weight

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Weight Is A Bigger Deal Than You Think

When you consider interacting with an item, its weight is deceptively important. 

weight is a bigger deal than you think

You probably know this to be true when you consider doing an activity and you’re a few pounds heavier than the last time you did it. 

I know for myself, when I play hockey, I feel a whole lot better on the ice when I am about five pounds lighter than my present weight. 

Just five pounds makes a difference. 

But that’s not all. The weight of most things should be considered.

Recently, we purchased a new TV for our family room. My plan was to put the old one in our workout room. I delayed doing that because the old TV is a plasma television, weighing in at about 90 pounds. 

You don’t flippantly hang almost 100 pounds on a wall and think it will stay there. I had to do some research and make sure I got the right kind of mount. 

The plan was to hang that beast of a TV about six feet off the floor. That certainly was not a one man job! It took two of us to mount that baby on the wall.

But even slight weight variances can make a difference.

Just recently I broke a hockey stick. It’s the stick I used all the time. 

I do have a back-up. In fact, I have a few because they are all kind of heavy and I kept buying sticks hoping that one would feel a little lighter. 

These hockey sticks are not like those from the old days for two reasons: 

For one, back in the day I would buy a hockey stick for about $15. It might only have lasted for a couple of weeks but, if I bought the stick from Canadian Tire, I could return it and get a new one for free.

That was then. 

Now sticks cost over $100, up to about $350. They last a lot longer … if you don’t take a lot of slap shots. 

The other reason sticks are different, from back when I was growing up, is the material they are made of.  

All Sticks used to be made entirely of wood. Now there is no hint of wood in sticks, just carbon fibre … and they are sooooo much lighter. 

My old Sherwood PMP 3050 was heavy – like a 2×4 made out of spruce. I might as well have been carrying a tree on the ice with me. 

Now sticks are light – 430 grams and lighter. In fact, the stick I just broke was 400 grams and my back-up sticks weigh in at around 427 grams. 

It really doesn’t sound like much difference, but every time I go to stick handle or shoot the puck with one of my back-up sticks, it feels like I have cement for a blade. 

It’s like I taped my hockey stick with lead-lined hockey tape. 

It doesn’t take much weight to make a big difference. … I’m thinking I need to buy a new every day stick and keep the ones I have as back-ups. 

Here’s the thing: Every once in a while we need to take a hard look at our lives and consider what might be weighing us down spiritually. Excess spiritual weight could be rules we follow or wrong theology we hold to. It might be legalism or a sense of superiority. We can add spiritual weight by justifying something that is wrong or sinful. Practice being spiritually lighter by shedding unnecessary and harmful spiritual weight. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is one thing you should remove from your life right now? Leave your comments and questions below.

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Sugar May Be Keeping You From Losing Weight

I really feel the need to write something about the role of sugar in our lives.

Sugar may be keeping you from losing weight

In my last post, I wrote about a plan to lose weight and keep it off (you can read it here). It’s not a diet, rather a way to live.

In that plan I said to cut down on or cut out sugar. 

Well, that brings up all kinds of thoughts or definitions in a person’s mind. How do you define sugar? 

What I’m talking about with regard to cutting out or down on sugar is really simple sugars. And that is a broader category than just the sweat in candy.  

This is how I understand the role food plays in our body. I don’t have any medical terms, this is just how I view the way the body and food work together. 

We need sugar because that is what our body runs on. Sugar is the fuel for our body. It’s like the gas in our car – we need it to keep the engine running. 

And everything we eat eventually breaks down into sugar. Our bodies take the food we eat and process it, refine it, distill it down to fuel, sugar for our bodies to burn.

Though all food breaks down into sugar, it doesn’t mean it’s all the same. There are some foods that break down slowly into sugar and others that break down very, very quickly.

These last types of sugar we will call simple sugars. We find them in candy, chips, pop etc. 

Foods that break down fairly fast are starches, carbohydrates – foods like breads, potatoes, and Chinese food. … I’m just kidding about the Chinese food, but you’re always hungry about an hour after you eat it, so it must break down quickly. 

More complex foods break down slower, like meat for instance. 

It makes sense that the foods that take longer to break down, or are more complex, will provide fuel for your body for a longer period of time. They won’t immediately flood the body with excess fuel that your body can’t deal with, that causes more harm than good. 

When it comes to sugar, you want to cut down on the foods that quickly break down into sugar. You want to put more premium fuel into your body and less cheap gas. 

We like to buy cheap gas because it fills up our tank for less money. But there are particles and impurities in that cheap gas that is ultimately harmful for our car’s engine. 

That is how sugar works in the body. You want to keep putting in the complex, long-lasting sugar and not the simpler, cheap sugar. 

And, like with anything, never overfill it. You can go a long way on three quarters of a tank of gas.

If you want to see a chart on the breakdown of food, google the glycemic index and you will see the sugar rating in foods. 

This is huge in losing weight. Really work on reducing those simple sugars, while maintaining the more complex sugars. 

If you do, you will see your weight come down.

Here’s the thing: We can try to live on a steady diet of activities that will take all our time and leave us often feeling empty. Do not neglect your spiritual needs which are more complex and long-lasting. Feed your spirit by giving yourself time with God, reading His word, worshipping Him and praying. These are complex fuels for your spirit. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What simple sugar item do you need to reduce or ditch from your diet? Leave your comments and questions below.

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I’m Trying To Lose My COVID 19

Somehow COVID has caught up with me and I’m trying to lose it now. … I guess saying it that way is better than saying that I have COVID 19.

I'm trying to lose my COVID 10

Let me clarify. 

The other day when I was playing hockey, I came back to the bench exhausted and frustrated with my play. As I settled into my spot on the bench, I said “I have COVID 19”, to which another guy on the bench responded, “I’m doing better than you; I only have COVID 15.”

We were talking about how many pounds we’ve gained since the whole COVID thing started.

I remember when I was in college, there was a running joke called “the Freshman 15”. It referred to how the freshmen girls gained about that many pounds on a steady diet of cafeteria food.

Some of the guys thought it was funny; not so much the freshman girls.

For me and my 19 pounds – which is pretty close to accurate – it’s been a steady incline. 

At the beginning, there was the loss of sports available to play, coupled with a nagging knee problem that kept me from working out in my home gym.

But as time when on, and the underlying pressure to isolate continued, I really lost my motivation to stay fit. 

It was too easy to have that extra Dr. Pepper during the week – well, maybe two extra. 

And I remembered just how good a Big Turk chocolate bar tasted. 

And those Twizzler commercials looked so fun, I had to have some liquorice.

After a while I lost my motivation all together to work out at home. I found that I was more tired than normal.

And all the time my COVID went from 7 to 10 pounds. 

There were days that I was determined to get back to exercising. But when I would get home from work, I would just look at the equipment, shake my head and grab a Twizzler while I watched TV.

The more time went by, my COVID started rising to 13, then 17 pounds. 

There were a couple of T-shirts that I didn’t wear this summer because, well, they were just too tight and I didn’t want to look like a “person of Walmart”.

But now I think I’ve turned a corner and I’m trying to lose my COVID 19.

I’ve exercised every day this week and I’ve refrained (for the most part) from stuffing my face with chocolate, chips and ice cream.

As hard as it was to turn the lights on in my home gym and to sit down on my rowing machine, I did it. I did it once and that made it easier to do it again. It got easier each day.

I’m not sure what it was that got me motivated. It might have been how sluggish I’ve felt playing hockey. 

It might be a fear of my body getting out of control. And I know there was some concern for my health.

I don’t want another heart attack. 

It’s probably all these things that came together to spur me on to lose my COVID once and for all. 

Here’s the thing: Many people are confronted with the claims of Christ. Some are convinced. Yet they still fail to follow through and commit to Christ. If that is you, ask yourself, “What will it take to motivate me to place my faith in Christ and follow Him?”

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need motivation for right now? Leave your comments and questions below.

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I Gained Weight Just Being There

What is it with conferences that you automatically feel about 10 pounds heavier when you come home?

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Is there something in the water or the air that adds weight to your body? I’m not sure what it is but I don’t like it.

I don’t think I’ve ever come back from a seminar or conference feeling like I even broke even in the weight department.

Is there anyone out there who knows my pain?

This weekend my wife, Lily, and I flew to the metropolis of Steinbach, Manitoba for a church conference.

I only had a glass of water on the plane but I was sure I felt a little heavier as I walked into the Winnipeg airport.

The feeling that I put on weight in all the wrong places didn’t go away since the first thing we did when we pulled away from the airport was drive directly to a restaurant.

It certainly didn’t help that after lunch we drove an hour, then sat in an orientation session for another hour, and then guess what we did?

We had another meal!

There is no way my body had time to process all the food I’d eaten at 1 pm. I don’t think an athlete with a metabolism that’s fine-tuned like a violin could process what I’d packed away for lunch and be ready, waiting and eager to partake in evening morsels at about 5 pm.

Conferences are good for two things: long meetings where you sit down and don’t move much for a couple of hours and breaks where you stand in one spot, usually close to a table that has some kind of food on it.

You repeat this process only to break it up with large meals and spending time in a hotel room that’s about twenty feet long.

Is it any wonder that by the end of the first day I felt like I was waddling into my hotel and crashing onto my bed, almost bouncing Lily off the other side? (… just kidding about that one.)

Day two I had a plan. This time I wasn’t going to take in any snacks between meals … but the fruit looked pretty good on the tables so I stayed close by and ate an apple.

I thought I needed to walk around more because in just two days my legs felt like they were covered in cellulite – can a guy even get cellulite? … at the very least, I’m sure I had lost all muscle tone.

At my age you don’t rebound quickly either. No, weight that only takes one day to gain will take a week to lose!

The thing is you don’t even realize you’re gaining weight when you are there. It’s like your body adjusts to the new weight overnight and you wake up feeling like you’re carrying the same poundage as the day before, which you’re not.

I think you have to be vigilant; you have to have a plan. You need to be disciplined to fight the conference convexity (look that one up).

So today I plan on no snacks at any break. I’m spending my time walking around the halls … maybe that will work.

Here’s the thing: Sometimes just being in a certain environment can have a negative spiritual impact on you. It’s not that you are doing anything wrong, but where you are is not generally conducive to spiritual health. You need a plan to ensure you can stay connected to God and are able to maintain a Christ-like attitude and posture.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you find difficult to maintain when you are away? Leave your comment below.

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A Week Of Eating Out

I don’t know how single guys do it – I’d be broke and weigh about 500 pounds if I wasn’t married.  I’d never think about it though, if it wasn’t for a week like this past one.

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Reality set in Friday night. I don’t go away all that often, and Lily goes away on her own even less, but this past week we were both away … separately.

I had some meetings in the Toronto area Tuesday and Wednesday, and Lily had work meetings in Montreal Wednesday to Friday.

The hard part was figuring out our vehicle situation because number one son also needed a car for parts of the week. But once that was settled, we were all good.

… Except for the food thing.

While I was away, I was eating meals brought into our meetings and going out to restaurants. When I got home, Lily was gone so it was just eating out at restaurants for me.

Lil said something to Mike our son about checking in with Dad around dinner time and his comment was, “Ya, I guess he won’t be cooking”.

He had that right. I make a mean hot oat bran cereal in the morning, but past that my skills and desire fall pretty flat.

So over the week I had pizza twice, subs once, fajitas once, hamburgers twice, a hotdog, and of course, I had hot wings.

I almost fasted over lunch one day. I had played hockey at noon and missed lunch. I almost thought I didn’t need anything, but when I was nearing Harvey’s, I got a hankering for a hotdog.

So the craziest thing happened – the car just automatically turned into the parking lot and parked itself. It was just like one of those Ford car commercials where they let go of the steering wheel and the car takes over and parks.

I just had to go in then!

You can see that if this was a regular pattern of eating for me, my weight would skyrocket and I would be burning the strip right off my debit card.

Though I might not get that far, according to my doctor my cholesterol would soar, and my arteries would clog up like putting a drain stopper in a sink.

I have to be careful, and I’m glad that Lil’s now home and I’m getting good healthy meals … well except for tonight – it’s Saturday night and there’s a hockey game on.

You know what that means: it’s hot wings and a Dr. Pepper . . . mmm  . . .  I can feel by blood pressure on the rise just thinking about it.

I know what you’re thinking: Paul needs an intervention. But listen, it’s only one week, and I’ll be back to eating carrots, broccoli and almonds for lunches before you even get to read this.

That’s right, I’ll be back saving money and getting slim. I just have to finish off that darn candy sitting around the house from Christmas.

Here’s the thing: There are all kinds of interruptions that come into our day, our week, our life. They get us off track from taking time with God. Don’t let them permanently derail you. Don’t get down because you missed a few days. Just start today and get yourself back into the groove of taking that regular time with God. He’s waiting for you, and He’s not going to beat you up about missing some days. He’s happy to have you back spending time with Him.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What patterns do you fall into when you fall out of routine? Leave your comment below.

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Being Firstborn Increases Your Duty

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I think my firstborn nature is keeping me from reaching one of my goals. There is something about firstborns that they are duty-bound.

They diligently follow through on something until it’s complete. We have a kind of gyroscopic equilibrium deep inside us that does not stabilize until we have done what we think is right.

Of course, what we think is right probably came from all the “no’s” we got from our parents in the first two years of life. The more “no’s” we got back then, the harder it is now to maintain that inner balance.

How this is playing out for me right now is with food and my weight goal. I hope to reach my target weight goal by the end of the month but the problem is we are over a week into the new year and I’m still trying to clean up the excesses of Christmas food.

… Not so much the turkey, more like the candy, baking, and other calorie-laden edibles.

You see, right now along with every meal, I also have to consume morsels of good cheer that are lingering in our pantry and fridge.

And yes, I said “have to” because of my firstborn nature, and the program my parents instilled in me before I was really accountable for anything.

Those Ferrero Rochers HAVE TO be eaten. Lil’s allergic to hazelnuts so I HAVE TO do them in. Then there are the liquorice allsorts and the peanut brittle, and . . . I could go on and on.

I’m not even mentioning the cookies and other baking.

Every time I open the pantry, I start to get vertigo unless I pop something in my mouth. This firstborn thing is really getting to me. I know what I need to be doing, but this thing I have about cleaning up is killing me!

With every piece of chocolate, every Christmas cookie, I sense my cholesterol on the rise. But I say to myself, “It’s just until I get rid of all this stuff.”

The problem is there’s so much of it. And because Lil’s not a firstborn, it’s all on me to do the clean up.

I know, it’s a heavy weight to bear . . . literally.

I have a choice to make. I either gorge myself and get rid of it all quickly (and in the process gain about 10 more pounds), or I slowly kill myself by eating just bits every day.

I think my second choice would take until March which is way past my target weight date. But the other prospect will have me living on my new rowing machine for hours every day to work off the poundage I’ll be putting on.

I just wish my parents hadn’t said “no” so often when I was a child so I didn’t have to say “yes” so often now.

Well it’s morning now, and the cream I’ve been adding to the milk with my cereal is finished so I’m done with that. I will, however, need to finish off Lily’s caramel corn later today.  Man, it never ends.

Here’s the thing: There are a lot of things that we might feel bound to – one of those things should be our spiritual growth. We should have a feeling deep inside that things are not quite right unless we are growing spiritually. We should feel like we are out of sorts unless we take care of our spiritual needs. Stay stabilized and commit to your spiritual growth this year.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How do you plan to grow spiritually this year? Leave your comment below.