All Things Ron Blog

The original plan for this post was to review EA Sports Active for the Wii. I had downloaded it last night and told Kat from KatDoesDiets that I would review it for her. One of the key features of EA Sports Active is an adjustable leg strap that is included with the game. The purpose of the strap is so that you can fit the Wii nunchuk inside of it for some of the exercises.

Seeing as I’m a digital pirate, I had to think of an alternative. What could I do to fasten the nunchuk to my leg comfortably and preventing any slippage (which seems to be a common complaint with the real band)?

This morning I figured it out. A tensor bandage. Wrapping it around your leg (not too tight!), you should be able to fit the nunchuk into one of the layers and get through the exercises just fine. Brilliant, huh? I know!

As for the resistance band that is also included, I imagine there’s a way to MacGuyver some kind of heavy object to get the same effect. I haven’t exactly given it a shot just yet because… well… there was an issue.

This morning I was hit with a double dose of suck.

The “Internet” light on my modem is red which means I can’t connect to the server. OH NOEZ, right? I called them up and it seems I’m having some payment issues. Lovely. I’m going to need to resolve that before I get back online. I come to you now as a result of internet access at the library. The last time I went without internet for a few days, I nearly lost my mind. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.

The other part of the suck equation is that my external hard drive has decided to stop recognizing the “specially-formatted-for-the-Wii” partition. As a result, I’ll most likely have to reformat it. That means the 8-10 games I downloaded over the last couple of days? Gone and gone. What a crappy time to crap out! *shakes an angry fist*

So what am I supposed to do with all of this downtime? The plan is to read! A couple of weeks ago, I won a contest over at KatDoesDiets! The book has finally arrived and I will be picking it up tomorrow from the post office. They moved the original location to the post office and it’s now a much farther walk. I’m very happy that there is some awesome weather happening right now.

When I finish the book, I plan to write a complete review. Stay tuned for that!

And now, the meaning behind the post title.

The other night I had a craving. It was pretty strong. So strong, in fact, that I gave in. Saturday night I decided I was getting ice cream! I began my walk in the biting cold around 2.00a and looked forward to the creamy deliciousness of that frozen treat. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned. 7-11 didn’t have the flavour I wanted so instead I fell for an old favourite… Doritos. At this point I felt pretty guilty. Why would I continue to purchase the item if I KNEW I was going to feel like crap eating it?

When I got home, I opened up the bag and had a few chips. I set it on the Pcorner of my bed (which comes in handy as a makeshift table) and continued my thing on the interwebz. I soon decided to give Beatles Rock Band a go and swung my chair around and as I lifted the guitar off my bed, I accidentally dumped the entire contents of the bag on to the floor.

That entire walk was for nothing… or was it?

Perhaps this was the sign I needed. Perhaps this was the wake up call I needed to realize that eating this crap needed to stop. I had written about my “Three C” diet just days prior and I was STILL falling back to it just because of a stupid craving. I’m starting to think that this was a sign from the Rock Gods.

Combined with my recent internet woes, I think it’s the perfect opportunity to get my ass back in gear and make some changes! Here’s the plan:

The Plan

1. Implement Kaizen by making the following SMALL changes:
- Cut out the crap. No more junk food. No more “Three C” diet, no more ridiculously bad fast food… all of it is done. I’m also getting rid of carbonated beverages. I’ll miss you, Fanta Cream Soda, but our time is up.

2. Stick to the NerdFitness Beginner’s Bodyweight Exercise Routine.
- With all this new found time on my hands, I think it’s best to use it productively. Myabe it was the air pressure from the winter, but that whooshing in my head from the pulsatile tinnitus has calmed down for the most part. Or maybe it’s too loud in here for me to focus. Regardless… my plan is to get through the next few weeks by actually doing this workout 3 times a week and adding a long-ass walk on my off days. The last time I tried this, my hamstrings were killing me on account of those squats. This time? I won’t be beat.

3. Get a job. A real one.
- Seeing as I’m using this computer at the library, I may as well be productive while I’m here. I’ve got the crowd management gig lined up for the Blue Jays starting in a few weeks but I want something to do during the day. You know, a REAL job. I graduated from college and aside from a piece of paper with my name on it, I haven’t done a damn thing. It’s ridiculous. I’m educated! I’m brilliant! I should be hired!

And that, dear friends, is the plan.

So I’ll be away for the next little while. I don’t think it’ll be TOO long of a stretch. I’ll still be around through the library and will be reading your blogs. Everything will be a-ok in the Land of All Things Ron.

–Ron

Maybe it’s the Red Bull that I had at 2am this morning but I feel incredibly inspired to write. Well, inspired is a bit strong… more like… “Holy crap! My brain is on fire so I may as well do something productive with it like write a bunch of text for people to read!” Now read that as fast as you can… you’re about halfway through what my brain is experiencing.

Of course, as I say that, I let out a giant yawn. Such an inconvenient time to crash! Let’s just get started, ok?

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking in regards to my mindset and how I think. It usually doesn’t take much to derail any positive energy I have and I feel bummed out rather quickly. It’s easily one of my worst traits and it got me thinking…

WTF? Why do I hold on to it? Why don’t I just embrace the fact that I’m Rontastic and let all that negativity just disappear?

Well that’s a good question and I’m glad you asked.

It happens right now. (See? Caffeine isn’t THAT bad…)

When I was in school, we learned a hell of a lot about operations management. So much so, in fact, that the entire program was based around it! There are many different disciplines that encompass operations management such as logistics, purchasing, supply chain management, and a little something called Total Quality Management. The words are pretty easy to understand. I’m sure you could even figure out what total quality management strives for. Hell, you’re almost as qualified as me at this point!

There was a time when companies didn’t really focus on total quality management. They developed a process which produced a desired output and that was that. If the process became inefficient the company would simply start from scratch and toss everything. Obviously, if you’re thinking of the bottom line, this is ridiculously wasteful.

When Toyota first branched out into the US auto market, they hooked up with Ford (the #1 car manufacturer at the time) to observe how American manufacturing was done. They took notes and were simply appalled at how grossly inefficient things were. There was a ton of excess inventory. The processes were garbage. Production was uneven on some days which created a disjointed work flow. Toyota decided to do something different and created their own production philosophy. Stolen from Wikipedia, here is “The Toyota Way”:

Continuous Improvement

The last few weeks have been some sort of rollercoaster for me. Without getting into specifics… come to think of it… there aren’t any real specifics. I just don’t know what’s been going on as of late. Anyway. I know I’ve been slacking off. Not only has it made me FEEL like a douche but I can start to see my weight going up and up and up.

Lately I’ve become very anti-social. I don’t talk to everyone as much as I normally do and I’ve found myself becoming very withdrawn. There are days where this is ok and then there are times when it really gets me down.

The upside to this is that there is a lot of time for self reflection. I have spent a lot of time thinking about my current weight issue and how exactly I came to this point. What was it that got me to where I am? There has to be some sort of root cause in all of this. It took some time but I finally figured out the answer.

Story time! It’ll even include some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

(continue reading…)

It was 2007 when it first started. I remember standing up only to have the vision in my right eye temporarily blinded. I thought it was a one off situation and thought nothing of it. Soon it happened again. Then again once more. After a while it became pretty frequent but random and thought it never hurt, it became a nuisance. Thankfully it never happened when I drove.

I don’t normally visit doctors. I try and avoid going unless it’s a major issue. For example, I had a hernia when I was a teenager. I had been experiencing random bouts of excruciating pain since about grade five or six but I never actually saw anyone for it because it always went away. Eventually it became pretty consistent in my mid-teens and I got it taken care of.

Continuing on… (continue reading…)

It’s been a long time since I’ve done any form of exercise. Since my gym membership has disappeared, I began to walk obscene amounts for hours at a time. That was well and good until winter came around and froze my motivation. Walking for a few hours in ungodly cold just isn’t my idea of a fun time!

I’ve been trying to find something I can do in the meantime that was inexpensive (read: free) and didn’t require anything fancy. Finding a set of bodyweight exercises over at Nerd Fitness, it was just a matter of time before I kicked my ass into doing things.

Earlier today I tweeted about getting something quick to eat before doing up my first set. What REALLY happened was a power nap that lasted a lot longer than I had anticipated. Knowing that I was going to report back tonight that I did something productive, I had to get myself motivated to do this.

It took a few hours of distraction but I finally did it.

Our Top Story

In all of my years living in this building, this is the first time I’ve ever found someone else’s cooking to be so overpowering that it overpowers my own stink. There is someone, possibly my new neighbour, cooking fish and it smells horrible. Ugh.

In Local News…

My mood has been surprisingly good despite no recent changes. I haven’t gone out of my way to do anything different. So… here’s hoping that keeps up? Right now I’m partaking in one of my favourite pastimes and that’s just blasting music and singing along as badly as I can. Who says I can’t be the lead singer of Radiohead? That’s just crazy.

I’ve also decided I’m going to ramp up my blogging. I’m going to update a few times a week and keep you up to date on what’s going on with this whole workout stuff because…

Taking a look at your health…

Ok. I haven’t done this Prison Workout deal I posted about. I’m kind of intimidated by it. I doubt I could do a push-up to save my life and I’m thankful I’m never in a position where I have to actually do it for survival. I think I need to dial it back and pick something up that’s not so crazy intense. Perhaps even figure out a hybrid system. I’ll take some elements of the Prison Workout (such as that crazy core exercise) and combine it with the body weight exercises listed over at Nerd Fitness. Wait… re-reading that, it calls for 40 push-ups! Godammit!

From the world of entertainment now…

In the last week or so I’ve been able to fly through every episode of 30 Rock. That show is holy crap hilarious and I’m surprised I never got into it before. Every single character on this show is perfect and fits flawlessly into the dynamic this show creates. Tina Fey plays Liz Lemon and is the head of a writing team for a sketch comedy show on NBC. If you’re not up to date on this show, you’re a dork. Seriously. Start watching!

I’m also keeping up with the Kids in the Hall “Death Comes to Town” mini-series. It focuses on a small-town called Shuckton and has a great cast of characters as well. After losing their bid to host the Olympics, Mayor Larry Bowman is murdered sending the town in shock. It’s a shame that character dies early on because he’s fantastic. I’m not going to go into detail describing everything. You can Google it.

We now take you to our weather specialist…

I find it funny that the US is being hammered by SNOWMAGEDDON~!@ and are basically being trapped by snow. Up here in Toronto we have very little snow. I don’t think we’ve actually had a very big snowfall in a long time. I could be wrong as I haven’t left my house in about a month but whatever. There’s no snow in my apartment. That’s all I REALLY care about.

Feeling lucky? Here are your lottery numbers!

I guess that’s really it. If I’m leaving anything out then there’s a good chance I won’t remember by the time Monday rolls around when I grace you with another update.

What keeps you motivated? Let me know in the comments!

Now before you start panicking and thinking I’ve done something wrong to land me in some hard time, first allow me to explain a few things.

The last few weeks have been rather unhappy for me. It may sound like I’m repeating myself but people I’ve been close to in the past have seemingly faded away for reasons out of my understanding. It feels as if there’s not a whole lot I can do about that so I’ve stopped fighting it. If people want to drift away and push me out of their lives then so be it. Will I miss them? Terribly. Is there anything I can do to fix things? Your guess is as good as mine. I suppose them’s the breaks.

I’m rather unhappy about it and that’s just sending me into an emotional hole that’s being filled with all kinds of junk food when the opportunity presents itself. I’m currently staring at an empty Doritos bag. Not only do I feel incredibly guilty, I also feel incredibly sick. Sure, it was fun while it lasted and filling up on MSG is a good way to quell the depression… but overall I feel pretty disgusted.

I’ll openly admit that I’m afraid of seeking any kind of counselling for depression. Not only can I not afford meds (should it come to that), but I can’t even afford bus fare to get to a counsellor. I’m scared of divulging my fears and issues to anyone because I don’t want to be judged. There are some pretty dark thoughts in my head and it’s getting increasingly difficult to see the light. It’s hard times, man.

I’ve also been struggling to find work. I’ve revamped my resume (dubbed the ‘Ronsume’) and have decided to deluge just about anywhere in hopes of finding employment. I re-applied for the Blue Jays and feel pretty confident I’ll have that when the season picks up but I need something for right now. Hopefully the odds are in my favour by throwing my Ronsume just about everywhere I can. I really am excited for the Jays though. There are a lot of people I miss seeing and while they’re not my best friends, it will be nice to see familiar faces.

It’s not ALL bad though. I’m still learning French through Rosetta Stone and I’m about halfway through the first level. There are certain grammatical rules I’m still trying to wrap my head around and I haven’t actually tried to converse with anyone verbally but I think it’s going rather well. I do seem to have issues pronouncing certain words though. Anything with the letter “r” gives me problems. ‘Rouge’ and the like. It’s almost as if I’m trying to say both the letter ‘r’ and the letter ‘h’ at the same time. Drives me insane.

Anyway. Let’s get back on point.

With my social life crumbling and my unemployment continuing, I often feel as if I’m stuck in an invisible prison. With no money, I can’t afford to go to the gym and as a result, I can see that I’m gaining weight. I’m a little afraid to step on the scale to see how much damage I’ve done to the weight I’ve lost in the last couple of years. There has to be a way to lose some weight on the cheap, right?

Enter the prison workout.

(continue reading…)

The most emotional moment of 2009, for me anyway, was the gain of someone I grew extremely close to and considered my best friend. There for my darkest moments as well as giving me the strength and motivation to move forward, I became more comfortable with her than I have with anyone else.

An argument has seemingly thrown that all away. An emotional barrier has been put up and it seems like the possibility of things being what they once were is remote. It’s left me feeling very depressed, lonely and empty. Despite my repeated (and failed) attempts at trying to restore some semblance of order, I think she’s gone.

She really was my best friend and I miss her.

The year, however, wasn’t all bad. I graduated from college which is something I was convinced at several points I was never going to do. It’s not like the work was overly challenging or had become stagnant. It just seemed impossible for me to soldier through my own emotional turmoil to finish something I had set out to do. Receiving my diploma and sitting through my graduation ceremony, I thought about all of the people who had helped me stay focused and make sure I was going in the right direction. I distinctly remember sitting awake one night with the intent of dropping out of school the next morning. A heart-to-heart with a good friend helped me change my mind.

I couldn’t have done it without him or that talk.

This year I worked for the Toronto Blue Jays and surprisingly enjoyed myself doing security-related work. I met some phenomenal people and interesting characters that makes me want to work there again next summer just to see those faces again. It gives me something small to look forward to, I guess.

The year stands out in a much more negative light than I would have liked. Not only did I lose my best friend, but I ended my relationship for what I thought were good and just reasons. I thought I was walking away for reasons that made sense and would have helped me become a better person. Instead, I’m feeling even more lonely and full of doubts on whether or not I did what was right. No amount of apologizing can convey the regret I feel for walking away like that.

I’ve done some things I’m not proud of and I’ve even done things I probably shouldn’t have. Perhaps it’s karma that has led me to feel the way that I do now. I’ve hit rock bottom several times with my depression and have come seemingly close to just throwing it all away. Even now I find it hard to go to sleep because of the thoughts that run through my head.

With all of my close friends being busy with new relationships and new responsibilities, it hurts to think that I have no one to talk to when I need someone the most.

This year, overall, was a major heartbreaker. There were good times but they are easily out-weighed by the bad. I need to develop a plan to ensure that this year is tremendously better. I need to figure out where I’m going and where I’m going to end up.

This year I need to figure out just who I really am.

The last few days have been rather chaotic for me from an emotional standpoint. Without getting into it (because it’s not really anyone’s business), let’s just say that I’ve felt a little too distracted to get any walking done. There was even a point when I considered my time in this challenge done because my heart just wasn’t into it anymore. It’s been THAT bad.

I seem to be feeling slightly better as I decided today I was going to go on that monster walk I had promised to do days ago. I figured it wasn’t TOO cold outside so I should be okay and I felt it was a great way to kill some time on an otherwise boring Sunday.

When I got about halfway through my route, I decided to increase my distance as I was feeling pretty good about things. The original route was going to be roughly 7.58 miles. This new route? Take a look after the jump!

(continue reading…)

Luckily the rain has seemingly stopped. It’s nothing but a sky of grey clouds which don’t appear to be menacing at all.

When I got home last night from my walk, I was exhausted. My ankles were sore and my right hamstring has been feeling a little tight since the walk home from the scrapyard two days ago. I took a nap and slept like a baby. This morning, my hamstring is still sore and my ankles are still feeling it.

Doesn’t mean I can’t switch up my route and make it more intense, huh? This time, I’m adding stuff I want to check out for nostalgia’s sake. The new route is after the jump.

(continue reading…)