Weight Loss

I am finally back from vacation and will start busting out some amazing blog entries any time now. Promise. Would I lie to you?

I have some good news to report. I've lost 25 lbs!

Now begins the long historical explanation, brace yourselves....

I'm just shy of 5'10" and have a slim frame. I like to lift weights a lot and up until a few years ago was pretty muscular for my size. I don't like cardio training much and pretty much hate running, I did play a lot of sports (rugby, wrestling, etc) before I moved north but that pretty much ended here except for martial arts training. The low 180s was a good, fit weight for me way back when. My weight would fluctuate here at times, I work a sedentary job and it's a loooooong winter, but I usually kept it in the not completely horrible range through weight lifting alone and a reasonably healthy diet.

Unfortunately, about 3 years ago I was in a car accident. My mom was driving and we were hit from the side into another car, kid ran the stop sign. He wasn't drunk or anything like that but simply wasn't paying attention. I injured my right shoulder and had an extremely difficult time getting treatment for it where I live. I couldn't lift weights at all at the beginning and only to a greatly reduced extent after. I never got back to the same level of workouts, took a long time just to feel healthy again. I put on a lot of weight and lost muscle, at the start of 2011 was 206 lbs. I was deluding myself into thinking I still looked OK and only needed to lose about 10 lbs or so, thinking of the muscle tone I used to have and adding in a little "winter weight." While I am still more muscular than Joe Average, there was no way I could carry that much weight before let alone now. Buying bigger clothes should have been a HUGE warning sign.

I knew I had to lose weight but was avoiding reality. The wake up call happened in March, I went on a winter survival training course in the vicinity of Drayton Valley, west of Edmonton Alberta (Canada). The course focus was on short term survival (we didn't kill any animals with our teeth) - emergency shelter building, fire starting, etc. To get to the area we were staying at, I had to hike in about 2.5 km (about a mile and a half) through the woods. Area was snow covered, temperatures were around -20 C daytime. The first km was along a snowmobile trail, pretty well packed down, slight uphill grade. The remainder was a steeper uphill grade and along a path that was packed down by snowshoes. Was told that I should be fine without snowshoes, the trail was pretty packed down.

It's not a very far walk and I was only packing in enough for 3-4 days so I figured it wouldn't be a big deal. Started to get pretty overheated after the first 20 minutes, was sunny out, had a hard time dropping layers with my pack on (a little lesson there). No big deal though I was a bit dismayed to realize that I was actually a little tired - I was in terrible shape. Finally made the turn to the next portion of the course and that's when things really went to crap - first few steps and *thunk* in to the snow past my knees. Seems that I exceeded the weight limit for that trail! I spent the remainder of the slog up the hill sinking through to my crotch or knees every three steps or so. Sometimes I dropped through every step. I can't remember the last time I was so exhausted, at one point I really questioned if I was going to finish but I managed to get through it. I pretty much demolished the packed trail in the process, fortunately the people that came up later had snowshoes. The ones that came up before me were significantly (50+ lbs) lighter and had no issues.

I came back home and decided that it was time to face reality - I was fat and out of shape. Not grossly obese but I certainly wasn't "carrying a couple of extra pounds." I picked a target weight in my head (185) but was mostly focused on trying to change my eating habits and integrating new exercises into my workouts. I don't know if I will ever bench over 300 lbs again but that doesn't mean I can't work out at a high intensity.

Initially I tried to lose weight just by eliminating garbage food. I tried (and often failed) to cut out excess sugar, sweets, etc. That and some harder workouts helped, I got down to 190 or so. Still not anywhere good enough, it was embarrassing to see such clear evidence of how much weight I had to lose. Just eating "better" food wasn't enough, I needed to learn to eat more appropriate amounts too. I have reduced the amount of meat I eat, almost completely eliminated sugar cheats, stopped drinking diet pop, etc. I have learned to tolerate running stairs (I still hate jogging and stairs work year round) and have started working more with body weight exercises than weights to maintain functional strength while putting less pressure on my shoulder.

3 great news items:

1. I went through a pretty intensive training seminar and my shoulder took a ton of strain, throws and pulls without injury or issue. YAY! I'm feeling good :)

2. As of this morning I'm 181, a 25 lb weight loss.

3. My old clothes are mostly fitting! Some of the shirts are a little loose though, less muscle tone than before.

The bad news is that I need to lose more weight. I think 170 will be about right. What a waste, carrying around all that extra weight! I feel a lot better, my energy and mood are improved and I am no longer depressed by what I see in the mirror. Just need to keep it up.

I'm still waiting to hear if I will get transferred to BC. That would be amazing. I could lead a lot more active outdoor lifestyle there and everyone in the family is hoping it happens.

What Men Need to Consider When Approaching Women

Sorry I haven't posted anything for a while, I was doing some training and am now on vacation. I'll have lots to discuss later but this couldn't wait. I came across this amazing article by Phaedra Starling, something all men MUST read.

Schrödinger’s Rapist: or a guy’s guide to approaching strange women without being maced

No means no was the phrase we used to try to get men to recognize that it's not OK to rape women (how pathetic it is to write that sentence). We need to do better. We need to respect them and recognize the type of RATIONAL fears they have and the power imbalance present in male/female interactions.

And for a little more on no means no, let's read the article below and recognize that we need to respect a women's refusal - she doesn't need to scream NOOOOOOOOOOOO and start running away to indicate her refusal.

Drawing on the conversation analytic literature, and on our own data, we claim that both men and women have a sophisticated ability to convey and to comprehend refusals, including refusals which do not include the word ‘no’, and we suggest that male claims not to have ‘understood’ refusals which conform to culturally normative patterns can only be heard as self-interested justifications for coercive behaviour.

- In other words, a man knows a no when he hears it, but pretending otherwise allows him to keep harassing (or assaulting) a woman until he gets the answer he is willing to accept.

Mythcommunication: It’s Not That They Don’t Understand, They Just Don’t Like The Answer

Sweating in the Arctic

27C (80F) at 11pm. Not the kind of temperatures most people consider when they think about arctic living but it's not uncommon to hit the high 20s or even low thirties. Plus the sun is still up and will be up all night, feels a lot warmer. All the buildings are cooking, they generally have atrocious ventilation, metal siding and roofs, and heavy insulation without attic vents. The apartment I lived in when I moved up here was consistently 40 degrees (104F) in 20+ weather, there was no way to cool it down and sometimes you couldn't even turn off the damn heat!! They'd leave it running because it had just snowed (worried about pipes freezing) and no one could be bothered to turn it off for a couple of days.

I know air conditioning is a waste of energy and resources but I just can't sleep without it.

Thinking of the extreme heat that so many regions will have to look forward to due to changing climate conditions is pretty brutal. And A/C is not the answer, it's too power hungry and you can't count on power being available. Using solar panels for power may be a short-term option but a non-technology based solution is ideal. For example, having a basement in your home sure helps, I grew up in Saskatchewan and practically lived in our basement in the summer. Handy for tornadoes too!

Make sure your home is well ventilated, use tinfoil if needed to keep heat from streaming in windows and explore non-powered ways to keep your house tolerable. Trees provide shade and of course other good things - wood, possibly fruit, etc. A good system of window shades or tinfoil will help. If you have pets, children, or elderly people in the home, remember they are all more vulnerable to extreme heat. Make sure everyone stays hydrated, most people don't drink enough fluids - by the time you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated. The easiest way to check is to see if your urine is clear.

Cold Steel Recon Scout Knife Modification

In my previous review post of the Recon Scout, I said that the "only real negative about the knife is that I absolutely hate the guard" and that I could see why some people (saw some online) would cut off the back part.

I finally did it too!

It hurt a little to deface this knife but I had to try it. This isn't a pretty display knife, it's a knife I intend to use hard around camp. It's not going to stay "pretty" so why not make it even more functional? More functional for me at least.

My fancy mod involved a hacksaw, a file, and some anti-rust black spray paint for after. At first I just cut off about half of the back guard. Was OK but in the end I took off all of it. The handle got rubbed a little, the file work is amateurish, the spray paint is very bush league - but it's functional, it looks good enough in my eyes and I LOVE IT!!!!

The knife is pretty much perfect now. Losing the guard may not be the best thing for a tactical/fighting knife but that's not what I will ever use the knife for and it's not a great knife for that anyway - too heavy and I don't like the handle for a fighting knife*. It's still more than capable of emergency use along those lines but its use as a camp/woods knife, a super strong, super thick piece of steel, is where it excels. Now I have a usable finger choil (works for my small fingers) for more fine work. I didn't like the idea of bashing the back of that guard when batoning either, makes a nice smooth line along the back (well, smoothish if we ignore the ugly cut marks).

If I ever get a new camera I'll do a video or pics.

This mod isn't for everyone and it certainly will reduce (if not eliminate) the possibility of selling the knife, but it's great for me.

The sheath still works the same, no change to retention. I am planning on getting a new kydex sheath anyway, I can get a smaller sheath now and something that won't rattle. I found a new kydex guy on ebay, he does great work.


*For a pure fighting knife at a cheap price, consider the Cold Steel OSS.

Change to Blog Name?

I have requested a transfer to NW British Columbia. I am hoping it goes through but I am very nervous about the actual move and pessimistic about my chances.

If it happens, I will be over 800 NM further south....maybe I will be From the Not Quite as Far North? :)

My lack of youtube videos

Periodically I've promised to do youtube reviews of various knives and gear items. I've definitely fallen behind on that! They are more time consuming than I expected and difficult to do without a tripod, even with a digital camera (tripod has been ordered). I did intend to bang out a few this weekend, I finally had some time off work and was feeling ambitious. Unfortunately my wife seems to have caught wind of my plans and broke both of our digital cameras! Within three, she dropped both of them and smashed them beyond my ability to repair.

Damn, that sucked.

Guess we'll be picking up another one on vacation.

So.....no videos for at least 2 months, sorry, unless I borrow one from someone else or give a webcam a try.

More Snow in June

I should probably be all contrite and say "uh oh, be careful what you wish for..."

But I am LOVING IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good thing I never packed up the winter coats.

Also a good thing that we don't have a garden! I was going to try a window garden this year but never got to it. I am pretty sure another one of my middle names is procrastination. Plus my wife really wasn't on board with the idea.

June 11/11 Note: OK, still liking the snow (more today) but I could have done without the rain yesterday. In a different location where there were actual crops and gardens you have to love rain (at the right times) but I much prefer snow over rain. Mental note, don't move to Prince Rupert BC.

Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

With summer and swimming season upon us (well, most of us) this is a worthwhile article on the differences between what a drowning person looks like in reality as opposed to the accepted TV version. I included a few highlights, please review the full article, has a great example at the start.

Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

Thanks to Mario Vittone for posting this worthwhile article.

Drowning does not look like drowning – Dr. Pia, in an article in the Coast Guard’s On Scene Magazine, described the instinctive drowning response like this:

Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically unable to call out for help...drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment...these drowning people can only struggle on the surface of the water from 20 to 60 seconds before submersion occurs.

(Source: On Scene Magazine: Fall 2006 (page 14))

This doesn’t mean that a person that is yelling for help and thrashing isn’t in real trouble – they are experiencing aquatic distress. Not always present before the instinctive drowning response, aquatic distress doesn’t last long – but unlike true drowning, these victims can still assist in their own rescue. They can grab lifelines, throw rings, etc.

Look for these other signs of drowning when persons are in the water:

- Head low in the water, mouth at water level
- Head tilted back with mouth open
- Eyes glassy and empty, unable to focus
- Eyes closed
- Hair over forehead or eyes
- Not using legs – Vertical
- Hyperventilating or gasping
- Trying to swim in a particular direction but not making headway
- Trying to roll over on the back
- Appear to be climbing an invisible ladder.

So if a crew member falls overboard and everything looks OK – don’t be too sure. Sometimes the most common indication that someone is drowning is that they don’t look like they’re drowning.

The Hoody - Everday Survival Clothing

The hoody, (aka hoodie, kangaroo, or bunnyhug) is the kind of simple and relatively inexpensive clothing item that can be very useful in almost any survival situation. The kind I recommend is the full zip version with front pockets. The material is not super important (any hoody is better than no hoody) though some fabrics are certainly superior to others. I usually favor an under armour zip up hoody as they fit me well, are very comfortable, decent for either warm or cold weather, and are quick drying.

The full zipper allows easy on/easy off and effective ventilation. The front pockets are useful for carrying all sorts of items, and the hoody is useful for protection against sun, wind, cold, bugs, dust, etc. Having a hood is an enormous benefit and provides a simple flip-up layer for cold weather. I wear or at least carry one of these with me everywhere. We don't get a lot of rain here so this is more useful to me that a zip up hooded shell, I have the one use ponchos and a few giant orange garbage bags for really wet, unexpected weather.

Simple, relativey cheap, multi-use, appropriate wear for most settings (won't attract attention). Now that's an EDC survival item.

Politics

This entry was originally a post on the Canada Post strike, a very bad situation for non-urbanites. I ended up deleting it and kicking it over to my other blog, survivalsocialist.blogspot.com.

When I was trying to decide where I wanted to go with this blog, I made a decision to mostly avoid politics and religion. There are sites I used to follow that turned me off with their rabid and uninformed views, I just couldn't take sorting out the interesting items from what I viewed as ignorant drek or items that weren't of interest to me.

I didn't want to turn others off in the same way and decided to have an alternate blog going where I would discuss more controversial things. I really wasn't adding any content to it though and ended up deleting it. After what was supposed to be a brief discussion of the CPC strike and its effects turned into a lengthy pro-union diatribe, I decided to undelete my other blog and kick over the occasional pertinent entry. I may add a post on this blog from time to time that mentions new content on the other, we'll see. For those of you that don't want to see such things, I'll try to keep this site non-political.