Mike Cheliak: Photography, Fitness, Nutrition and Life

Birthdays, Healthy Tacos and Fit-Fun

It is my son Billy’s 12th birthday today (April 21st). Every year we really try to give our kids a fun, enjoyable and memorable party. We do our usual dinner out (his choice of restaurant) and another family dinner with my Dad and brother but the main event is always the weekend when they have their friends over.

We have done tonnes of different things over the years for both our kids but the last 4-5 years have always been fun, activity based parties where the central theme was out, active and healthy. We have done the horse farm with riding, a nature hike, indoor rock climbing, personal training session at my gym followed by swimming, an orienteering challenge, basketball and gym fun and more.

We always include the kids in the decision making and let them use their imagination to help come up with a plan. It will amaze you that even at a young age, you can really have the kids enjoy an activity filled day with their friends and even include some of the parents to come help. Involving the kids in the decision making gives them a lot of ownership in the final result.

This year I asked Billy what he would like to do for his activities. Every idea he came up with revolved around a challenging physical activity for him and his friends. He decided on a bucket of balls at the driving range followed by some sessions in the batting cage (same facility). We will then head to our gym where we are going for a swim. After that, it’s hit the showers at the gym. They have a kid’s change room and fitness area which is great.

We then head back home for his food and sleepover. Billy LOVES our homemade soft Tacos and we make them a lot healthier than your store bought packages. He also loves lots of raw veggies (carrots, celery, and cucumbers) and really likes WW Tostitos and salsa. He also loves juice spritzers made with 100% pure grape juice, orange juice or apple juice and President’s Choice Salt Free Seltzer. We don’t do pop in our house so this is the kids little fizz fix!

The only questionable choice is of course….THE CAKE! But that is and always will be anyone’s birthright! He always chooses an Ice Cream Cake from Dairy Queen. They are AMAZING and even I have to sample the goods!

All in all the party is costing us next to nothing and the boys will be happy and well exercised. Once home, we are letting them loose on the PS2 and Wii consoles and they can watch any (suitable) movies they want.

Parties don’t have to revolve around questionable food choices and chips and pop. You can take kids of almost any age and introduce them to alternatives. Yes it is their special day but you can do it up in a lot of fun ways. Hiking, biking, swimming, horse riding lessons, indoor rock climbing, rent a school gym (we did it two years ago for $60.00).

When it comes to food, put some healthy twists on the old standby choices. If your kiddies love pizza, make your own with whole wheat pitas, lower fat mozzarella, and turkey pepperoni. Better yet, have them help make it. Instead of hot dogs and burgers, do turkey sausages and turkey burgers on the grille. You can help your kids make alternative choices at a very young age and it will only reinforce good eating habits down the road.

HEALTHY SOFT TACOS
I am not putting quantities in this recipe as you can adjust as you see fit. I have eliminated the store bought taco seasoning because it has WAY too much sodium. My southwest blend has none so you can salt your finished food as you like.

Ingredients
Extra Lean Ground Turkey
Finely Diced Onions
Tomato Juice
Southwest spice blend (see below for recipe)
Small Whole Wheat Tortillas
Shredded Lettuce
Diced Tomatoes
Shredded Cheddar/Jack Cheese
Diced Jalapenos (optional)

Method
- Sautee enough ground turkey to fee your troops
- Drain the turkey after cooking to lose the fat
- Sautee onions on medium low until softening
- When the onions start to soften add the turkey and the spice dump
- Add enough tomato juice to wet the mixture and mix
- Continue to cook until the mixture has thickened a little

Serving
Heat your tortillas in a damp cloth for 30 seconds in the microwave. Add your meat mixture to a bowl and arrange all your toppings around the mixture on a large platter and serve.

Southwest spice blend
Each part is equal unless (1/2) is place before it in which case it is a half part. Makes a great BBQ rub as well! Simply Measure the ingredients into a stainless steel bowl and thoroughly mix them until uniform. You can spice it up a bit more or less by adjusting the Cayenne.

Hint: If you want to use this as a BBQ rub, take a few tablespoons and mix with a couple tablespoons of molasses and lime juice to create a paste. Rub on your favourite meat and let sit in a plastic bag for a couple hours. Bring the meat to room temperature and grille. Use your favourite BBQ Sauce to finish the meat or just leave it like it is…its YUMMO either way!

Ground Cumin
Ancho Chili Powder
Chipotle Chili Powder
Red Sweet Chili Powder
Paprika
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Dried Oregano
(1/2) Cayenne Pepper (adjust accordingly)
(1/2) White Pepper

In happiness and health with a BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILLY!

Mike C.

Sports Photography

IT’S ALL ABOUT GETTING THE SHOT
Everyone at some point has seen “that shot” that seems to relive the moment, capture a look or tell the story.  The fact is, shots like that happen all the time, it’s catching them with your camera that is the hard part.  The pure sports shooter lives for the rush of watching every move being made just to get “that shot”.

While that may seem a bit extreme for some, most people who have tried their hand at catching the action, have gotten caught up in that same frenzy.  For most, just watching their kids play sports and being able to capture the odd good shot is more than enough gratification.  For some, it becomes a challenge that brings new excitement to watching their kids play.

If you spent good money on a digital SLR and got good sales advice, you should have a camera that when used properly can get “that shot” more often than not.  Most “point and shoot” cameras offer the consumer very little control over capturing moments like that.  That doesn’t mean that you can’t use a point and shoot to capture action, it only means that you will be limited by the equipment you have.

HOW IS SHOOTING SPORTS DIFFERENT?
Aside from the obvious “action” element to shooting sports, there are hundreds of dynamics involved in capturing good quality sports action photos.  Lighting, positioning, camera settings (numerous), crowd interference, watching out for flying balls and pucks, watching out for athletes moving VERY FAST, not interfering in game play…and the list goes on!

Shooting sports is like the “wild child” of photography.  Most professional sports shooters possess a true love of sports and do what they do because it allows them to witness unbelievable feats of physical skill while making a living.  For the average “Sports Mom or Dad” it is more about capturing moments in your child’s growth.

Sports have a way of bringing out huge emotional swings, happiness, excitement, discouragement, fear, love, anger and more.  While we don’t always “promote” certain emotions, kids will display them simply because they are in the growth mode.  As spectators, we are encouraged to be encouraging but when you are capturing the moment, sometimes, the best photo is the one nobody else is taking.  The little girl who hit into a double play to end the game, or the boy watching as his teammate scored the winning goal.  You will learn to look for and become almost second sighted as you get more exposure to shooting games and athletics.

While the satisfaction of taking a really nice portrait photo can be very fulfilling, telling a story with an action shot can be just as magical.  When you compose (and you will compose) your action photos, you can do so in numerous ways.  Each photo if taken by a different photographer will look infinitely different.  The angle, background, camera settings, the orientation (landscape – wide or portrait – tall) and many other factors all play a key role in composition.  You should always experiment with different dynamics during a shoot.  Keeping it fresh is the key to getting numerous shots that are equally as good but all different.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR SUBJECT
If you want to take pictures of your kids playing sports some of the questions you have to ask are. How old are they? How big are they? How fast are they? Is it a fast sport, or something slower like baseball? Are they on the field with a bunch of other kids in a relatively small area (football), or more spread out and isolated (baseball)?

If your players are small, you may have to kneel to get down to their eye level. If you don’t you may find that you’ve taken a lot of shots of the tops of their heads.  The bonus in shooting the smaller players is that you have to get to their eye level.  You can assume a seated position, which provides added steadiness to your grip on the camera and lens.  Knowing the sport and the “flow” of the game is also very important.  It will help you immensely in being able to follow the play and make your shots the best they can be.

 No matter what your reasons are for learning about sports photography, the biggest thing you will gain from this guide is that you WILL become a better photographer both in sports and more “relaxed” photography.  Many of the skills and much of the knowledge that will be covered has cross platform uses.  Getting to know your camera and its abilities will give you that much more confidence in any shooting situation.  Before long, friends and family will be begging you for advice!

In happiness and health as always!

Mike C.

53 Things I Like

It’s pretty much self explanatory.  Sit down and figure out 53 things that you like.  Write them down and enjoy the fact that you like 53 things.

1. My down duvet
2. Sunny days
3. The smell of fall leaves
4. Eggs
5. Dogs
6. Strawberry Shortcake
7. DOMS (Delayed onset muscle soreness)
8. My calves
9. Swimming in a cold lake
10. Nail guns
11. David Letterman
12. Comedy
13. A good book
14. A good hike
15. Sex (with my wife Rose of course)
16. Cooking
17. Disney Vacations
18. All Sports of any kind
19. Watching Penguins walk
20. Star Wars (don’t start with me)
21. A good beer
22. My bikes
23. My iPhone
24. Deadlifts and Squats
25. Never really acting my age
26. Watching my dogs scare the crap out of the squirrels in our yard
27. John Denver (don’t start with me)
28. Metallica (don’t start with me)
29. Iced Green Tea (homemade nothing added)
30. The Keg Steakhouse
31. Stainless drinking bottles
32. Crag Ballantyne, Chad Waterbury, Brad Pilon and Isabel De Los Rios (Google them)
33. Leaving the grocery store with NOTHING from a bag or box
34. Board shorts
35.  Apocalypse Now (Horror and Moral Terror are your Friends)
36.  Quiet nights at the cottage in Quebec
37. Most of the photos I take
38. Ginger from Gilligan’s Island (MAN she was hot)
39. Thick as a Brick (Jethro Tull)
40. Whacking some balls in the batting cage
41. Good News
42. Zapping wasps with my electrically charged tennis racket (ZZZT)
43. Cooking for a crowd
44. Learning
45. Deepak Chopra’s voice
46. Fresh tomatoes from the garden
47. Kid’s laughter
48. Grown-ups laughter
49. Playing the piano (since I was 6)
50. The cute little noise my wife makes when she is sleeping
51. Randy “Macho Man” Savage (don’t start with me)
52. Police, firefighters, paramedics, prison workers and soldiers (Thanks for having our back)
53. MY LIFE!

Photography Tip – Taking care of your stuff!

It’s that time of year for me and I have a very small (2-3 week) window of opportunity to really get ready for my spring dance and summer sports season.  I always have some small stuff on the go but my main hit comes in May.  The hockey season this year was great as usual and business has been very good.

That brings me to the title of this post.  As photographers, we sometimes get a little complacent in the care of our equipment.  My cameras alone all combined are worth over 20K and my lenses are almost that range as well.  I cycle my cameras in for maintenance (cleaning, dusting, shutter replacement if needed) and any repairs that need to be done to keep them running in top condition.

I currently have two cameras in for service and have started using the other two.  I don’t often use my two “fresh” cameras until the other ones are being serviced and once they are done, I take a third body with me “just in case” but rarely do I ever have to hook it up.  I have my two “working” cameras fixed with my most common lenses (17-35 f/2.8 and 70-200 VR f/2.8).  My 400mm f/2.8 VR is used almost exclusively for long field shooting and doesn’t see a lot of action other than football, soccer, rugby and the occasional baseball game.  I also have my lenses serviced on an annual basis to ensure they are operating flawlessly. 

I am lucky enough to have the ability to swap out cameras but believe me when I tell you that you HAVE to make time to have your camera serviced.  If you are fortunate enough to have a local shop that can service DSLR’s then use them at least once a year (preferably every 6 months).  Even if you are an amateur shooter and don’t put a lot of actuations on your camera, you still have dust collecting on your sensor. 

Having a technician clean and maintain your camera and lenses will ensure your gear lasts as long as possible and will see that it operates in peak form all the time.  There is nothing worse than having your camera fail at a family function or even worse…a job!  If you can afford a back up camera, even a decent point and shoot, get it!  It is better to have something rather than nothing if you are at an event.

Take care of your stuff and it will take care of you!  Trust me…it’s worth the investment.

In happiness and health as always!

Mike C.

I’m not just an affiliate Day 3

This is my final affiliate installment for this series.  I really can’t say enough about all three of these programs as they all helped my to achieve my goals and continue to be an integral part of my life now and always.

The Diet Solution Program – By Isabel De Los Rios

There are certain facts about the food we eat that we tend to ignore.  The one common factor is that we as a society eat WAY too much processed food.  If is comes in a bag or a box, it is likely processed.  At this point, we are programmed to a certain extent by the marketing people who put things like, “Heart Healthy”, “Whole Grain Goodness” or other buzz word statements that “tell us” that a product is good for you.  What they don’t tell you is that there is 15 grams of added sugar in their product or that only part of the product is whole grain and the other 90% of the flour is white bleached.

If you step back and educate yourself, you will find that you have likely been duped into eating most of these “healthy” choice products when all you really had to do was select a natural food instead.  Natural foods like, meat and fish or veggies and fruit.  If it walks on the earth, grows in a tree, comes from the ground or swims in the sea…it’s a natural food. 

Once you take a natural food and start doing things to it; it becomes processed.  We have become slaves to the quick fix food that is designed to keep us coming back for more.  The ultimate fast food is an apple and some raw almonds.  Quick, easy, efficient and healthy.

I have taken a lot from Isabel’s program.  The one greatest gift is my understanding of food and my new found love of natural eating and cooking.  My entire family loves this.  My kids are super fit and will gladly grab for some fresh fruit, veggies or nuts.  We eat healthier, feel better and believe it or not, we spend a LOT LESS on food than we did when we were eating more processed stuff.

If you would like to find our more about Isabel’s Diet Solution Program, visit her online.

I hope these past three days have been interesting for you.  Again, I remain totally transparent about the fact that I do get affiliate commissions from any sales on these sites.

In happiness and health as always!

Mike C.

I’m not just an affiliate, Eat Stop Eat

This is day two of three of my favorite affiliates.  As mentioned, I do make money from people who sign up with them but I am not just an affiliate, I also use all three of these programs.  They have each in their own way helped me to reach my health and fitness goals and have educated me about many aspects regarding healthy training and nutrition.

Eat Stop Eat – By Brad Pilon
Brad Pilon is the Author of Eat Stop Eat and also a person who I am lucky enough to call friend.  Aside from Brad’s credentials as an expert in his field, he is also one of the most grounded individuals I know.  His approach to everything is very balanced and his advice to me in areas other than his program have also assisted me in many of the business decisions I make.

Now to the program.  As soon as many people hear the word “fasting”, they roll their eyes, and don’t give it much thought.  Many health and fitness people will tell you that fasting will slow your metabolism and many just call it crazy.

They are entitled to their opinions.  Brad’s research is not only based on scientific PROOF, it is also backed by scientific FACT.  I am not an expert but I do know truth when I see it and the Eat Stop Eat method of intermittent fasting (once or twice per week) is scientifically proven to work.

The weightloss industry is filled with diet aids, pills, potions, supplements, fat burners and other unpronounceable items that cost hundreds of dollars.  They are there to give you the impression that you can eat like crap and still lose weight if you take this miracle metabolic booster juice.  They are lying.  The first fact you must deal with if you want to lose weight is that you MUST EAT FEWER CALORIES THAN YOU BURN.

Brad’s program creates a calorie deficit by following a very easy method of fasting for a 24 hour period.  The fasting method is simple, easy to follow and liberating.  It has given me a totally new perspective on food.  It creates a sense of control over any food obsessions you may have and allows you to focus on controlling hunger and finding out what hunger really is.

I use the program once per week during my maintenance and twice per week when I am leaning out.  I work out on my regular schedule and NEVER have a bad workout during a fast.  Fasting makes me feel lucid, energized and fantastic every time.  After fasting for a couple times, you won’t even feel any hunger pangs at all!

Is fasting for everyone…no…can fasting help the average person in many ways…YES!  The program is designed to help you lose and maintain healthy weight by one simple fact, creating a caloric deficit.

If you would like more information about this program visit Brad online at Eat Stop Eat.

In happiness and health as always,

Mike C.

I’m not just an affiliate…Turbulence Training

I decided that I would post about my three main affiliates for the next three days.  The reason I do this is to be transparent about the fact that if you do sign up for any of them, I make money.  I also do this because I not only have these three products as affiliates but I also use them and have been using them for a while.  I also count two of the three developers as good friends who have helped me not only achieve my health and fitness goals but also have helped mentor me online.

All three of these programs have helped me achieve health and wellness goals I have been seeking.  At 46 years old, I am healthier, more fit, stronger, leaner and feel better than I have in over 20 years!

This is day one.

Turbulence Training – By Craig Ballantyne
A little over a year ago, my training had hit a wall.  At 45 years old, I wasn’t seeing the type of progress that I would have liked.  My strength, conditioning and overall feeling physically had seemed to go stagnant.  I searched around the Internet and as most of you know, I found about 10 million different programs, some good, some bad and most just recycled ideas.

I found Turbulence Training and was instantly intrigued.  Craig’s program was breaking down doors in fitness and doing so by providing challenging, ever changing routines and one BIG difference…No Long Steady State Cardio.  In fact, one of Craig’s T-Shirt slogans is “Cardio Sucks”.

I have used Turbulence Training to build muscle, increase strength, lose body fat and increase my endurance.  The program literally does ANYTHING you need it to do. 

Turbulence Training keys on more work in less time, complex movements and interval training to top off your workout.  In most cases you are in and out of the gym in 45 minutes or less.  The other beauty of the program is that many of the more than 100 programs he has designed are perfect for home workouts and working out with nothing more than your bodyweight.

The TT Members forum is bar-none, the best forum I have ever been part of.  Your membership includes access to this community of dedicated real people who share their gains, struggles and ideas with each other.  It is inspirational, educational and without a doubt one of the greatest tools to use to keep on track.

Craig continues to post at least one new program every month and right now you would have somewhere from 400-500 weeks of fitness programs to challenge you as it stands.  You will also find, nutrition and motivational programs as well as a complete video library of the complex movements for you to learn.

Turbulence training is always offering incentives, risk free trials and more.  If you are looking for something new to shake up your routine and bring your fitness to the next level; this program WILL help you do it.

To visit my affiliate link to Turbulence Training, click here.

Have a happy, healthy day!

Mike C.

What are you lacking to succeed?

Knowledge, Commitment, Support, Effort, Faith in yourself!  These are the aspects of your success.  If you lack any part, you will NOT succeed.  Lack is a deficiency or absence of something needed, desirable, or customary. It doesn’t mean you don’t have it or can’t get it; it just means you don’t have enough of it or you haven’t gotten it yet.

Take for instance the construction of a new home.  There are many facets such as electrical, plumbing, drywall, concrete, carpentry and the list goes on.  If you don’t have enough shingles, your roof will leak, if you don’t have enough wiring, some rooms will be dark.

Consider the house, YOU.  You are completing the project of YOU and there are many aspects of your life such as family, love, happiness, health, fitness, career and friends and so on.  If you lack any part of that construction, the house is never complete.

 You can assess at any time that part of your life is complete to your satisfaction.  It doesn’t mean it won’t need attention and maintenance but rather that you have reached the goal you are happy with. You can complete all your projects and be a very happy person who is comfortable in your place but you still have to maintain the goals you have reached.

 You have achieved your goals by educating yourself, committing to succeed, getting the support you needed, putting for the effort required, having faith in yourself and never being afraid of what has to be done to get to where you are going.  Now you use your culmination of experience to maintain the level you have worked so hard to achieve.

Lack of Knowledge – if you don’t have the information required; GO GET IT!  Read, learn, discuss, experience and understand your challenge.

Lack of Commitment – If you have a hard time motivating yourself and staying committed to your task, GET SOME ASSISTANCE!  For fitness, a personal trainer, for nutrition, a dietician or just someone close to you who will hold you to task until you start motivating yourself and staying on task.

Lack of Support – As was mentioned above, support is key.  You need to have a network of support to succeed.  Social networking, forums, family, friends all have to be “on your side”.  If they aren’t, then disregard the “naysayers” and listen to the ones who want you to succeed.

Lack of Effort – The Great North American dream is “I want it all, I want it now and I don’t want to put forth much effort to get it”.  Toss aside any belief that you have that anything worthwhile can be had just by sitting and waiting for it to happen.  Aside from winning the lottery or inheriting someone else’s legacy of wealthy (through their hard work), you have to WORK AT IT!

Lack of Faith – This is not to be considered religious faith but rather faith in yourself.  If you don’t believe that you are able to accomplish a task; who am I to disagree?  Have faith in your ability, have trust in yourself and visualize your success!

FEAR!!!! – The biggest killer of dreams, the slayer of Giants and the killer of hope.  Fear can rip us apart.  Fear of failure is one of the biggest problems when it comes to our success.  We shouldn’t fear failure, we should learn from it.  Not everything happens as it should the first time around.  Embrace fear as your motivator to be better, do better and achieve your goals.  DO NOT let fear rule your life otherwise you will end up in a closet, by yourself, waiting for the end and never experiencing anything.

I have made leaps and bounds in my personal growth (construction) over the last three years.  I have adopted a “no lose” mentality and fail as I may in certain areas; I get back up, retool and get it right the second time round.  I am healthier, in better physical condition, financial condition and emotional condition than I have been in decades.  At 46 years old my family life is great, my business is great and I do exactly what I love doing to make my living.

I still have “additions” to my home that are in the plans and maintenance to perform all the time but I am enjoying the construction of my life because I NEVER fear the challenge.

Happiness and Health as always,

Mike C.

Your own wedding photo download station…

Weddings are the beginning of your lives together. It doesn’t matter how big or small the wedding is; it is an event of epic proportions in your life. You hire a hall, catering company, decorator, florist and numerous other professionals including your wedding photographer.

The wedding photographer will provide you with a highly skilled, professional summary of your day.  Some photographers also have a second shooter to capture some “off camera” moments.  This still leaves a thousand different memories that havent been seen by you.  These moments are being captured by your guests!

Why not have ALL the photos from your guests digital cameras, brought together for you on your wedding day and saved for you?  It is a lot easier than you think and although this is something relatively new, it is a growing trend.  So much so that there is now a mini multi card reading kiosk that you can rent (for around $400.00) to sit on a table and have all the images downloaded from anyones memory card.

My idea is simpler.  Get a laptop & multi purpose card reader and either hire someone you can trust (maybe a computer literate colleague) or even better, maybe enlist one of your teenage cousins, nephew/neice or other young person at the wedding to run the downloads.  Most kids would LOVE that job and would do it with pride and skill.  Another thing is that you really don’t want people who have been drinking playing around with an expensive laptop computer.

I suggested this to a person getting married and they did it.  A 14 year old cousin of the groom set up the laptop just after supper and ceremonies and was happily at it all evening long.  When someone had a card to copy, he would take it, copy it and then spend sometime organizing the photos.  He made little folders for each relatives photos and then used Picasa from Google to do a quick edit.

The end result was this.  Instead of boring thank you cards; every guest got a DVD with ALL the photos from the evening mailed to them.  Pretty nice touch!

If nothing else, it is something to consider to help make your day the best it can be and to capture hundreds of different aspects of your special day.

In happiness and health as always,

Mike C.

Billy Bob Thornton – Hold the Gravy Please!

I simply had to post this.  I am not really all that into pop media and “superstars” but I felt anyone who follows my blog may like to see this.  Billy Bob Thornton went on the CBC for an interview and well, the video below tells the story.

Let me first say that long ago when I first saw Slingblade, I was in awe of this guy who wrote, directed, starred in and did everything but the key grip job.  The movie was brilliant in many ways and like the movie or not, it was an amazing feat to pull off.  Here are the results of his efforts.

Academy Awards
Won for Best Adapted Screenplay (Thornton)
Nominated for Best Actor (Thornton)
Edgar Awards
Won for Best Motion Picture Screenplay (Thornton)
Independent Spirit Awards
Won for Best First Feature
National Board of Review Awards
Won for Special Achievement in Filmmaking (Thornton)
Screen Actors Guild Awards
Nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Cast
Nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role (Thornton)
Writers Guild of America Awards
Won for Best Adapted Screenplay (Thornton)

If you take that body of work away from BBT…HE HASN’T DONE SH*T.  Being pissed off about someone mentioning his acting in an interview is completely stupid.  If he didn’t have his acting career, he sure as hell wouldn’t be opening for Willy Nelson because frankly, his music sucks and he has no talent at all.

Enough BBT bashing.  I have lost all respect I ever had for the guy and hope he never ventures up past the 49th parallel again.  Watch and see for yourself what a “superstar” BBT has become!

Hope I didn’t make anyone from the We Love BBT Fanclub upset…but if I did; go have some biscuits and gravy and maybe some fried taters!

In joy and jest,

Mike C.