Posts Tagged ‘easy’

Congrats Trong and Lindy / My thoughts on Sugar

Posted by Mike Schurko on September 16th, 2010

Hey there!

How is everyone this fine thursday?

So, this weekend I have the joy of creating a wedding video for my friends Lindy and Trong (also my new pool teammate!!), at a beautiful venue on Hornby Island.

Trong and Lindy

I’m very excited to see everyone, and to see the union of two really cool people who I look up to in many ways…and also to make a kick ass video for them!!  So today is a clean up day and tie up loose ends at home, and prep for the weekend.  Again, congratulations Trong and Lindy!!

Since my last post was about goal setting, I have set a new one regarding my diet.  I’ve been trying really hard this week to cut out all known sources of un-natural sugars from my diet.  I’ve been shocked to see just how many foods I eat, that I didn’t even think to have sugar in them, do!  For example; the little single serving cans of Tuna I like to eat for snacks and the frozen chicken breast I like to buy from costco.

Of course, like everything, sugar in moderation is okay, especially when it’s natural sugars found in fruits.  But excessive amounts of sugar, especially processed sugar can lead to diabetes and obesity.  With the health ramifications that we know can occur from regular, and large amounts of processed sugar intake, I truly believe that refined sugars should be regulated such as tobacco or lottery tickets.  Not only is it an extremely addictive chemical which can lead to unnecessary food and sugar cravings, large amounts of sugar on a regular basis can cause insulin resistance, a state in which the body does not respond to the hormone responsible for controlling blood sugar correctly.

Insulin resistance is a significant step towards adult onset diabetes. The resulting chronic high blood sugar is usually converted to fat, leading to obesity. Of course insulin is a hormone with many factors affecting it, not just sugars in the diet. Things like binge and starve eating patterns (including eating only one or two meals a day), stress and lack of sleep can all cause problems with blood sugar, which lead to the seldom-diagnosed hypoglycemia.

Bags of sugar stored in Cuban warehouse awaiting shipment to US.

As far as finding the best foods for an all natural only sugar diet, I find that home cooking meals ensures that you know exactly what’s going into your food.  I’m lucky enough to have a girlfriend who has been trying recipes in the vegan field of diet out on me, so I’ve been surprised with many meals of; quinoa and stir fry veggies, home made salt and vinegar chick peas, and my ultimate new favourite…Kale Chips!!  Check out how to make those on Amanda’s blog. Super easy to make!

So what are your thoughts on sugar?  Should I be as concerned about it’s consumption as I am?  Is dairy worse than sugar for our bodies?  Do you have any recipes for “sweet treats” that don’t use sugar?   As always, I appreciate the feedback, and look forward to hearing from you!

Well I’m off to check out a new potential home out in Port Moody, B.C. with Amanda, I’ll let you know how that goes.  Have an amazing rest of your thursday, and an amazing weekend as well!  Don’t forget about my special sunday coffee at Tim’s!!  Bye for now : )

Posted in Food, Health, Just for Fun Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment »

Before you go for coffee this morning…watch this!!

Posted by Mike Schurko on September 12th, 2010

Thanks for checking out the video! Please share this with everyone you know, and lets help others feel special with this enjoyable, inexpensive surprise!  Let me know if you did get a chance to actually do something like this today, or if you ever have! Please show your support and join our Facebook Fan Page!

We’ve been doing this for about 2 months now, and it’s really catching on.  The staff at our local Tim’s really enjoy being able to tell the people that come after us in line that they get a free coffee!  Let’s start a trend…a craze, and see where it can go!

Have a great rest of your weekend, we’ll talk about goal setting tomorrow!

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Life after holidays! 4 steps for back to normal.

Posted by Mike Schurko on September 8th, 2010

Well, after nearly 2 weeks of visiting family and friends in Saskatchewan, I’m sad to say goodbye until we meet again, but I am very excited to get back into my “normal” lifestyle.  I admit that I did indulge in many things during my holidays such as; large caloric meals, tasty sugary deserts (those darn cupcakes), adult beverages, and didn’t exercise nearly as much as I normally would.

Pike Lake Adventures

Darlene's Evil Cupcakes! : )

But, the “regulated” lifestyle that I promote definitely includes a time to relax, enjoy your friends and family and celebrate your time together because hey, life’s short…it’s always important to strive towards optimum health, but there’s always a time when we can all allow for a little “backslide”, that’s okay…BUT…the key after enjoying these times, is the ability to jump back on the horse once you’ve been off of it.  Here are 4 things that I am focusing on, to help me get back into my regular, positive habits that I’ve swayed from while on holiday;

Regain a sleep schedule:

I definitely found myself staying up later, and sleeping in longer during my holidays, which is perfectly fine for time off, but I for one feel more productive when I get up with the sun or even before it, in order to get a jump start on the day. I’m striving for a full 7-8 hours of sleep, getting my exercise out of the way early, and preparing for my day.

Get back into an exercise routine:

For the first week or two back, I will be exercising for at least 30-60 minutes per day, just to help get rid of the extra pounds I acquired over the holidays, and also to get my energy and fitness levels back to where I am used to them being.

Get diet back to normal:

On holidays, I found myself consuming higher levels of sugar and empty carbs, along with less fresh fruits and vegetables.  I am immediately going back to my regular diet of lots of fruits and veggies and other foods low in fat and high in protein.  I’m not even going to consider “going out” for food for at least a week or two just to get my body back into the rhythm of healthy eating…and definitely not a sniff of alcohol for at least 1 or 2 weeks.  Any diet, good or bad can become habit, so I’m trying to break any unhealthy habits i adopted, and re-inforce my healthy ones.

Relax, and reward yourself:

For me, cold turkey has always worked best for quitting bad habits and nourishing good ones.  However, we are all human, and self-discipline can be very empowering, but without rewarding ourselves from time to time, it can be hard to feel a sense of accomplishment or pride or to even find a reason to continue depriving yourself from regular unhealthy indulgences.  Yes, the outward fruits of your labour will show eventually, but again…life is to be enjoyed!  Just remember to show yourself love, by rewarding yourself to a “treat” once in a while, and you’ll feel how easy it can be to maintain your positive growth and nurture positive habits.

So back in the saddle, I hope everyone had a great long weekend, an enjoyable first day back yesterday, and is ready to grow themselves and start enjoying your lives as much and more than you’ve ever thought possible!  I ask you to please share with me…how do you “get back in the saddle” after a vacation?!

Thanks for letting me share my passion with you!

Posted in Fitness, Health, Lifestyle Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , No Comments »

In everything you think and do, where do you come from?

Posted by Mike Schurko on August 18th, 2010

Now you may look at this question and think to yourself, what the heck is Mikey talking about now..where do I come from when I think and do???  Please allow me to explain : )

In every thought, reaction or action you carry out on a day to day basis, you come from a certain place in your mind when doing so.  This place is within you, it can be HUGELY affected by who and what’s around you, and it is the basis of how and why you act, react and think the way you do.  For example, if you’re conditioned to come from a “lack” perspective, then you might say something like, “we can’t afford that new food processor, we don’t have any room for it, and what the heck good is it to us anyway?”  Whereas if you come from a perspective of “prosperity” you may say, “a food processor sounds awesome, we can easily afford that, there’s tons of places for it to go and we can use it to eat healthier at home.”

The point I’m trying to get across is that no matter what the situation you’re thinking, acting or reacting too, if you come from lack, you’ll see what you don’t like, what you don’t want, what you think you can’t do or have, or why this won’t work.  When you come from a prosperity mind set, you start to see the positives and the potentials in any given situation which will always lead to better outcomes.

This even effects the “self-talk” that goes on inside your head.  We all have it, there’s a little voice inside our heads that guides our thoughts, decisions, and actions.  The only negative aspect about self-talk, is that this voice can suggest ideas, while coming from lack, and you don’t chose to do anything to correct it.  No matter what your conditioning is, or where it came from, you can affect future outcomes right now, by basing your thoughts, actions and reactions through a new lens called prosperity.

Think of it like two pairs of sunglasses.  When you put on one pair…the dark pair (lack), all you see is the dark scary path that you think lies ahead of you, so therefore you slowly stagger ahead thinking that the worst-case-senerio could be hiding in the darkness, which inevitably will stop you from taking action towards your goals and dreams because you just can’t possibly see how it could work out for you….

…OR…

You can put on the clear glasses (prosperity), where you can see things a lot better, the path ahead of you doesn’t look so scary because you know…you can see, that the only things that could potentially stop you aren’t real and are only in your mind.  So with these glasses on you can confidently stride ahead on your life path knowing that even if you take action down a path that may have not led you exactly where you want to end up…you can see that you’ve still moved forward, and that you can easily find you’re way to another path that leads you even closer towards where you want to be.

Here’s another example:

When you look at yourself in the mirror, what do you see? Do you see someone who’s not in the best shape physically, has a bad hair cut with out of date clothes on who slouches and could never be healthy, rich, or prosperous. NO!!…take off those damn lack glasses! Find the features that you love…you’re engaging eyes, you beautiful smile! Then realize that the person who is looking right back at you in that mirror; is full of potential and growth, can easily achieve ANY goals that they set out to, and are worthy of receiving absolutely everything they could ever dream of…AND MORE, and you can start to see that today!!

The incredible thing, is that there are no tools needed, no assembly required so to speak, to change how you see things right now.  All it takes is awareness to understand what lens you have on right now, and a simple change in perception.  Even if you don’t think you know where to find those prosperity shades…just keep looking…they’re right beside you, and when you finally get them back on and you see the world through prosperous eyes, you will again realize how beautiful, plentiful and full of potential that life really is!

Thank you so much for letting me share my passion with you! I appreciate all of you, your feedback, and the time you take to read my little snippits of light and love. I know that you know, you have something special inside of you, and you deserve the best always! Just take one small step towards self improvement per day, and start living your dream life sooner than you ever thought possible!

Mike

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One Time Touch Tactics

Posted by Mike Schurko on August 16th, 2010

Like the hard drive in your computer, the human brain can only hold a limited amount of information in your short term memory.  Everyday, I find that there are more and more things filling up that short term memory, like remembering to; pay that utility bill, book the car in for a service,  responding to a new client inquiry email, or updating my website.  All of these things require thought and time to complete, even if it’s literally only 5 minutes or less.

Now I’m a huge believer in the good old, “to-do” list, I use them lots and they are great for organizing your thoughts (providing you take action on these lists) but I have found a notable flaw in the system.  Yes you can write down what you plan to do and have every intention of doing it, but the to-do list lacks accountability and motivation of completion.  Have you ever seen the same item on your to-do list day after day, sometimes week after week?  It has definitely happened to me…and on top of that, even though it’s written down, it still fades in and out of your thoughts, so the whole time it remains incomplete, you’re thinking about how you’re going to do this task but not yet, you will, soon.  Meanwhile you’re acquiring more and more tasks to complete and things to remember but there’s no room left in that brain of yours, it’s enough to drive you crazy : ) So how can we maintain focus and ensure ourselves maximum available memory capacity???!!!

I introduce to you my one-time-touch-tactic!

Every time a task enters my head and or hands, IMMEDIATELY I will take action, complete the the task to the best of my abilities and release it from my thoughts and the confines of my sometimes diehard to-do list.  Instead of picking up that bill that’s due several times, looking at it and thinking, ah not yet, and setting it right back down…you can pick it up once, complete it, and then file it away for good!  Now you can have room to remember that…hey…it’s our anniversary today honey!

Don’t get me wrong, I love the to-do lists and promote their usage, but next time you’re about to write something down on that list…stop ask yourself, can I do it now?!

So let me ask you this…be honest with me :) what is the longest time you think a task has ever stayed on your to-do list?

Thanks for letting me share my passion with you, and as always, thanks for the feedback!

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Positivity is one thing….but to truly manifest what you want, you have to remember to do this….

Posted by Mike Schurko on August 13th, 2010

It’s been about 4 years since I had first been introduced to what is known as the law of attraction.  I started by watching a movie called “The Secret”.  Little did I know, that it would have such an impact on my life.  I started with daily positive thinking and visualization like they talked about, but one important key to the process that I felt I had neglected initially, was action.

I thought that to have everything, all I had to do was think it and believe it and it would appear.  Which in some cases, can happen…but what I found out years later is that more often than not, in order to receive what we believe we are attracting, we will discover an action, or a series of actions to take to physically manifest our goals and dreams.  Visualizing and believing is a very important first step in the process of creation, but I believe that the purpose of visualizing and believing is ultimately to attract a plan of action.

I’m such a believer in inspired thought, and how taking action the moment it feels right, always gets rewarded!  Here in an example of how I have applied this theory in my life:

I live in Vancouver now, but  I had been working on the oil rigs in Alberta / Saskatchewan for almost 3 years, and I wanted a change.  So every day as we’d drive out to the rig for another shift, I would say to myself, “I’m so happy and grateful that I work from my home town successfully. ”  Everyday for 10-15 minutes, I would see myself sleeping in my own bed every night, joining a pool league, making new friends and seeing my girlfriend every day.  I kept this up for nearly a month.  Then one day the rig got shut down for a few weeks, so I went back home to Vancouver.  I thought, this could be my chance, so I started looking for a job…I had applied for a couple jobs that I thought might work, but I wasn’t hearing back from them, and I wasn’t feeling inspired.  I became hesitant about leaving the rigs and the high level of income I was used to earning. Of course if I was still living on the prairies, It would have made it a lot easier stay on the rigs…but something in my heart said that this was the right choice for me right now, so I pushed on!  Then finally, I noticed a job ad online, and it said to call if interested, I felt this strange urge to do so, so I did.  That phone call (so I heard) was the reason why I was chosen for this job over other applicants, even though I had no experience in the field. That following monday I started an extremely enjoyable job that allowed me to work in Vancouver, as well as start and run my own production company from home.  I definitely miss all of the guys from the rig, and even the work too, but I’m very grateful for how things worked out.  I attracted the opportunity, and I took action when inspired!

The view I so gratefully get to enjoy every night.

So, if you’ve been trying to attract a specific goal into your life, its very important to visualize and believe that it has already happened, but always pay attention to the signs the universe is giving you.  Learn to take action now if you want to lose weight, earn a million dollars or learn to play the guitar.  Act on inspired thought!  The more energy you put into it, the faster you will bring about your goals!

You may be thinking, “Mike, what can i do right now to put this process in motion?” Well I ask you to write out a few of your biggest goals and then for each goal, write out 5 actions you can take towards each one (trust me, the ideas will flow).  Then, the most important part…chose at least one of those actions, and act on it TODAY!

Now, my question to you is, have you ever read a book or watched a show that has changed your life.  I enjoy all of your feedback, so please feel free to leave a comment, or send me an email by going to my contact/hire link.

Thanks for letting me share my passion with you!  Have a fantastic weekend!

Mike

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Fun Food Formations – What’s the weirdest snack you’ve ever made?!

Posted by Mike Schurko on August 12th, 2010

Yesterday day while I was editing a voice track of Amanda‘s, I had a sudden hunger urge.  I went to the kitchen and looked for a neat pre-made snack…there was nothing!  So I felt the need to create a dish that would satisfy my hunger, but it had to be fast!  To the fridge I went.

…Just to set the stage first…If you don’t know me too well yet, I’ve been known to make some interesting food creations when in a pinch for time.  When I was bulking up a few years ago, I used to consume 200 grams of protein everyday to ensure I was putting on the amount of lean muscle I wanted to.  One day, again in a pinch, I needed another hand full of protein calories to fill my quota for the day.  So I created a new dish consisting of cottage cheese and peanut butter….yup.  It really didn’t taste that bad, it tasted like cottage cheese and peanut butter but it got the job done!! :)

Back to yesterday, the only things in the fridge that interested my taste buds were avocados and pickles….so yet again I’ve created a new and entertaining dish as I like to call it…(patent pending of course lol) Pickados!!

So here’s my question to you?…what’s your weirdest, craziest or grossest food creation you’ve ever made?  Whether you were pregnant or just really really hungry and out of options, let me know!   Feel free to add an image link in your comments if you have a picture of the wonderful creation!

Thanks everyone, hope you have a terrific weekend!

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Don’t Forget About Weight Training!! Did You Know These 7 Amazing Benefits?!

Posted by mikeschurko on August 11th, 2010

My most recent fitness goal, has been to lean down to 179 lbs.  This is new to my body, as I can remember being 180 lbs since I can remember ever thinking about my weight (besides my heavy “rock-star” days about 5 years ago…wink).  I’m currently hovering right around 185 lbs right now and am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  However, as I was powering through my elliptical session yesterday, watching the burned calories add up, and thinking…”YES, I ROCK!” , but then I looked across our apartment gym, and saw the weights sitting there.  I thought to myself, you know what, I haven’t done any weight training in quite some time.  Yes cardio like running, hiking, biking, swimming etc are great ways to burn those calories and drop weight, but we cannot forget how beneficial and necessary weight training is, even when you’re just trying to lose weight!

Here are 6 amazing benefits of weight training;

Stronger Bones

- If you’re losing weight by cardio alone, you can actually start to reduce the mass and density of your bones.  By weight training you strengthen your bones and reduce your risk of Osteoporosis.

Raise Your Metabolism

– By weight training, you increase your lean body mass which also increases your metabolism.  The faster your metabolism runs, the more calories you burn on a day to day basis, assisting any weight loss goals.

Elevate Your Wellness

- When you weight train, you release endorphins that actually elevate your mood, strengthen your immune system and improve your sleep which can really add to your overall well being!

Improve Muscular Endurance

- When you train your muscles with weights, you increase your overall strength and endurance, which will make day to day activities easier, like carrying groceries, opening doors, moving furniture or lifting a child.

Reduce Injury

- The stronger your muscles are, the less likely you will injury yourself in, sometimes known as, “all too routine” ways, such as sprained ankles, sore knees or even back injuries.  Improved strength by weight training, assists your every motion and increases daily body safety.

Improve Posture / Balance / Coordination

- having improved posture, balance and coordination can improve your day to day ease of life as well.   On top of that however, those 3 improvements can also improve your overall look, feel and self confidence.

Create Sexy Toned Muscles

- weight training will tone those muscles, so that you feel more confident when showing them off!

One funny comment I’ve heard over the years is, “I don’t want to weight train, because I’m afraid I’ll get too huge”.  To that I say, unless you’re consuming 200 calories a day and pounding heavy weights for 2 hours a day, you’ll never have to worry about all of a sudden waking up one day and saying to yourself, ” CRAP…I’m HUGE now!  I Didn’t see that coming!”

The ultimate plan to “leaning down”, as I like to call it (losing weight while maintaining and even building more muscle), is a healthy combination of the 2 exercise types.  Try alternating, one day run, the next day do weights and so on.  Or you can try circuit training…keeping your heart rate up while lifting low weight at high reps.  If you can fit 2 workouts in a day, do your hour of cardio in the morning on an empty stomach, and lift weights in the evening when you have some food energy in you, and you’re more alert.   The point being, make sure you train your muscles with weights, no matter what the health or fitness goal.  You’ll thank yourself the day after when you see more definition than ever before, and you’ll thank yourself years down the road when you feel stronger and more agile than ever before!

Thanks for letting me share my passion with you!  Now…What are you waiting for?!  GO HIT THE GYM !

(safely of course!)

: )

Posted in Fitness, Health, Lifestyle Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment »

Did You Know That A Tiny Change in Your Attitude, Can Drastically improve Your Life…NOW?!

Posted by mikeschurko on August 9th, 2010

Have you ever noticed how one negative event can spiral downward and multiply into a bunch of consecutive negative events?  Bite your tongue while eating breakfast, then you break a string on your shoe, spill coffee on your white shirt, get stuck in traffic, show up late for work and get fired….

…well, it doesn’t have to be that extreme, but you get my point : )

Now some people have asked me over the years, “Hey Mike, how do you stay so positive all the time?”  Well, this is definitely one of my secrets!

If you aren’t already aware…did you know that you can change that “bad” day into a “good” day, in a matter of seconds??!!

If you simply change how you react to that negative situation from; getting mad, upset, yelling, throwing something or letting negative self talk consume your thoughts all day long… to saying to yourself…it’s really not that big of a deal, I can get over this…this feeling will pass and I can still have an amazing day!  When your day seems to turn down hill, it’s absolutely all in your head, and you can change it right now!….I know it can seem unbelievable but it’s true.

Once you’ve tried out this technique a few times, you’ll start to notice that because of your newly decided upon positive reactions, things seem to go right back the way you want them too, it becomes very empowering!  Once you learn how to control your reactions and remain positive, you will then continue to attract more positive situations and things, and more things and situations to be positive about, into your life.

The point I’m trying to make, is that negative reactions cause negative energy, and we all know that when we’re in that negative mood…nothing goes right.  So why remain in that head space any longer?  It literally is a waste of energy…and in fact, you’re not just wasting it, but that bad energy is affecting your body.  I believe that the negative energy causes “dis-ease” within your body, and creates negative health conditions like colds, body aches, head aches or worse.  Also, I do understand that It may seem hard or even impossible to see the positive in some situations, but believe me, It’s a LOT healthier trying to find one, than simply focusing on the negative.

I want you to try something for me this week!…Try to react positively to every negative situation you may enter for 7 full days, and let me know how it goes.  I promise you that this one simple change you can make with hardly any effort, can improve your life exponentially!

Thanks for letting me share this with you!  I wish you all positivity and success in your lives!

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The Power of Clarity

Posted by mikeschurko on August 4th, 2010

Have you ever wondered why you’re not getting exactly what you want into your life?  Ever think to yourself, that you’re not 100% sure what you want?  Do you feel like your spinning your wheels in who-knows-what direction?  What you need, is clarity!

Clarity will allow you to set measurable goals in the direction of your dreams, and see results as to whether or not what you’re doing in your life is working for you or not.  Goal setting is one of the most important steps towards self-improvement, because let’s face it, If you don’t know how you want to grow, how can you grow at all, right?!  To some, this may seem silly, but I want to actually write down all of your goals in every aspect of your life, like; health, wealth, travel, business, etc…and be specific.  Instead of, “I wanna be rich”, write down, I want to earn $100,000 in 2010, or instead of, “I want to be skinny”, write down, I want to weigh 150 pounds by Oct. 30th.  The more specific you are, the more you can specialize what actions you take on a day-to-day basis to get you where you want to be.  You can write this for small as well as big goals, for example; I want to have a net worth of more than $10 Million dollars by Dec. 31st 2012.  You can have fun with this too, because the more awareness you have regarding what you really want, the more what you really want will come your way!

This leads us to the topic of goal setting, which I will post soon.  There are definitely keys to setting proper goals so that you set yourself up for success, but give it a try now, and you’ll see how fast goals can be achieved when you’re clear about what your goals actually are!

Thanks again for letting me share my passion with you!  I will be launching a redesigned blog website within 2 – 3 weeks, so sign up and subscribe to my blog so that you can stay informed on that, and share in future posts!

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