Oct 6, 2017

The Peace To The Puzzle

Joseph Clements

My Papa, Joseph Clements was born Charles Fiedler in October of 1933 in Detroit. When he was 3 years old he was given up for adoption. He was adopted by Bessie and Charles Clements who gave him the name Joseph. The mystery of his biological family would haunt him until he was well into his 80s. He was such a vibrant, upbeat person even in his old age. He valued family more than anyone I’ve ever witnessed to this day. He had 6 children of his own, one of which he met at 83 yrs. old and took on a lot of people as family throughout his years. He didn’t sugarcoat much, was always very verbal about his opinions and contribution of wisdom. His legacy consisted of being a huge part of the church for many years, owning his own business, working in GM until retirement, serving for his country, but most of all his love of family. He had such a way of expressing himself and he gave the credit to growing up an only child with white skin and black parents. Growing up in the times that he did, he faced a lot of different obstacles that he never let take control of his life. He had fairer skin. So much so, that in the early 50s, he would be kicked out of “colored-only” bars.  For years, I remember hearing my grandfather ponder on the existence of his biological family.

 

In 2014, at 81 years old, Papa finally received his real birth certificate listing his parents as Paul

Paul Smith

Smith and Evelyn Fiedler. At which time, he proceeded to get their death certificates that listed next of kin. During this time, through Ancestry.com we began to find more answers. We found and became in contact with both the Smith and Fiedlers’ side of the family. For the first time, my Papa was meeting his family in the flesh. The joy in his heart and eyes still makes me happy to this day. Paul was a black man and Evelyn was a white woman. He had a biological sister, Mary Joy who recently passed and had been looking for him all her life. By his half-sister, we were told that at some point Paul became under the impression that his only son was dead and it effected the remainder of his life tremendously. I remember the day we were invited to his nieces’ home to eat and look over pictures of the family we never knew, it was a very emotional day for us all. He was even gifted with hats Paul always wore. We had connected with Pauls’ family in Detroit and wanted to truly connect with Evelyns’ side, but to our surprise we weren’t as welcome. Story goes that Evelyn put him up for adoption, she moved on to have another family with a white man. Not that it made much difference to us, we just wanted to connect with our long lost family. Papa actually went and was able to sit down and talk to Evelyns’ eldest daughter, his half-sister, for a short time and later received a letter with photos of her. The letter was a request not to contact the family again. We arrived at a very crucial time in their lives as their loved one, who would have been Papas’ half brother Dennis, had just passed. Through the grapevine, the younger generation of the Fiedler family became aware of my grandfathers’ existence and wanted to reach out regardless of their elders’ opinion. His nieces, Pam and Lisa Christianson and Nephew Dave Lowin traveled across Michigan to visit him for the remainder of his life.

 

Not very long after meeting his family he was diagnosed with stage 4 bladder cancer. This was a very challenging time we all had to grow through as a family. The common goal of promoting the longevity of his life and being moral support brought us all closer together. I remember my grandfather so bluntly saying that he was ready to go on to see the Lord and didn’t want to go through chemo. We all struggled with the idea of chemo, but wanted to prolong and enhance the quality of his life so we took interest into healthier, more natural alternatives. Papas’ diagnosis caused a ripple effect in our lives, we couldn’t look at things the same. Through everything, how happy and grateful he was just to have us around truly challenged our perception of what happiness is. For a long time he felt there was something missing. But the whole time, he was the peace to the puzzle.

Feb 19, 2015

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Feb 16, 2015

What Is Circuit Training?

Today I want to talk to how you you train. The whole “something is better than nothing” excuse to not change it up, were gonna throw that out the window right now! Its not only important that you train but how you train can have a great impact on your progress and time management. Most of us don’t have an hour and a half to two hours to spend. Most of us aren’t bodybuilders that go to the gym everyday, or do multiple sessions a day.

The problem with the way we exercise is it originated from bodybuilding, 3 sets of 10, working one body part at a time, body splits (working one region of the body on a certain day). We aren’t bodybuilders so why train like that? So let me show you the most effective way to workout………

Circuit Training!!! What is that? First, let me show you what its not.

45 minutes of cardio

3 sets of 20 squats w/ 2min rest in between each set

3 sets of 20 lunges w/ 2 min rest between each set

So far you’ve been exercising for about an hour and you’ve only done cardio and legs. You still have the rest of your body to work. You may say “I’ll do the rest on a different day”. What if life happens and for some reason you can’t get to the gym anymore that week or don’t have time at home to exercise? Although time should be made, even I have things that come up from time to time. I would feel so incomplete if I only worked my legs or arms. The fact is, you use your whole body every day! Why not train your whole body when you workout? But how can you do this without exercising ALL DAY?! Watch this……

5 min cardio warm up, then

1 set of 20 squats

1 set of 20 reverse crunches

1 set of 20 push ups

1 set of 20 pull ups

1 set of 10 burpees

No rest in between each exercise.

After you’ve completed 1 set of each exercise take a 2 minute rest, then repeat the the exercises starting with the squats. Repeat 3 times

For those of you that are more advanced, you can replace reps with time.

1 min squats (as many as you can do)

1 min reverse crunch (as many as you can do)

1 min push ups (as many as you can do)

1 min pull ups (as many as you can do)

1 min burpees (as many as you can do)

2 min rest

There you have it! Your whole body has been included in the regimen.

Question: Where do you think your heart rate will be after 1 round of this?

Answer: Through the roof!

So is it safe to assume that you’re getting a cardio benefit as well? Yes, and thats my point! You don’t need to be on a piece of cardio equipment to get cardio. You don’t need to be doing a predominately cardio exercises to get cardio. Cardio is nothing more than an elevated heart rate. You don’t have to have it in your head that “its cardio time”. The same can be said for the rest of the body. There is no leg day, arm day, chest day, back day………At least not if you’re a Fitness Freak! We do total body workouts but take the least amount of time doing them. Why? Because we have jobs, children, school, hobbies, lives!

Have you figured out what circuit training is yet? One exercise after the other with no rest in between.

Let this be your guide to creating your plan of attack. The ATTACK! I love you and want to see you succeed, but ultimately………..

~ its about what YOU see in the mirror~

 

 

 

Feb 9, 2015

The Most Important Love

ILoveMyself

Love is the theme this week. I wanted to talk about the most important love…..self love and how exercise can improve that.

Self-esteem is a critical component of any program aimed at self-improvement. A close relationship has been documented between low self-esteem and such problems as violence, alcoholism, drug abuse, eating disorders, school dropouts, teenage pregnancy, suicide, and low academic achievement.

Exercise has numerous health and fitness benefits. Regular sessions can lower your risk of disease and improve your quality of life. Daily activities become easier to perform because you are stronger and have more endurance. Your body weight is positively affected as well as your percentage of body fat. However, your mental health can also be impacted by exercise. People that exercise often have higher levels of self-esteem and body image than their less active counterparts, according to Athletic Insight, the Online Journal of Sport Psychology.

In my experience, it’s in the working hard and achievement of goals that increases self worth. Think about it, exercising and being disciplined about improving your life makes you focus on no one but you. Therefore, the value increases based on the emphasis you put on that improvement. This is the reason I focus on progress and continually challenging yourself. Once your routine becomes repetitive, your reaching new milestones decrease. Whatever you truely LOVE, you will protect. Whatever you truely CARE about,you will show it. Whatever you truely find important, you will MAKE TIME for…………….

LOVE YOURSELF BY CARING FOR AND MAKING TIME FOR YOURSELF

~its about what YOU see in the mirror~

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www.livestrong.com

www.more-selfesteem.com/selfesteemexercise

Feb 2, 2015

Say goodbye to Wheat forever!!!

big-bellied-man

Today I’d like to talk to you about a food item that needs to be cut completely from the diet if you desire a healthier existence and flatter stomach. Wheat! When I say wheat I’m not only referring to brown bread as opposed to white bread. I’m referring to the ingredient “wheat”. I’m not sure if you realize bu the only difference between white and wheat bread is bleach. The fact of the matter is “wheat” should be cut from the diet no matter what form it’s in. bread-baked-from-wheat-flour     How does wheat make your belly fat increase. Here’s an excerpt taken from Dr. William Davis’s article on wheat…….. High glucose and high insulin–This effect is not unique to wheat, but shared with other high-glycemic index foods (yes: whole wheat has a very high-glycemic index) like cornstarch and rice starch (yes, the stuff used to make gluten-free foods). The high-glycemic index means high blood glucose triggers high blood insulin. This occurs in 90- to 120-minute cycles. The high insulin that inevitably accompanies high blood sugar, over time and occurring repeatedly, induces insulin resistance in the tissues of the body. Insulin resistance causes fat accumulation, specifically in abdominal visceral fat, as well as diabetes and pre-diabetes. The more visceral fat you accumulate, the worse insulin resistance becomes; thus the vicious cycle ensues. For this reason it was left out of the Fitness Freak Meal Plan. If you didn’t understand that I’ll break it down.

  • Wheat spikes your blood sugar just like candy.
  • Wheat can lead to diabetes.
  • Wheat makes you gain fat predominately in the midsection.

Here’s a list of aliases that wheat goes under to seem more appealing:

  • Binder or binding
  • Cereal
  • Cereal binders
  • Cereal protein
  • Edible starch
  • Farina
  • Filler
  • Flour
  • Food starch
  • Fu
  • Gum base
  • Hydrolysed wheat protein
  • Kamut
  • Manna
  • Modified food starch
  • Modified starch
  • Rusk
  • Semolina
  • Special edible starch
  • Spelt
  • Starch
  • Thickener or thickening
  • Tritical

Foods that contain wheat include but are not limited to:

  • Pasta,
  • Couscous,
  • Bread,
  • Flour
  • Tortillas,
  • Cookies,
  • Cakes,
  • Muffins,
  • Pastries,
  • Cereal,
  • Crackers,
  • Beer
  • Oats,
  • Gravy,
  • Dressings,
  • Sauces

This not about looks, its about living a healthier lifestyle. Belly fat has been linked to heart disease and diabetes. So don’t think I or anyone just wants yo to join the six pack gang. It is my desire to keep you out of the hospital and off medication. The look is a side effect of being healthy.For more healthy eating tips, check out my new new book Fitness Freak Meal Plan available on Amazon.

Book Cover

~its about what YOU see in the mirror~ 

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