Big Announcement! A game of cards – Go Fish (Guess who's gonna be on a National TV Series)

About 3 weeks ago I made an announcement on my Facebook. I have had these plans to write about it, but really wanted to tell you about the joys of my siblings wedding. 

So here it is, we have started production on a new TV series based and filmed here in Calgary.  A few weeks ago, I was chosen to be a supporting cast member on a comedy series called Go Fish. It’s a very fitting title especially with some of my Singapore friends whom I taught to play the game. Here is the synopsis taken from iperformarts (production company):

"This TV comedy series follows five roommates as they try to make their way through the world. Each of them is following a dream, however, in the pursuit of their goals they often find themselves in hilarious predicaments which sabotage any progress that they may be making.

Each of the roommates have different goals, one wants to be a Lawyer, one is trying to become a fitness instructor, another is a model, and one is an actress. The fifth roommate is the very rich owner of the house that they all live in, and wants to get married….

Each episode follows the girls through one day in a series of short chronological skits."

A lonely little goldfish is the physical manifestation of each roommates failures, this fish seems to suffer an untimely demise in each episode, and is promptly replaced by whoever caused the fishes end. No one seems to even notice that the fish is different each time.

So where do I come in? One of the lasts pieces to the puzzle, I ended up casting for the show a few short days after getting back from my last Asia trip. As I mentioned my role is as support so I won’t be appearing in every episode, but will be a reoccurring character, the handsome neighbour.  My character lives next door to the girls, and is constantly trying to get a date or phone number at least. Without giving too much away, let's just say that I am a bit of eye candy on screen with my wardrobe. 

My experiences overseas filming television commercials have led to an interest in acting. I constantly talk about challenges and adventure is this is exactly how I see it. Excited to work on this production would be an understatement.  

I would like to share more, and I may share bit by bit as production goes along, but for the most part you are just going to have to stay tuned for when the show airs here in Canada (and for those overseas I will be certain to share online links).

Let’s talk food

We all love it, we can’ live without it, but there is always that challenge of developing a healthy relationship. That healthy relationship has to occur in two ways, there are the obvious healthy food, but also a healthy mental relationship so we don’t fear food. I can’t count the number of people I know right now and have encountered while nutrition counseling that are scared of food. So I wanted to talk a bit about the mental side right now from my point of view.

Life isn’t simple and making your food choices aren’t exactly easy. There is that mental battle at Starbucks of a Java Mocha Frappucino latte with extra whip and syrup, or a plain coffee. Obviously the word plain creates a negative view of it instantly. I mention Starbucks because that where I sit as I write this, hoping to snag some WIFI as I find new environments. Try it though, think about one of those dedicantly evil foods and its healthy alternative, most the time we throw plain in front of it, instantly setting ourselves up for disappointment.  It all becomes a mind game of swinging towards positive thinking. Plain becomes all a matter of perspective. 

Catch me on just about every day and I will shed some positive light, I like smiling, and certainly more fun to smile that furrow your brow and sink your head. How can we swing these choices to appear positive? Positive reinforcement is generally a pretty good way to set you up to continue down a desired path. When we introduce that plain negative reinforcement; resentment is sure to follow.

 

Ask yourself an important question right now. Do you desire to be healthy and happy? I know I sure as hell do and I am. Then again that is easy to say when you have jetted off to a foreign country for an adventure.  Enriched by my life choices is how I feel. Almost 16 years ago this winter my life changed, and it wasn’t until 8 years after that moment I truly gained full respect for what that change did.

Faced with an endless list of NO foods, limited YES amongst chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, all those things we are told to eat became a necessity. Eat this yes foods, you feel energetic, can spend time with friends and family, think clearly and of course enjoy life.

I keep coming back to asking you questions. This is because I want you to make these decisions for yourself not what other people say. If you start choosing more of these YES foods, which not only apply to my dietary challenges and me but to everyone, you will notice a difference in your life’s force. It may even be worth changing these names to make them seem less well plain.

Here is an example of one of my latest enrichment dishes and also one I had a restaurant here in Seoul. 

2 cooked chicken breasts (yes friend in a little oil, this is still healthy)

2 cups spinach

1 cup red cabbage

½ onion

1 cup bean sprouts

2 cloves garlic

½ inch chopped ginger

¼ cup tomato paste

Mustard

3 sheets of rice paper

This all lasted for about 2 meals for me.

And the Korean Dish Bulgogi.  

Next time I think I may talk about cheating.

Bring out the dogs

Time and time again I remind myself to loosen up, relax. I take great pride in my ethic and the quality of my work, although sometimes the fun factor is sacrificed.

Fun! Isn’t that why we bust ass at work, so we can have money for fun? Some of us stress the entire time while we are at work, others love every moment of their job. I have been fortunate to hold a number of jobs that I have loved and created challenge. Challenge is always the key for me, be it nutrition consulting, personal training, modeling, acting or even rickshaw running. Each job has always presented a challenge for me, each challenge unique to their industries. 

Fun for me comes from these challenges. This is what has fed my passion to learn and fed my love of exercise. The challenge of hitting the summit brings a rush. My workouts that push me to the edge create an exhilaration second to only the next workout. And that’s where this buddy comes in:

The prowler, or the sled, is an amazing piece of gym equipment I share a love hate relationship with. Panting and struggling, I feel no different than my dog Diesel when he pulled me on my rollerblades.

Here is a sample of my recent workout:

15 minute dynamic warmup

80 ft sled drags

-       Immediately followed by 80 ft hamstring drags

Repeated 2-4 times with 30 sec rests

40 ft lateral drags (repeat for other side)

-       Immediately followed by 40 ft sled pull throughs

-       Immediately followed by 40 ft alternating one arm sled row

Repeat full circuit after 60 second rest

Today my hamstrings are gassed, my thighs feel full, and my ass feels like it will fall off, but I love it. I feel like I had fun with it after all and that’s the most important thing you should choose about your method of exercise. Give it a shot, did you have fun?