Tag YouTube

No more Ice in my Bucket

trinimomindmiddle Leave a comment

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has taken over in full flight replacing cat videos, makeup transformations and people lighting themselves on fire.

For those of you peeping from under your rock the challenge is basically to have ice water dumped on you after which you nominate a person or persons to do the same within 24 hours or forfeit and donate to the ALS Association. Or in the case of some celebrities dump the bucket AND donate. Or in the case of Charlie Sheen, put your money where the ice is

article-0-209EE4C100000578-589_634x798

 

The cynics have weighed in arguing the futility of the exercise, once again crying shame on America’s narcissism and willingness to forget epidemics like AIDS, hunger and Ebola to jump on a fad to stay in the spotlight. Others have decried it as a distraction from the terror playing out in Ferguson, Missouri. Even Skeptical Kid has his view on the ‘fake altruism’

ice-bucket-challenge

Well say what you will but the fact of the matter is, in terms of bringing attention to the disease, it worked. The ALS Association has raised $15.6 million as opposed to the $50,000 it raised in the same period last year and if that isn’t a spike in awareness I don’t know what is. Far be it from me to comment on the uselessness of the activity because now they can actually lobby the pharmaceutical companies to put more effort into creating the medical support that they need.

I have decided to stop watching the videos though. I will admit that I have been a voyeur, waiting to see who could best the rest
(shout to to Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters, click here and Trinidad and Tobago’s very own Island People Mas, click here) but the video below is the main reason. This is hands down THE BEST rendition of this challenge, the mere reason for the challenge and it is so perfectly summed up that I don’t feel the need to gawk at any more. Take a look at it ALL THE WAY THROUGH.

 

Here’s to hoping they find a cure for this dreadful disease sooner rather than later.

Bless up

TMIDM

 

 

 

 

Advertisement

Back in the Saddle

trinimomindmiddle 1 Comment

gym-exercise-friend-phone-confession-ecards-someecards

So my at home fitness plan isn’t going as well as expected. 😦 It wasn’t totally my fault but I admit I was derailed by laziness and end-of the month eating shenanigans which included outings, a wedding reception and my own wedding anniversary which brought its own version of calories, carbs and fat in the form of a guiltless,well-deserved Italian dinner. My mom was measuring me the other day to sew some work clothes and I (secretly) balked when she wrote down the sizings. Not to mention  pair of pants that I haven’t worn in a while left me doing the skinny jeans wiggle to get into. I didn’t need much encouraging to realize that I needed to kick myself into high gear and (finally) haul ass to the gym.

I hate the gym. I hate the grunting and people pretending not to scope you out but who secretly throw glances your way.  I hate the fight down for machines. I hate the clanking of weights by the men and I hate the post-workout selfies by the women. IT BLASTED ANNOYING!!!…….but I started back. One evening last week, I gave in to desperation and thankfully I wasn’t going to train that day because I was severely startled by the SHEER AMOUNT of people there that afternoon. Why de hell it had so much people (women) there was beyond me but I figure it has something to do with the fact that Carnival bands launch already and clearly this year’s theme across the board is “Hail to the V”:

10532562_10152551950576163_7037046779607520150_n                 Tribe-Vice

And well of course……

Fantasy-BlackSwan

 

(Photos courtesy Trinidad and Tobago Carnival Costume Photos. For these and more check the page on Facebook here.)

I am sitting out Carnival next year.

So I’m back in the saddle for my own personal fitness and in order to avoid the sycophants, I’m going to the gym in the morning from as early as 5 a.m., a feat never done before but I’ve accomplished three days of rising and getting there by that hour and I’m damn proud of myself. Additionally I don’t feel the pressure in the day to train in between seeing about the gremlinz. The only thing is that when I start back work in September for the new school term, I may have to go even earlier. I have help though. The following video wakes me up every morning. I grabbed the audio and set it as my alarm so I’m roused from sleep by one of the most motivational get-it-done-now exercise speeches I’ve ever heard in my life.  Take a look:

I think at some point my husband will get annoyed hearing this every morning but doesn’t it make you feel like instantly bursting a sweat? I’m getting it done man!

Bless up

TMIDM

Mom In D Middle Fitness

trinimomindmiddle Leave a comment

Carnival ended a while back and with it ended my dedication to a set fitness regime. I love the gym but I have no patience for the gym-rats and especially at Carnival time where everybody swallows the same pill to get the same magical result. Their on-season is my off-season so like my church on Christmas Eve or a  New Years Eve, I happily give up my place for another. It’s now on-season for me again but somehow I can’t find back myself. They say the hardest thing is to press reset right?

Yesterday afternoon husby was home to watch the gremlinz so I decided to go for a run. By “run” I mean walk very fast to give the illusion that I am running. I really wish I could run though, people who run 5Ks make me nervous. I even placed a half-marathon on my bucket list! One day…. Anyway, at the savannah in my neighbourhood,  this elderly gentleman who kept running past me over and over drenched with sweat gave me the resolve to again get in the game. I don’t know if it was inspiration or pure unadulterated shame but I’ve decided to restart my fitness regime.

Now I don’t want to lose a setta weight eh. I just need a decent sweat once a day to keep the body inna order and to keep the health in check. Mommies hadda look sexy right? 😉 But because of my responsibilities and the fact that I can hardly carve out an hour for myself on a weekday afternoon/evening/night, I have decided to create a home gym. Now the definition of gym here is used very loosely as it technically consists of a table, a mat, (2) 5-pound weights and a laptop chock full of exercise videos from the internet thanks to the fine folks at YouTube. Voila!20140514_185458

 

I landed upon a YouTube channel BeFit http://www.youtube.com/user/BeFit which has so many top shelf exercise videos across the span of workouts from Jillian Michaels to Billy Blanks to Jane Fonda! So I figure I will (try to) get up early some mornings before I get ready for work and do some yoga, some core in the evening, lower body one day and upper body another day, mix it up a bit. I’m starting slow but increasing stamina and strength and all from the comfort of my living room so I have ZERO excuse. Peep the yoga video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5nyrD4eM64

Maybe for whatever reason you find it hard to get out and exercise, take a look through the YouTube channel and you may see something you like. You can save videos to your device using sites like http://www.savetube.com for a starter and once you get in the groove, you can amp it up to suit you.  I still plan to try to run. I want to see if I can actually make the whole rounds of the savannah, but when I move from “walk fast” to jog, we’ll see how that turns out.  Maybe I will eventually catch up to Pops and pass him straight, who knows? I sure as hell won’t be holding my breath.

Bless up

TMIDM