Author: admin

Taking back control and refusing to yield

You know, I really adore my martial arts and self defense classes – the information and knowledge I’m learning there is just plain gold.

I had a very interesting discussion with a sensei yesterday about fighting and how not to panic when the stress levels are high. When you’re in the heat of the moment, it’s natural to let emotions overcome you…but that’s the path to utter conquest and failure to boot.

A knife or a stick by itself is of no threat to you. It’s the opponent’s skill level/commitment that makes them dangerous…but it’s also much more than that as well.

Disagreements, fights, etc., take place between two people…and it’s often the mental outlook that will tip the scales over in one direction or another. You need to refuse to give over control of yourself to another person…you need to proactively CHOOSE NOT to be passive victim.

This means…when you’re in a stressful situation, you have to mentally distance yourself and say, okay, here’s what’s happening, I will remain calm and in control and I will deal with it to the best of my abilities. Verbalize! This helps you breathe and keeps panic down – tell the other person they will NOT do whatever and this problem ends NOW. True, that might not halt the escalation, but you’re already gaining an edge by showing you’re not a passive victim, you’re not going down without a fight.

I want to urge all readers to look up self-defense online…and contact your police department and see if any self-defense/womens self defense classes are offered. Getting stressed out and experiencing danger in a controlled situation is extremely useful in helping you internalize how you can retain control during altercations and confrontations…and it might give you the skills you’ll need to survive and escape.

Here are some great resources:

Women’s Self Defense

Safety for Women

Kids Self Defense

No Nonsense Self Defense

The truth is, we do live in a scary world sometimes…and it’s up to each person to learn techniques for dealing with scary situations. When you’re in a life/death situation, the only person upon whom you can count…is yourself. So make it worth counting.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – Some great self-defense resources are:

When your body says no to exercise, introduce it to 300 pushups…

Morning,

Today’s workout in the gym was most unique. I had planned on doing my usual 53 minutes on the treadmill (today was supposed to be cardio day!) but fate instructed otherwise. It seems that the massive physical exertions I’ve been doing in self-defense, karate, teaching my kids, etc.etc.etc…..have finally caught up to me. I didn’t feel anything on Saturday, nor on Sunday, nor on Monday, nor on Tuesday, but today, simply artistic bruising magically appeared on my hips/back and shoulder blades. My gosh, do I ache! I must have bashed deep-muscle tissue last week, and it took this long to come to the surface.

So! There I was, faced with a treadmill and legs that started laughing at me at the mere notion of working out. Cardio was definitely a no-go today!

But that didn’t mean I had to forgo exercising completely. Just because one part of my body was begging to collapse in a heap doesn’t mean I can’t turn on a dime and work out something else!

After considering all options, I decided that walking the track and doing pushups would be an acceptable alternative. Thus, after every 3 or 4 laps, I’d do 50 pushups. I ended up completing 300 pushups in batches of 50 and lost count of my laps.

End result? I did get a workout….and did protect my legs in the process. It goes to show when the going gets tough, you don’t simply stop and say, wah wah, I had better take it easy…you simply change directions and work out to the very best of your limited abilities.

I’m feeling pretty good now, indeed. :)

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – Treadmills are still lots of fun, of course….

Dealing with kitchen fires – children safety

Morning,

Watch the following. It’s very very eye-opening. Share it with kids.

http://www.ranaldofamily.com/SWF/KitchenOilFire.wmv

At the Fire Fighting Training school they would demonstrate this with a deep fat fryer set on the fire field. An instructor would don a fire suit and using an 8 oz cup a t the end of a 10 foot pole toss water onto the grease fire. The results got the attention of the students. The water, being heavier than the oil, sinks to the bottom where it instantly becomes superheated. The explosive force of the steam blows the burning oil up and out. On the open field, it became a thirty foot high fireball that resembled a nuclear blast.

Inside the confines of a kitchen, the fire ball hits the ceiling and fills the entire room.

Also, do not throw sugar or flour on a grease fire. One cup creates the explosive force of two sticks of dynamite.This is good stuff to share.

Barbara

ps – more fire-prevention:

Parents should not be their kids’ friends.

Parenting. It’s the ultimate of a hero’s journey.

Okay, true, I suppose one’s own personal growing-up time is really the most soul-searing adventure one can undertake. After all, to first be a parent, you should first have passed all of the life’s lessons that have been thrown at you! You should have internalized that your job as a mom or dad is NOT to be your child’s friend…instead, it is to be ‘way above and beyond anything a mere friend can be!

You simply have to internalize that your roll is to raise your children to be the best possible person imaginable. And that means setting up boundaries and inflicting consequences when kids dare to push past them.

Kids need to know where they stand in the scheme of things. They need the security of boundaries so they can rely upon their parents when the going gets tough. Our society tries to make children grow up ‘way ahead of their time…it’s only natural that kids will want more and more security when confronted with these challenges.

I see this all the time at the karate dojo I attend. Some moms (not all, of course, not by a long shot) are ruled by their children…and will scamper to meet their every insane need. These kids are the ones who whine about not doing the workout, who can turn on the waterworks at the drop of a hat…and cause mom to come running. It makes you want to scream at the parents and ask, my gosh, how on earth do you think your child will mainstream into middle school later on if all you do is cater cater cater?

Sigh.

Parents need to be firm. They must not be afraid to mete out punishment when required, nor be afraid to fall onto their knees to comfort their children when its needed.

So why are so many parents doormats these days? I truly have no clue. I’m known as Mean Mommy Ling by my kids’ friends (and also known as Mama Bear by my kids’ teachers)…yet in all cases, kids flock to me whenever I show up at class.

Boundaries work. Plain and simple, boundaries work. So do your children a favor and give them that security…you might be surprised at how much they end up calming down.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – Need some parenting resources? Consider:

Looking for diet and weight loss news resources?

Morning,

One of the neat things about the Internet is you can always find current and up-to-date information about weight loss and overall health, no matter what category you require!

Here are some useful resources:

AOL Body Health

MSN Diet and Fitness

Google Diet News

And one of the neat features about many news sites is they offer an RSS feed option, so you can download something free like

FeedReader

and have all the latest headlines right smack there on your desktop.

It’s really useful! You can take advantage of this technique and keep track of diet forum postings and diet blog postings as well.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – It’s November! Soon to be:

Fad diets – have you succumbed to the false promises of weight loss?

One of the most damaging bits of hucksterisms out there are the fad diets that promise beeyons of pounds of weight loss with zero effort and no exercise.

It’s a sad fact of life, but there are amoral people out there who have no problem lying to desperate people…simply to make money off of their needs.

The facts are, no fad diet will ever work….because by its definition, a fad diet is NOT a lifestyle change…it’s simply a (generally) 2 week long eating program that is woefully insufficient in nutrition and good health. Of course you’ll lose weight if you cut out all the junk food in your meals…but unless you train yourself to eat healthy after the diet is over, you’ll only simply gain the weight back once again.

Not a good thing!

Here are some resources that demystify fad diets:

Fad Diet.com

American Heart Fad Diet Information

Spotting Fad Diets

Food Faddism!

Remember…diets by themselves never fully works…only lifestyle changes will! There is no one quick fix nor any silver bullet…instead, it’s up to you to find out what fits your personality and style the best, and then implement the plan and make it so.

You own your own success!

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – LA Weight Loss is one popular method people use:

Mighty Mice! A view of gene-tweaking for optimal body without diet and ….

So! Have you heard about the mighty mice that have been genetically engineered? To quote:

….Nov.1, 2007 — Scientists at Case Western Reserve University have genetically engineered mice that outrun, outlive, and out-eat ordinary mice while staying lean, light, and fertile well into old age.

Chalk it up to a change in a single gene.

That genetic tweak boosted levels of an enzyme called PEPCK-C in the mice’s skeletal muscles, knocking mice’s muscle metabolism into orbit.

“They are metabolically similar to Lance Armstrong biking up the Pyrenees,” researcher Richard Hanson, PhD, says in a news release.

The mighty mice were seven times more active than normal mice. They showed unusually high levels of activity in their cages from the time they were 2 weeks old.

Running on special treadmills designed for mice, the genetically engineered mice left ordinary mice in the dust….MORE….

Do read the article, it’s fascinating! Just think how much easier losing weight would be if we could simply tweak our genes to Fat Burn Mode ON! ‘course, then we’d miss out on the awesome fun of exercising and pitting ourselves against our own personal achievements….but hey. Dreams can be fun, indeed.

:)

Barbara

ps – Remember this fine hero who always came to save the day?

Lightning-fast reflexes in the morning!

Here’s a funny parenting thing.

I had to awaken my daughter early this morning. After she left her room, she hid right by my room with the nefarious plan of jumping out and scaring me.

Well! I walked out, didn’t see her, did see something move towards my face, and executed a perfect(I mean utterly perfect) karate block without thinking.

My gosh, was she startled and surprised (I had enough control to pull my block back before I made contact with her face)! “Mom, you were supposed to be scared, not prepared!”

Mommy rules! :)

Barbara

ps – I personally hate scary movies. These are much better:

Emotional eating – how it can derail your diet and weight loss

Morning,

Emotional eating can be the doleful cry of doom for folks who are trying to lose weight. After all, eating when you’re hungry is one thing (hunger is satisfied!) but chowing down when you’re feeling miserable is a recipe for disaster (misery can last longer than the last Ice Age).

Luckily, thanks to the Internet, there are lots of resources for you to help yourself catch yourself before falling prey to the hell of emotional eating. Here are some great sites:

SparkPeople Emotional Eating

8 Emotional Eating Triggers

Inner Self Emotional Eating

About.com Emotional Eating Page

Recognizing the danger signs…and taking steps to alleviate the painful emotions can really help you stay on the wagon relating to weight loss. Do yourself a favor and read the above…who knows, but the weight you discard may be your own! :)

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – It’s been said that exercise is a great way to side-step emotional eating. Here are some neat ideas:

Attained 35 pound dumbbell arm curl

Morning,

Today I made quite the breakthru at the gym! For the past 4 or so months, I’ve been arm-curling 30 pounds….but today, I was able to ramp it up a notch and arm-curl 35 pounds instead.

Not only that, but I am much more proficient at the 20 pound assisted pullups (next week – 15 pounds!), and can lat press 105 pounds as well.

It was a very very good workout indeed….and my arms are shot. But it certainly was well-worth it!

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – lookie at these great dumbbells too!