April Challenge

The month of April has always been a challenge for me with snow mold allergies.  I have a bit of difficulty with my respiratory system, but the month is almost over and I am looking forward to a green May.  Training is going well, however my numbers are a little low in forms over the past couple of weeks.  The good news is I am looking forward to our "Forms Seminar" this Saturday and hope to work on the Lao Gar form, which is a required form for Black Belt testing this fall.  I am really excited for this opportunity!!

Have a great week.

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

Fine Tuning

I have spent a lot of effort this year related to improving my overall conditioning level.  I think spring-time may be here, but we have been fooled before, and I am going to add running for the next few months to my goals.  This will increase my quickness, which is required for some of our black belt conditioning requirements, and will also help with the remaining seven pounds I would like to discard.  I am also going to add pull ups as a goal throughout the next  few months as well.  Training is going well and I am finding it benefitial to switch up my routines to add some flavor.  Have a great Easter weekend!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

A Little Set Back

I had hoped to be ready to really focus on my physical and mental training after returning from a short vacation, however I am ill this week and am not able to train hard physically.  The bright lining in this is that I am able to focus on our memorization requirement for April.  Have a great week!!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

Numbers

Training is going well.  Last week was a physically demanding week for conditioning, strength, and endurance training which was great.  This week for me is all about attaining numbers related to push ups, sit ups, and forms.  I will be away for 5 days starting Friday and know that I will be doing little training during this short vacation.  Have a great week!!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

Diet Tracking - Looking Ahead

For the month of March our group UBBT project was to track and blog everything that we consumed each day.  I definitely have determined a trend in my consumption.  I consume about 2,500 calories a day, which is in the target zone for my gender, size, and activity level, however there is a lot of (good) and a lot of (not so good) calories.  I have done some research and will actively incorporate the following moving forward.

Much research indicates that a person who trains consistently should consume about 60% of their calories from complex carbohydrates in their natural state.  This catgegory includes oatmeal, whole grain cereals, grains, brown rice, potatoes, whole wheat pasta, root vegetables, wholemeal breads, beans, and lentils.  I will consume more within this grouping. (the good and improvement)

I will continue consuming protein from lean meats, poultry, and vegetables. (the good)

I will continue consuming dairy from low fat milk, yogurt, and cheese. (the good)

I will control and avoid fats found in fried foods, processed foods, and fast foods. (the not so good)

I will contol simple sugars found in junk foods and pop. (the not so good)

I will keep this simple as it is not complicated.

These very simple changes will have great results!!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

It is Good to Laugh at Yourself

I have to laugh at myself.  I was favoring my left foot this morning in kung fu as I am pretty sure I have damaged my third metatarsal in my left foot about 10 days ago.  It it is not getting better and maybe a little worse each day.  It is probably time to get an x-ray but I have been putting it off, and that is just how I roll.  We were practising timed kicks this morning and I rolled my third toe on my right foot and heard a little click, which I have heard before, and know for sure that I broke my toe, on the other foot.  This is pretty funny stuff, hobbling on both feet.  The good news is it will not interfere with push ups, sit ups, random acts of kindness, and gave me a topic to blog about today.  Have a great training week!!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

Individual Price Paid for Canadian Government Services

We as Canadian citizens are the "customer" of government services which are broken down into federal, provincial, and municipal levels.  The "Canada Revenue Agency" is the department responsible for collecting revenue, which we define as taxes paid through corporatate profits and individual income, as well as consumption taxes.  I had the opportunity to participate in an audit this week for "one" of the taxes that the "Canada Revenue Agency" is responsible for.  The specific tax is our federal "Goods and Services Tax", which is a multi-level tax assessed and claimed back at every level of business through conception of a product or service, to the final consumer.  Most provinces have their own provincial taxes as well, which are now being combined into a "Harmonized Goods and Services Tax".  Fortunately living in the province of Alberta, we do not have a "Provincial Sales Tax" simply because we have substantial oil revenue.  I have just touched the complexity of the tax system but my point is that we as citizens are bombarded with taxes!!  I am an accountant by profession and I felt totally uncomfortable during the three year audit of our business, and started to wonder how other citizens trying to run their businesses feel when the "Canada Revenue Agency" employess interrupt their businesses to visit their customers.

Again we are the customer!!

How can we measure our Government's Scorecard.  This is very difficult to do, but I can make a reasonable estimate of how much tax as citizens we pay.

Household personal income measured
100%

Income tax
federal and provincial income tax
unemployment insurance tax
taxable benefits received tax
dividend tax
investment tax
personal business profit tax
27% estimate

Ownership tax
municipal property and business tax
4%

Excise/hidden tax
fuel, tobacco, environmental, hotel, airport, to name a few
6%

Consumption tax
federal goods and services tax
harmonized sales tax
11% canadian average

This is a high level estimate, and may not be all inclusive, and for every $100 we earn as citizens we pay $48 for our government services.

How do we begin to measure the bang for our dollar?

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta