Christmas is going to be a challenge this year. I know I will have to really keep my diet in mind the whole season. My family traditions tend to be focused around food. With a full belly exercise is usually the furthest thing from my mind as well.
I am hoping with the official start of the student part of the UBBT in January I can keep myself motivated.
The new year has a lot of promise, my new year's resolutions have been set for months,so now it's time to get down to the hard stuff.
Have a great Holiday season,I hope whatever way you celebrate brings nothing but Good feelings, good company and of course lots of good food.
Happy Holidays
Linda

Exercise or not to exercise that is the question

Well by the end of last week the flu finally caught up with me.I put up a good fight but in the end I let my defenses down long enough for it to take hold.I figure I might as well get it now rather than at Christmas. Now it's over with.... at least thats what I'm going to believe.My big question then was "should I be exercising while I'm sick?"I looked it up and the article below seemed to have the most common sense;
Mayo Clinic physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist Edward Laskowski, M.D., and colleagues say;

Yes, you can continue with mild or moderate activity if you have a cold with no fever. Exercise may even help you feel better — by temporarily relieving nasal congestion.

So how do you determine if you're too sick to exercise? Here's a good rule of thumb: If your symptoms are "above the neck" — such as runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, or sore throat — you can proceed with your workout.

However, if your symptoms are "below the neck" — such as chest congestion or tightness, hacking cough, or upset stomach — you should postpone your workout. Also, you shouldn't exercise if you have a fever, fatigue or widespread muscle aches. Rarely, exercising with a fever has been associated with inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis).

As always, use common sense. If you're not feeling well but still want to exercise, reduce the intensity of your workout and listen to your body. If your symptoms worsen with exercise, stop and rest. Missing a few days of exercise isn't the end of the world.
I will be playing catch up for a few days but I'll live through that too.
See you on the track
Linda

Too much time

I had a lot of sick folks at my house this week. Just about everyone had the flu at different times. I never did come down with it...at least not yet. It was a bit of a struggle to keep focused on my UBBT requirements. My personal time seemed to be taken up nursing everyone else back to health.
Unfortunately it also gave me too much time to think and some of my old insecurities came to the foreground in my mind. I tend to read double meanings into things people say to me... like was that a joke or was he trying to tell me something.... maybe I'm not the right person for that job....things don't come easy for me... maybe it shows, anyway you get the idea,I drove myself nuts all week. The cloud lifted somewhat as the kids started to get better and BACK TO SCHOOL! It,s a good thing Randy has such great patience
Here's to a better week to come,
Linda

Giving is good for the soul

In our time of technology one of the main stays in our homes is the telephone. It keeps us in touch with loved ones, with the touch of a finger we have medical aid, and a way to resource the world around us without leaving our homes.Of course with the good also comes the bad. Telemarketers bombard us daily with calls. The same can be said about people with good causes looking to raise money. The problem is that I become jaded with not only the telemarketers but also with so many needy fundraisers. I have hardened my heart over the years just so I can survive the sometimes cruel ways I must tell the phone" no I don't want to buy your product, no I Know I have not won a free trip to... and no I have no donation funds left for you cause." I was raised a good Catholic girl and guilt was driven into the very fiber of my soul. So saying "no" does not come easy... or maybe too easy these days.
My husband Randy and I attended a fundraiser last week and I must admit out of loyalty to Silent River Kung FU. The cause once again was a blur with no real meaning to it. Just another place to put a meager donation and keep the flow of income going into our schools fundraisers. Our attitudes soon changed as the speaker "Memory" described her life and those of women in general in her home country. Anyone who was there came away with a new understanding of how well off we are in Canada. We have three daughters of our own and could not imagine in our wildest dreams how hard it would be for them to have to survive such a life. The night turned out to be a real eye opener.
The topic around our table these days is about giving to these women. Each one of my teenagers has pledged to give a portion of their next pay cheques and we as a family are going to sponsor one of these girls for the next year and maybe the next four. We have so much to give thanks for and maybe one way to appreciate this is to give to someone who doesn't. I am hoping by putting a face to a young girl in need will drive this home to my whole family. This Christmas will have more meaning with project in mind. After all isn't this the message that Christmas is bring to us each year, the one I have been missing for a long time,it isn't about receiving,it's about giving.....
Once again;
Linda

The fountain of youth

Exercise has become my fountain of youth. It has been a lot of years since I've felt so good. It helps slow aging in human skeletal
muscle. It seems to help the heart to deteriorate slower. It has become a moving meditation for me. It gives me time all to myself, a time to regroup and give back to so many deserving people.Inspiration comes from looking in the mirror and finally liking how I look. It has increased my self confidence. I worry less about what people think of me and more about who they think I am. I have been able to come off one medication and reduce another all by exercise.
We had a black belt class this past Friday that I was able to stand up and demonstrate a new form I was learning all because I felt better about myself.It was one of those classes I was so glad I hadn't missed. All the black belts did the same form but each had put their own personality;s into it. It was very inspiring, I can't wait to learn the rest of the form.I feel ten years younger and it doesn't seem to matter that I don,t necessarily look it. So what are you waiting for....
Talk to you next week

Linda

count down

Well I'm on the count down for the end of the first step in my Body for life challenge. Two weeks to go. I am going to continue with the Body for life for the next year to go alone with my UBBT. I think though that at the end of two weeks I will change up some of my weight training routine .I have been working mostly on the machines in the gym maybe I'll try some free weights now.
I have been trying to read "Way of the Peaceful warrior" but can't seem to find the time. A few minutes here and there just doesn't work for me.I need to sit down and concentrate on the book. I have come up with a solution though, I have found the audio book and am going to down load it onto my ipod. That way I can hear the book while I'm running.Is that cheating? Oh well it will work out better.
Speaking of running, I hit the 5 km. mark on Saturday. There's no limit to where I might end up now. My partner also hit the 5km mark,but I know he could go to 10 km if he wanted to. He's so kind to my ego. Lets me have my small victory's. I must say that my training gets easier with my weight lose and better cardio conditioning.
See you at the finish line
Linda

RUN FOREST RUN

This week I reached an all time personal record of running four kms. Now this sounds great and for me it is, but it's not pretty.
If you are on the track at the same time I am, you will hear me coming up behind you well before you see me. I"m afraid I still sound like an old steam engine. I am hoping this too will pass. Speed you ask? Well most people can probably walk faster than I run, however this does not bother me. IT STILL FEELS GREAT. I have always wanted to run but never had the drive to do it. Now I have learned to push past the pain in my legs and ignore my screaming lungs. I just one foot in front of the other and count off the kms. I have asked myself at least a dozen times "why can I do this now and never before?" I really don't know yet.Maybe its my workout partner, or maybe it the Ubbt. challenge, or maybe its the body for life program. It could of been a full moon on the day I finally committed to doing this, I"ll let you know when I figure this out. Anyway my new goal is to make the five km. mark by Christmas. For the first time in my life I can say this and know I will do this.
I FEEL GREAT! Talk to you soon
Linda

The universal law of reciprocation

I am going to take a paragraph out of the Body for life book by Bill Phillips: "Many people want to get before they give. In the long run, this formula never works.My experience has been this; When I focus on creating value for others, in either my personal or my professional life, I don't get back a return that merely equals what I invest, I know my return will be double , triple, even 10 times greater. This is such a fundamental truth that I don't even think about it. I don't pay attention to my future return. The payoff will be automatic. And it will come in many forms;pride, fun, fulfillment, friendship. self-esteem, energy."
I came across this statement in his book when I first started my body for life challenge and I can't tell you how true it has turned out to be. I am constantly shocked and surprised at the positive energy around me from people who I wasn't even aware of. If I have given even one person encouragement or hope to become better within themselves then my challenge will have been a success. It is one of the biggest turning points in my life so far. I challenge you to take this step and see what happens. I promise you it will be worth it.

On another subject I had an awaking moment this week. Towards the end of the week, Thursday, Fridayish, I had a incredible craving for sweets. I thought I was past this point in my fight with my weight, but here it was again. I struggled through it with little or no cheating. But looking back on it today , Sunday I see the truth in the fight. I was in an emotional battle with myself and I have always been an emotional eater. You know that sugar will sooth me for awhile until things look better. I made it past the pressures I had created in my mind and now I can see where the cravings had come from. Maybe next time it will be easier. I hope so,
talk to you next week

Linda

Turn on the light

During this Saturdays wind storm we had a tree fall on a power line and it put us out of power for twelve hours.It changed our family plans a little bit. Both the teenagers had come home with movies and games to entertain themselves for the evening. Well needless to say without power that was hit on the head. We all had to find another way to entertain ourselves for the night.The fireplace warmed the basement,candles gave us light to see and we had to take out the old board games.It turned out to be a good night. We all went to bed early for a change and somewhere in the middle of the night the Fortis workers got the tree off the line and restored the power.Hu ray for men who work in the dark and cold.
This in a round about way brings me to a subject I have been struggling with for weeks.There is a great deal of excitement in our Kung Fu school this last month as students find their Kung Fu Mojo as Sifu Tiffany Playter likes to say. It's the place that you finally find and know you are doing something right. Your body starts to respond to what your brain has been trying to tell it.You move with the right timing and flow and it looks good. You know you have gotten it right. This same feeling, your Kung Fu "mojo" happens when you are exercising or doing push ups, sit ups, etc. You want to shout it to the world and you have every right to be proud of it. You have worked hard. Now I know I have been feeling this way about my Body for life program and my UBBT challenge too. I feel good and I want to share it with the world. I want to tell everyone who will listen how to do it too but here is where I have encountered my struggle. Not everyone is in the same place as I am.There are other students out there who are not in this frame of mind. Their personal life is giving them problems that may seem insurmountable. In stead of making them stronger Kung Fu may be the last thing on the list to make things right.This week they are standing next to you next week they may be gone. Would I notice? Would I really care enough to say maybe I could have done something to help them hang on?
Would this have been an act of kindness? Could I have made some small difference to help them through until they felt stronger? Could my feeling of empowerment have made them feel small? I know I can't save the world or I can't read another persons mind but maybe if I come down to earth, back to the basics, I would see where I can extend a hand to that person and help them through until they are feeling stronger. After all this is what we are trying to do isn't it. We are training our body to do kicks, punches, etc. but we are also training our minds. We are trying to take our Kung Fu further that the physical and make it about a whole rounded out person. One who will in turn take it out into the world and show them what we are all about.
I don't know if I have gotten the feelings I have been letting bug me out I probably haven't made much sense or how a power outage has anything to do with someone struggling to stay in King Fu. I guess what I was trying to say was when you are feeling alone in the dark there is someone out there in the light to help you see until the dawn.
Well I tried... until next week
Linda

Scrimmages

There is a lot of great information out there on fitness,I find it very easy to get distracted and confused. I guess it's just like all the diets there are, you have to find the one that works for you and stick with it.I am in the seventh week of the body for life program now. This program is definitely working for me.I am not on schedule for weight lose, but I knew that was an unrealistic goal for me from the start.I also have to take into account that I blow the diet for the first two weeks of the program,so with that in mind I'm not that far off.I always believed the line "you will not crave sweats if your eating right was a load of ... well you know,but it is true for the most part.I have been able to turn away from a lot of my old time cravings lately.So the battle only feels like small scrimmages now.Maybe by Christmas I'll have to buy some new clothes, here's hoping.... talk to you next week,

Linda

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is such a wonderful time to gather family and friends around me.It's also a good time of year to reflect on the year as it comes to a close.Upon doing this I see that 2008 has indeed come with so rather big personal changes .All for the good.There seems to be a great deal ahead too.One of these changes occurred just last week when I started logging my acts of kindness.I started out thinking this would be a rather easy undertaking.Well what is a random act of kindness?Is it something you would have done anyway or is it something you had to give some self sacrifice for?I don't know about you but it made me realize how often someone else did some act of kindness for me.I tend to walk around with the opinion that everyone is out for themselves.You know get the other guy before he gets you.What an eye opener.I wonder when I became such a cynic ?Well its just something else to work on, Trust.
The diet and exercise is going along just fine.It feels more natural now.Anyway, have a great Thanksgiving!
Until next week,
Linda

Open your eyes and look around you

To spite the struggles I have encountered this week it was a positive experience.
I felt very apprehensive about posting this challenge in public to start out with,but it has been such a good growing tool.I am very pleasantly surprised with the great support I have been getting from the people around me.
I have stepped up my challenge and have been accepted by Master Brinker to be a student member of his UBBT.I feel a little bit like I had a running head start as the Body For Life is one component of this test.Anyway the excitement in the Black belt class is so thick you can almost touch it.It's great to be a part of this.There is so much more to being a Black Belt than you can imagine,I can't wait until you are all there with your black belts.The Black belt really is just the beginning....
Life is good, see you next week,

Linda

The truth will set me free

I have something I want to share with you.On Sunday's my partner and I weight in. I have a scale that not only tells you how much you weigh but what your body fat is, water content, bone mass etc.This Sunday was a disaster for me on the scale.I thought I had had a great week but I hadn't lost one single pound!I said all the right things to my partner but deep down inside I felt I had failed.For years I refused to have a scale in the house just because of such results.Along comes Monday and Tuesday and I find myself sneaking small snacks.A couple of M&M's,a bite of that chocolate chip muffin... you get the picture.It ground to a stop upon reading a message from Master Brinker to his Black belts.(I love feeling a part of this group)He has in trusted us with a very difficult challenge and I hadn't even started and already I was letting him and myself and I guess my partner down.So I have had to really dig deep and find the reasons I took on this challenge to begin with. I think I will be alright now.I felt like if I told you of my slip maybe it won't happen again for a long while.I would like to say never again but I know that would not be true.Here's to a new start...
Linda

Do what I do

You know sometimes as a parent you feel like your talking to yourself.The kids might be standing right in front of you even looking at you and still they don't hear a word you are saying.So I have been pleasantly surprised to see a change in their attitudes since I have taken on the Body for life challenge.Our youngest has been running with me every other day (one day is muscle fitness the alternate day is cardeo, which I am doing in the form of teaching myself to run.)She is a very pickie eater so it was a great surprise to see her appetite increase with the amount of exercise she is getting.She is a chatterbox when we are alone so it's great company.The water I have been buying has been disappearing faster than I was drinking and I happened upon my son downing one of my bottles.This too was a change as he would be happier drinking pop!Small things in the big picture but in the right direction.Maybe that old saying "Do as I say, not as I do..." is not true.Maybe kids don"t always listen but they are paying attention. Who knew
See you next week
Linda

Who Knew !

I can really feel a difference this week.The changes are starting to make themselves known.Aside from the soar muscles and tiredness I feel good.We have some great people in our school to turn to when things get hard or confusing. Sifu Masterson is a great source of information on weight training.She has had some great suggestions.During the week I was really bottoming out after my workouts.I felt depressed and worn out.I went to her and explained how I felt and she had a few things for me to try, along with encouragement.The diet is still challenging but getting better.This weeks lesson was how much my diet relates to my work out.They definitely go hand in hand. See you next week...

Linda

Old habits are hard to over come

I find myself here this morning reviewing my week and beating myself up. I have fallen back into an old diet pattern. Those of you who have never really dieted won't recognize the starvation pit (starting the yo-yo pattern).IF your following a set out program that is going to make you lose wieght, well by not eating as much on the program must be better, faster. So half way through the week my work out partner pointed out that I had missed two suppers already this week.It was enough to make me stop and think... maybe it was a few breakfasts as well.I had eaten at least half a protein bar with the intention of making something else on the list later in the morning when I had more time.HA! Mistake number two. I really have to work on not breaking promises to myself.I have had a life time to prefect this,so who will know the difference anyway. I will.
Scratch week number two on the diet and start fresh tomorrow.(Sunday is a day off both exercising and following the diet on the body for life program)
The exercise part of the program has gone very well this week so I will give myself a pat on the back for that.Exercising is almost addicting don't you think? It sure makes me feel good!
Talk to you next week

Linda

Body for life challange

Well after two months of putting up obstacles and excuses I am finally started.A twelve week challenge of both mental and physical strength. The idea is to change the way I eat and exercise.I have not taken this challenge on lightly. I have been on many diets (that's putting it mildly) in my life and have had minimum success and have always gained the weight back.
So here goes, I have found a partner to do this twelve weeks with me. I never really have enough push by myself, so hopefully having someone else to keep me in line will help. I am posting this in hope that all of my fellow students will also keep me accountable. I am keeping a record of my daily exercise routine so I can track my ups and downs.Also there is a very specific way I must eat for the twelve weeks in order to build muscle and loss fat.
I started September 1 and will go until December 1 for the challenge and I hope that I feel so wonderful that I cam keep it as part of my life.
The first week has been very busy with my kids going back to school and incorporating the exercise routine that the week just flew by.I found the exercise refreshing and the diet challenging.I have a bit of a sweet tooth so giving up sugar is very hard.Also I feel like ten glasses of water is almost like drowning. I can tell you where every bathroom is within ten km. of my house. I hope this gets easier. I really don't like water.
Anyway I promise to keep up my postings once a week,this way you can see how I am doing and give me a kick if need be.( side heel thrust? well... maybe not that hard,see you next week

Linda

P.S. If you would like to learn more about the challenge you can go to bodyforlife.com

see ya

Pick your Fights.

I had a fellow student ask me the other day if I have kids in Kung Fu.

As a matter of fact I have three of my four kids in Kung Fu. One is just four and enjoying the Little Leopards class on Saturday mornings. The other two who are now sixteen and seventeen got there black belts back in 2003.

They both started in 1998.The struggle to keep them interested and excited was a constant battle. Depending on their age and how many friends they had at the school was always a big factor. A little competition with each other and fellow students also played a big part in keeping it fun.

Finally it came down to a decision my husband and I had to make.
We decided that Kung Fu not only made them better students and members of the community but it was also a very important life skill.So we made them go to each class. Sometimes kicking and screaming. The final compromise was that when they earned their black belts they could decide for themselves weather to continue or not.

Randy and I never regret that decision. The two kids got their black belts with me. They lasted a few more months at the school and both then put it to rest.
I feel very strongly that they are the people they are today because of their training.It comes into play every day of their lives. It affects how they think and the decisions they make.I still see the spark that talk of Kung Fu brings to their eyes and my fondest hope is that one day sooner rather than later they will pick up their training.
So to all you fellow parents out there struggling with your kids,take a deep breath and stick to your convictions. Yes you are right, it is good for them and you will not regret the battles you are going to face with them.It will be a fight well worth the outcome.

Keep in mind that you are not alone and use Master Brinker and his team of black belts to keep you and your kids motivated. There are not many situations that he has not come across before and if he doesn't have the answer you will always have his support.

Good Luck!
Sifu Linda Shipalesky

Where am I going?

Well spring has finally sprung. This has to be my favorite time of year.For me its a time of renewal.The yard is fresh for new plants and the sap starts flowing in the trees. I can finally throw open the windows and air out the house.Its a great time of year to shake some of the cobwebs out of my mind.I have been doing an inventory if you like on my training too. Some spring cleaning. I have had a great winter in the kwoon.What a privilege it has been to watch the white/yellow class come into their own.Every class I attend renews my belief in the martial arts.Every student has a different strength. Their own road to discovery. It is like spring,its like watching them wake up after a long rest.
My private joke is that they think I'm there to teach them when in reality they are teaching me.I am humbled be some of the obstacles people are able to over come.At the end of each class I don't just want to clap, I want to jump up and down and yell " Did you see that? Did you see what they did tonight?" I want to take some of that energy and bring it home to apply to my every day life and my training, if I could bottle a little of that I could make a million...
So the answer to my question "where am I going in my training" has to be I want to be better, faster, stronger so I can bring this to the students journeying along beside me, so that I too can have the courage to challenge myself and inspire those around me.

Consequence of Being a Left Hander

With the Christmas holidays over it's time to get back to training. One of the biggest challenges I have encountered in my martial arts training has been to do everything right handed.
I have been fortunate to be born left handed in a generation where it is not considered backward. Out of a family of four,three of my siblings are left handed. In turn three of my own four children are left handed.
When I started my martial arts training I was very blessed to have an instructor who had taught a lot of lefties not only Kung Fu but piano too.I have had a excellent start, but as time passes the influence of the rest of the school slowly comes to the forground of my training.I can't tell you what a struggle it is to reverse what I see and make my mind and body do everything opposite to what my natural instincts tells me to.It becomes most difficult for me when I pause in my training ie. an extended holiday (Christmas). Once I get back into the rhythm of things it becomes much easier to do though, most of the time it helps to keep me on my toes.Most of the lefties in Kung Fu get by without anyone even noticing the difference. Once in a while I will come across a fellow student struggling with the same problem,so I know I'm not alone. Some day I hope I will be able to help them reverse things. But until I can conquer my own challanges I will only stand by and simpathize...but one day I will be able to help...