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
Happy times?
I know my latest posts have been rather dark and angry. That’s because it has been a rather dark and angry period in my life. I’m not going to go into what’s been going on (I’ve already done that) but I will go into what has been making it better. At least a little better.
I have been trying to be more mindful throughout my day; being the moment more often. Just taking in everything around me on a much larger scale. For example: While walking to my car in the morning I take notice of the temperature. How cold/warm it is, how the wind feels on my face, the sound of snow crunching under my feet, the birds chirping away. Rather than worrying about work, if I’m going to be late today, how the traffic is going to be.
Lately I have been getting these intense “waves” of emotion that hit me like a freight train. They come out of nowhere fast and hard then leave just as quickly. I have been trying to figure out what the heck is going on and how to handle these little emotional episodes. I have learned a cool little meditation “drill” that has really helped me be in the moment and regain control of my emotions. I’ll try to explain it here:
Get comfortable. It can be sitting, laying down, walking…anything as long as you are comfy. You can close your eyes if you like. Just take long deep breaths. Take in everything around you; the sounds, the smells…everything. Once you have relaxed take each thought/emotion that comes into your head and imagine it in front of you. I like to imagine it as a mist in front of my face (about 2-3 feet out). Acknowledge that thought/emotion and let the breeze take it away. Sometimes I wave my hand to “move” the mist away. As the mist leaves…so does the thought/emotion. DON’T force it away, just let it go softly and at its own pace. Do this for about 5-10 mins a day. After a while you will be able to clear you mind as you go throughout your day. I find myself seeing that mist often and I just swirl it with my hand and let it go. It helps me get through the little episodes I have. The bigger ones need more than just being mindful of your emotions and thoughts. For that I use walking meditation (my preferred method). But serious meditation takes serious instruction and practice. This mindfulness exercise is a great little way to start being more aware of yourself and your surroundings.
Long days and pleasant nights,
Shoeless Joe
Wine Parings for Corned Beef and Cabbage.
It’s that time of year! Corned beef and cabbage season! If you are wondering what wines go best with this classic Irish meal you are in the right place.
First, let’s take look at the meal:
Corned Beef:
- A little fatty (not a big deal)
- Pretty salty (as long as you’re not adding any it’s alright)
- Tasty as hell!
Cabbage:
- Turns out so nice and tasty, if you do it right it gets a little buttery taste to it.
Potatoes, Carrots, Onions, etc.
- These are here to support the awesomeness that it the Corned Beef.
- Nice “filler” food.
So…what wines go best with this meal?
None. Be a man, grab a Guinness.
For my corned beef and cabbage recipe, check out https://barefootbuffalo.com/2013/02/21/corned-beef-and-cabbage-recipe/
Long days and pleasant nights,
Shoeless Joe
Corned Beef and Cabbage Recipe
This is an amazingly simple recipe for an amazing classic dinner. You just put everything in a crock-pot, go on an adventure, come back, add your cabbage, set the table, crack a beer and enjoy!
Ingredients:
- 1 medium corned beef brisket
- 1 medium cabbage
- 3-4 small onions
- 1 cup of sliced carrots
- 5-6 small red potatoes
- 2 tablespoons of Pickling Spice (trust me)
Optional:
- Sliced celery/any other “Stew” vegetables.
Instructions:
- Put your corned beef in a crock-pot, add water to halfway up the meat.
- Add a capful of the pickling spice (roughly a tablespoon)
- Add everything except the cabbage.
- Let cook on low for 6-8 hours, or high for 4 hours.
- Quarter the cabbage and add to crock-pot about 1 hour before you want to eat.
- Add another capful of pickling spice
Then you enjoy!
This will serve 4-6 people. Don’t quote me on that, it’s hard to tell when it’s so good!
Will it ever end?
Your personal journey has no end. What you think today is the ultimate goal will end up being the next step towards your new one. Always remember not to take life too seriously and to have fun every chance you get. Whether that be sharing a bottle of wine with your significant other while watching old James Bond movies or taking a nice walk in the woods, enjoy it. You only get one chance to have fun here, so make the most of it.
I know this is basic “be happy” crap, but it’s thoughts like this one that are helping me get through this rough patch and back on track.
Thank you for reading this. Comments are always welcome.
Long days and pleasant nights,
Shoeless Joe
When it comes, it comes with a fervor!
Wow! It has been a really long time since I have written here. There is good reason for that. Since my last post I was abruptly, yet kindly, let go from my position at the health insurance company. They gave me 2 months severance pay. They were so nice to give me a summer off! During that time so much changed in my life. I began taking martial arts and also started Olympic Weightlifting.
With all of my new free time, I filled it with bettering myself and finding out who I truly am. The martial arts were a great stress reliever and taught me how to focus my energy more efficiently. After about a month of steady training my friend told me about Olympic Weightlifting and how it would help with my explosiveness in the martial arts. So…it was off to the gym! The goal was to do the lifting to get better at my main activity of MMA. My MMA was Muay Thai, Jeet Kun Do, Kali Eskrima Arnis, Savate and Silate. But after training with my lifting coach I discovered that I was really good at picking up heavy weights and throwing them down. That is when the tide shifted.
Olympic Weightlifting was now my main sport and the martial arts where my GPP (general physical preparedness). After only a month in the lifting realm I competed in my first competition. The district is small, so I only competed against one other person in my weight class. I did fairly well for someone who was so new to the sport, and I beat the other guy! Okay, it was only by 1 kilogram, but I still won! After that competition my love for the sport took off. I started training with my coach more and worked out harder. So hard, that my martial arts training just fizzled out entirely. Since that first competition in June I have competed in two more, one being the District Championships. I took first place in both. My goal now is to place in the New York State Championships in April.
I’m not the only one lifting either. Both my fiance and her two brothers lift with me. Our coach has a few other people who are starting to compete as well. We are all doing so well at the sport that we have just became an official team. Team South Buffalo! You can check out the team website even though it’s still super rough. www.wordpress.com/teamsouthbuffalo
During my two months off of work I also spent a lot of my day looking for a new job. I knew my paid vacation was going to have to end and I didn’t want to get stuck on unemployment. I must have applied to hundreds of positions. In the beginning I was being choosy, but towards the end of that second month I was starting to get a little nervous. That’s when I can upon a position that was similar to what I had been doing. The job posting was through a temp agency that one of my fraternity alumni worked at. After I filed my application I gave him a call to see if he could help me out in any way. He said that he would email a guy and I should be getting a call soon. He was right! About 5 mins after I got off the phone with him I get a call from a recruiter. We did the phone interview right then and he asked if I could come in the next day (Tuesday) for an informal face to face interview. Even though he said it was informal I still wore a nice pair of khakis and my best blue dress shirt. The face to face interview went really well. He said that he would forward my information on to the company and he would contact me in a couple days if they were interested. That next morning he calls me to see if I would be available to go to the company for a formal interview on Monday. Of course I would be available! Monday morning comes and I’m on my way to downtown Buffalo for an interview for a job that I applied for exactly one week prior. I take the elevator up to the 7th floor; my heart pounding the entire ride. When I walk up to the receptionist I almost couldn’t speak. My nerves were on fire. Everything was happening so fast. I felt as if this couldn’t be true. Things shouldn’t go this smoothly. I sign in and the H.R. representative takes me into her office for the first part of the interview. Basically she just went over what the job entailed and how being a temp worked. Then I went into the actual interview. Everything went smoothly. I felt as if I answered all of the questions with things that they wanted to hear. After the interview I was told that they would contact my recruiter if they decided to hire me. I called my recruiter after the interview to let him know how it went and he told me that it would be at least Friday before he heard anything. About 20 mins after that phone call he called me back saying that he was told to go ahead and check out my references. That next day I got a voicemail saying that all of references checked out and he had spoke with the company. On Wednesday I get the best news I had received in a while, I got the job and I was starting Monday! I went from unemployed to completing the hiring process in 2 weeks time.
Your personal legend will always be giving you signs. Sometimes they are very clear, sometimes they are subtle. This time, it was like a hurricane! I was laid off, started a new passion and began to find out who I truly am. And to top it all off I went from being unemployed to completing the hiring process in 2 weeks time. Those were two very hectic months for me, but it was all for the better.
Sometimes when things are going really well you tend to forget that things can still go wrong. About a month ago my dad was diagnosed with bladder cancer. This is common in older men, and he was definitely older (73). He started going to the Roswell Cancer Institute for consultations and ultimately a surgery. The surgery was supposed to remove the tumor but it had grown so much that they could only scrape out part of it. The tumor had covered 70% of his bladder. Normally the course of action for this would be to remove the bladder all together and he would utilize a colostomy bag, but my dad also had a heart condition that made his heart extremely weak. They advised against the surgery to remove the bladder because they didn’t think his heart was strong enough to handle being under the anesthesia that long. He was release from Roswell to go home and rest up; an appointment was set for February 18th to repeat the tumor scraping procedure. On January 20th he became sick with a fever. His temperature was up to 105* when he went to the emergency room. They kept him there as long as they could, but with blood pressure was low and he needed a more aggressive treatment that they could only administer in the Intensive Care Unit. Monday morning I called my mom to see how he was doing and she told me that he had a urinary tract infection that went septic. The infection was in his blood and they were doing what they could to get him healthy again. I asked her if I should make the 2 hour drive to be there. She keep telling me that the doctor thinks he would beat this and he would be going home eventually. I could tell in my mom’s voice that she could use me there so I told my supervisor at my new job that I had to leave and I would keep in touch if something went wrong. I get to the hospital around 11:00am. I went right into the I.C.U. and saw my dad. He looked better than I thought he would. The only problem was that he couldn’t get comfortable. He was more comfortable on his side, but that dropped his blood pressure down significantly. The highest I saw was 72/42 the lowest was 44/20. He wasn’t doing well…When it was just him and me in the room he asked me what time it was. I told him it was around 11:45am, he said that he wouldn’t make it past 12:30. He was wrong on that one. The doctor had to keep upping his medication because it just wasn’t working. When the doctor came into the I.C.U. room my dad was laying in at 5:30pm I heard the worst thing I have ever heard in my life. The doctor told my dad that his kidneys had shut down and there was nothing they could do to get them working again. Dialysis would only make the other problems he had going on worse. The doctor gave my dad a choice; he could continue treatment and hope that his kidneys start back up or the doctor could make him comfortable. My dad chose comfort. The doctor asked he if knew what he was saying and my dad said “Yes, I’m going to die.” That was hard. Almost as hard as hearing my mom, about 2 hours before, tell my dad that he can be selfish, he could go if he wanted to, he didn’t have to stay around in pain any more. My mom is a strong woman and that tore me up. At 5:45pm my dad made the decision. At 8:00 they stopped the infusion of medication and gave him pain killers. At 8:45pm I watched my father take his final breath.
Life is hard…but you need to keep pressing on. I lost a great mentor in my life, but I’ll never forget all that he taught me. If I can be half the father he was to me, I’ll be the greatest dad in the world.
If you made it this far in the post you are awesome. This was a little all over the place but I wanted to summarize the last 6 months. Keep strong friends.
Long days and pleasant nights,
Shoeless Joe
Adultescence
Here is how I thought life was supposed to work. You grow up, go to school, graduate, go to college, graduate and then BAM! you move out, get your own place, enter the workforce and you are now and adult. I have gone through those steps. I have a full-time AND a part-time job, I have an apartment with my future wife, I pay bills just like an adult, but I still feel like a kid. Even though the calendar says I’m 26 I feel as if I’m still 19. I have all the responsibility of an adult but none of the feelings of one. I’m sure if I had a child I would be in the “adult” phase of my life, but Nicky and I just aren’t ready to have kids yet. It feels as if I’m stuck between adolescence and adulthood. It’s hard for me to feel like I’m at the right stage of my life. It’s confusing.
Just last week I learned of something new term; a new life phase called Adultescence. This is the stage between adolescence and adulthood. Right where I’m at! This phase is coming into being due to the lengthening of our lifespan. People are getting married later in life and waiting to have children later in life now. Those are the two big indicators that you have grown up and are now an adult. But what about that period just before you get married, where you still live like you are in college? That’s what adultescence is and as social scientists keep exploring this emerging life phase we will know more. I’m just glad to know that I’m not alone in my thinking and I am on track with my life.
In case you don’t believe in this; the Health Care Reform crap that’s going on right now is upping the dependent age to 26. 26! I’m 26. I could still be considered a dependent under my parents health insurance. So…am I still a kid or an adult when my parents could put me on their insurance?
Food for thought bitches,
Shoeless Joe
You’re not alone.
The Best Diet?
People have been asking me lately what my diet is. I haven’t been dropping pounds left and right, but I have been thinning out quite nicely. I personally follow a “liberal” paleo eating routine, but I still enjoy some of the crappier things in life every now and then. So when people ask me how they can loose weight also, I tell them to check out the paleo diet.
The paleo diet can be intimidating. It’s extremely simple, yet hard to follow. It can be expensive and daunting at times. The best way for people to lose weight is this: cut the shit! Stop drinking sugary beverages, energy drinks and soda. Stop eating candy. Stop eating junk food. Stop eating fast food. Eat more natural foods like fruits, vegetables and berries. And most importantly (to me) strive to drink a gallon of water day, especially if you are in a work out routine.
If you can cut the shit and make small changes you will start to see results. You don’t need to jump into a full fledged diet, just wise up to what you are putting in your body.
Good luck!
Shoeless Joe
Good Job America! Where's the common sense? At least it's a Diet Coke!
*I am not a licensed anything. Everything I said in this post is my opinion. I am not a nutritionist. Feel free to contact one if you feel like spending money, but I prefer common sense.
Taking Back Control
Sometimes you have to make the tough decision of putting yourself or others first. Before you make your decision you need to look at the entire situation. Does what you want to do interfere with what you should do or is it something that you want to do to make others happy? That’s the big question right there. Is this something that makes you happy or someone else happy? You need to remember that this is your life, not someone else’s that you are living. If someone wants you to do something (move to a new area, get a different job, change your hairstyle, your fashion style, anything) and you don’t want to do it you need to ask yourself if this is part of your plan or is this simply a distraction? Sometimes it can be hard telling someone you are close to that you are going to do something against their wishes.
If you have been putting yourself second to others it may be time for a change. You only get one trip on this world so you need to make the most of it. If someone tells you that you need to do something to make them happy but in the process you lose part of who you are I wouldn’t do it. It’s hard to change your lifestyle and even harder to go against others wishes. You need to do whatever makes you happy. If you’d rather take a job that pays less, but you have more free time to live your life why not take that chance? What if you pass that by and the opportunity doesn’t come back again? Sometimes you need to take a leap of faith and stick to your guns.
When it comes to making decisions you are the only one who decides the outcome. Start putting yourself first. It’s your life so why not take control of it. Everyone has the power to lead. If you can’t lead your own life how are you going to reach your personal legend? We are not children anymore. We are the future and the future is here so let’s make a stand for what we want and what is right!
Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Now stop browsing the information super highway and enjoy your friends and family. Don’t forget there’s a Football game on today as well. Watch the parade, eat some food, watch the game and have fun!
Making it Through the Holidays
The temperature is slowing dropping; some days there are even snowflakes falling down from the big gray clouds that loom overhead. The sun decides to go to bed earlier and earlier each night. It’s dark when you get up for work in the morning and it’s almost dark when you leave in the afternoon. One of the hardest things during this time of year is staying positive and upbeat. Seasonal depression is no joke. Too many people end their year in a bad mood because of the lack of sunlight and cabin fever caused by the chilling winds. Welcome to the holiday season!
Yes, the holiday season is upon us. The cheerful Christmas music is playing 24/7 on the radio to help the pangs of seasonal depression. Decorations and pretty lights help to illuminate the night sky that now starts at 4:30 in the afternoon. Yes, the holiday season may be “too commercial” but you have to admit, it is helping you get through one of the roughest times of the year so why not just jump right in and enjoy it?
First off you have Thanksgiving. This holiday is all about being with friends and family and eating until you explode. To help get through this feast of feasts without gaining 25 pounds, you’ll need a game-plan.
- First: You don’t need to be eating all day. Just because you ate at one party doesn’t mean you need to have an entire meal again at a second or third party.
- Second: Portion Control!!! Try using a smaller plate when you eat thanksgiving dinner. Take a little bit (1-2 bites) of everything that is available and when you are done with that, you can go back and have a little more of what you really enjoyed. The idea here is to eat slower than you normally would so that you end up finishing your plate around the same time as everyone else who is gorging themselves.
- Third: Plan ahead. If you know that you will be attending multiple parties, eat less at each. You don’t need to deprive yourself from having a great time and this way you won’t be faced with questions about why you aren’t eating. Eat less, enjoy more.
After Thanksgiving you have the biggest holiday party stretch of the year. If you are like most Americans you will have a ton of holiday parties throughout the entire month on December. This is going to be the most stressful, yet enjoyable time of the year. When it comes to overeating you just follow the same suggestions as for Thanksgiving, but instead of having to portion yourself for multiple parties on one day you need to worry about multiple parties during the week. The concept stays the same. Try to eat less crap and choose healthier options at these parties. Don’t go diving into pies every night when you have the option to munch on a veggie tray. It’s the little things that make a difference when watching your weight during the holiday season.
When it comes to the high stress levels this time of year, remember, you don’t need to be a super hero. If you find that you cannot be at every party, politely decline. If you are hosting a party and you find yourself struggling to get it all put together, don’t be afraid to ask your friends for some help. That’s what they’re there for aren’t they? This is supposed to be a happy time, not a stressful one. So remember: Ask for help and don’t stress making it to everything, you still need your “Me Time”
If you find that amongst all of the shopping, holiday card sending, decorating, partying, eating, drinking, wrapping presents, working, etc, etc, etc, you are losing your mind. Force yourself to take some time for yourself. You can refer to the post about this Here. Just do what you can to keep yourself in check this holiday season. Go ahead: eat, drink, be merry! Just don’t go overboard.
Who else is excited for Christmas?
Long days and pleasant nights,
Shoeless Joe
Am I Dreaming? It doesn’t matter…
How nice is it to have a great dream? Not a “I Have A Dream!” dream but the unconscious, sleeping dream. I love dreaming. I love having the freedom to do whatever I want to whenever I want to. In a dream you can talk to anyone you want to. In a dream, you are the one in control. If you can do the elusive Lucid Dreaming, you have even more control. A lucid dream is basically a dream that you don’t wake up from when you know that you are dreaming. If you can figure out that you are in a dream you now have complete power over that it.
Here is an example of a lucid dream. It starts off with you working in a busy downtown office building. You don’t really like your job and want to be away from the office as much as possible. It’s almost your lunch time and your boss comes bumbling in. “I’m going to need you to work late today.” You look at the clock and you can’t seem to read it.* Needed to step away before you go off the handle and quit, you take your lunch break. Since your office is just a short walk to this really nice cafe you decide to go there and grab a cup of coffee. You walk past shop windows and then you see something that catches your eye. All of a sudden….WamBO!! ‘I am in a dream…I can do whatever I want!’ (And you really can! In a dream you can fulfill all of your wildest fantasies and even the most modest desires.) At this point you start tinkering with your dream. The stop lights all change in your favor, people aren’t bothering you and then…there’s that person you’ve been wanting to talk to for weeks but haven’t had the guts to do it until now (in the safety of your dream). You and your crush stop to chat about this and that, and then you ask if they want to go grab a cup of coffee. Of course they say yes, (it’s your dream) and when you finally make it to that coffee shop and sit down you wake up, you remember that it was a dream and nothing more. Your crush didn’t really want to go have coffee with you…or do they?
Why can’t we live our lives like we are in a dream? Why do we need to be so scared of rejection? How do you know that the person you like doesn’t like you back? Have you asked them? I challenge you to start living your life as if you are dreaming. Take chances you normally wouldn’t. DON’T BE STUPID! You can’t fly so don’t go jumping off of roofs, you are not Aquaman so don’t go trying to hold your breath for 20 mins under water. Keep things safe. Don’t go out and harm yourself or others. If your dream is to kill someone then you are at the wrong website. I don’t condone harmful actions or support those who do harm others. Do only good and only good will come to you. So, treat your life as if you are dreaming. If you see someone you would like to talk to, go do it! Don’t be afraid of consequences. A “NO” will hurt, I know it will, but how much more would it hurt if you didn’t make that first move and you find out years down the road that it would have been a “yes”???
*When in a dream, clocks and mirrors will have blurry images. This is a trick to recognizing that you are in a dream.
Long days and pleasant nights
Shoeless Joe
Image from: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/meyer769/myblog/writing-2/2011/10/
Posting Glitch
Good Morning! Well, isn’t this embarrassing? All the posts I had scheduled have dissappeared. I’m pretty sure this is a human error and not an error by WordPress. I haven’t been able to grasp the whole “scheduling posts” thing. All the posts are backed up on my personal computer (I’m currently on my work computer on a break) so I’ll get them back up and re-scheduled. The post that should have been up yesterday will be up this afternoon and the post for Wednesday will be up on time. Thank you for bearing through this with me!
Long days and pleasant nights,
Shoeless Joe
Barefoot Buffalo 