.
Get ready to get destroyed!
In the meantime…for today’s active rest:
Machop: 30 mins stretching
Machoke: 1 hour shadow boxing/martial arts training
Machamp: Spar/Hit the heavy bag
Get active!
GYM419 WOD #2: Kettlebell Ladder
For today’s workout we will be doing a Kettlebell Ladder. If you do not know what a ladder is, listen up! A 1-5 ladder means you do one rep of each exercise, then two reps of each exercise, then 3 of each, 4 of each and finally 5 of each.
In this workout we will be doing squats. If you are utilizing only 1 Kettlebell, wait until you have done each side before doing the squats (goblet style).
Machop: 1-5 Ladder
Machoke: 1-7 Ladder
Machamp: 1-10 Ladder
Swings➡️Cleans➡️Presses➡️Squats
Gym419 WOD #1: New Year’s Day Pump Workout
Happy New Year!
If your New Year’s Resolution is to hit the gym…great job being original! (insert sarcasm). JK. Keeping your body in shape is always a great goal to have.
Here is Gym419’s New Year’s Day Pump Workout. This is what you want, a great pump workout to keep you on track with your resolution to workout more.
Remember, the workouts have 3 levels. You pick the one that you feel will be in your fitness level.
This workout consists of three sections: Chest, Shoulders, Biceps. Do all rounds of each section before moving on to the next.
Machomp: 2 Rounds of 7-10 Reps
Machoke: 3 Rounds of 7-10 Reps
Machamp: 3 Rounds of 12-15 Reps
CHEST
- Incline Barbell Bench Press
- Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
- Flat Bench Flyes
(Bonus Round: Low Cable Pectoral Minor Pushes)
SHOULDERS
- Overhead Press
- Side Raises
- Upright Rows
BICEPS
- Barbell Preacher Curls
- Seated Incline Dumbbell Curls
Finish off with a set of 21’s curls
Good Luck!
Gym419 has the philosophy that there is no quick and easy way to lose weight. We believe that you do not work out to lose weight, losing weight is a side-effect of working out! You should be working out to be better suited as a human being.
Remember: It’s all on you if something goes wrong. I am not a certified trainer. I’m just a guy who is working out and sharing his workouts with the world!
Gym419
Hello!
Today, I have some great news. Gym419 is starting up on November 1st. There will be daily workouts posted here on Barefoot Buffalo. Gym419 has the philosophy that there is no quick and easy way to lose weight. We believe that you do not work out to lose weight, losing weight is a side-effect of working out! You should be working out to be better suited as a human being. That being said, the daily workouts will be varied. Some days you may be doing traditional gym workouts while other days you will be crawling on all 4s and rolling around or doing 30 mins of heavy bag training.
Let me tell you a little bit about Gym419….This is not an actual Gym, it’s my workout room at my house. These daily workouts are not personally designed for your use. These workouts will be what I am doing that day. Yes, there will be different levels of difficulty, but that is just because some days you know you can go harder than others so when I plan my workouts I will be planning 3 levels of difficulty. They are: Machomp, Machoke and Machamp.
Basically what I’m trying to say is, if you see these workouts, and you try them, its all on you if something goes wrong. I am not a certified trainer. I’m just a guy who is working out and sharing his workouts with the world!
So! On Saturday, November 1st, stop by and check out the workouts! It’s going to be a blast yo!
Invigorating Veggie Smoothie
Super easy. Super tasty. Super healthy.
The following is for one beast mode serving or two normal servings.
1) 1 cup ice 1 cup water
2) 1 cup water
3) One handful of baby spinach
4) 1/2 of a cucumber (half peeled)
5) 1/2 TBSP of ginger (I chop it first)
6) 2 garlic cloves
7) 1 Apple (cored)
8) 1 Lime (peeled)
9) 1 TBSP of Honey
10) 1 TBSP of coconut oil
Just toss everything into a blender and let it do it’s job. Once you get a nice smooth consistency…drink it up!!!
***I find that when using a cheap blender you get a better consistency adding each item one at a time and letting it blend a bit before adding more***
Adjust to taste.
Enjoy friends!
Let me know what variations you come up with in the comments!
My Search For Bigfoot
It was a Thursday. It’s always Thursday. Thursday is the day for finding Bigfoot. More Bigfoot sightings happen on Thursdays than any other day of the week. Here are some pictures I took while out Squatching. I was not successful this trip but I won’t let it deter me in future endeavors.
Enjoy
Barefoot Buffalo 