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

Mindful Practice - "Stick Form" this week

Hello all, this week's training has me focusing on our "stick" form.  I did 10 reps last night and saw great improvement in technique and speed.  The biggest thing I worked on is the mental aspect of a focusing on a specific form, at a specific moment in time.  Before practicing, I spent a little time emptying my mind to ensure that I could focus on nothing other than what I was practicing.  This really worked for me.  Normally when I am practicing kung fu, there are always a number of other things that I am thinking about at the same time.  The things Sifu Brinker repeats to us all the time are starting to sink in.

Where am I and what am I doing
Mindful practice
Living in the moment

Wish everyone a great training week!!

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

World Health - The Real Issue

I am posting an extra blog this week as I have been doing a lot of thinking related to our planet.  We had a great discussion at our UBBT meeting this past Saturday, much of which was related to choices.  The choices were related to our environment such as non-renewable resources and food choices.  There are many perspectives and viewpoints related to the following issues;

non-renewable fossil fuels
alternative energy sources
CO2 emmissions from all industries
global warming (this one is vague in my opinion)
fresh water supply (most critical in my opinion)
meat vs vegetarian vs vegan diets
conflict over control of the above

All of these and many others seem to be top of mind for most people and governments within the industrialized nations.

This is my take on it, and only my opinion.  The world needs to get control of world human population.  In the year 1900 the world population was 1.6 billion.  In the year 2009 this has grown to 6.8 billion.  This is a growth rate of 325% from the base 1900 year.  This means that there are 325 more people today for every person who existed in 1900.

For a more micro perspective, the world population is growing at a rate of about 200,000 people per day.  This is staggering growth and the world population projected for the year 2050 is 9.2 billion.

World population is growing and the natural resources are dwindling?  This will become more staggering as the bulk of the developing countries, which represents the bulk of the world population, becomes industrialized.  The developing countries represent about 75% of the world population.

Based geographically here is where the world population is located:

Asia - 61%
Africa - 21%
Europe - 5%
North America - 7%
South America - 5%
Other - 1%

In summary, over the last 100 years our population has increased from 1.6 billion to 6.8 billion and is ramping up at the rate of 200,000 people per day.  To me the solution is simple.  What can we do as a group to influence world population?

A nice little video,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thuViaxRd_w&NR=1

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