Mike Cheliak: Photography, Fitness, Nutrition and Life

Affiliate overload and opting out

I am guilty as the next person when it comes to learning about new fitness, nutrition and health ideas. I often purchase programs and products just to learn more. I don’t always or even often vary from my current schema but it’s always good to know more, learn more and adapt your plan if something new and improved comes along.

All this being said, I am (or was) an affiliate junky. I generate quite a bit of traffic on my sites and have always had a large number of affiliate links. I have also blogged and emailed affiliate information.

I have now decided that enough is enough. Over the last week, I have received 8 emails from 8 different people that I have done business with offering the SAME PRODUCT. I understand the dynamics of viral product marketing, affiliate crash marketing and all the other vehicles to sell more stuff. I have just decided that I am not going to participate any longer. The only thing I am keeping is Google Adsense because that only works if you see something you want more information about and you HAVE to click it to get it.

An email from a friend and online nutrition guru Brad Pilon was the reason.  Brad spelled out that he was also tired of getting tonnes of identical emails from everyone he knows in the fitness industry.  I also was an affiliate member of Brad’s program but have now opted out.  I know he doesn’t mind becuase Brad is first and foremost a great guy.  He also doesn’t sell other peoples stuff.

On top of me “opting out” of my affiliate memberships, I am also unsubscribing from every person that sent me that same old drivel over the last week. If I want information on something, I can data mine with the best of them using conventional search methods, some diligence and common sense.

Forums are a fantastic place to find info. There are millions of people just like yourself who share and learn just as you do. My suggestion is that you ditch the email subscriptions and go for the forum for information exchange.

I mean no disrespect to the people who sell their ideas and information…it’s something I may do one day. What I do object to is the constant interlink of emails that attempt to lure you into another program. Some of these link emails are actually for products and ideas that compete with and even contradict the person that is referring them.

Money is nice…but it isn’t everything and it certainly isn’t worth alienating the people that purchased your program in the first place.

In happiness and health as always,

Mike C

Kids, Sports and Photos

Not everyone is cut out to do Sports Photography and there are even fewer people who are able to meet the demands of Kids Sports Photography.

The dynamics of league photo days are extremely demanding and require your A-Game every time. As the photographer, you have to keep a captive audience of children ranging from 3 years old to 18 years old. The transitions you go through during the course of a large league photo day are numerous.

Being there, giving instructions and taking photos are about 1/10th of what you need to have when you are shooting. The other 90% of your duties range from drill Sergeant to goofy goober to comedian to pretty cool dude (or dudette as it were).

It is really a great feeling to accomplish a day where you shoot maybe 800 kids and everything happens according to plan. The only way to accomplish this is to have about 99 hats in your bag and the willingness and ability to wear anyone of them at any time.

The single shot of any child under the age of 10 (and some a little older than that), is a challenge in several ways. Some kids don’t feel comfortable smiling, some don’t like showing their missing teeth, some are cranky, not feeling well, tired, overactive, underactive, goofy, silly or REALLY upset and crying.

You MUST be prepared to react immediately to each and every child and to make adjustments on the fly. I can count (literally) on one hand how many shots I have to bypass each year due to a really upset, scared child. Sometimes I just have them step aside for a bit to watch stuff happen but in the end I can usually coax a smile or at least a “non-crying” photo from the little one.

That skill is not taught in a book, in a class or anywhere else for that matter. You either have it, or you don’t. If you don’t…go take wedding photos, nature photos, food photos or photos of anything else, but don’t bother doing sports, school or dance studio photos.

One of the keys to successfully shooting a large number of kids on schedule is the ability to set the tone right from the start. Be in charge, be funny, be happy and be VERY clear with your instructions. Get everyone’s attention, give them the rundown, get the coach to help “herd cattle” and then start shooting. The worst thing you can do is to be poky. Get to business, get the subject in position, focus and shoot.

People are amazed and sometimes shocked at how fast I shoot. I literally don’t give them time to think. In they go, stop, shoot, and move on. If you leave too much time fidgeting and messing around trying to be perfect, you will miss numerous opportunities. You have a very narrow window to keep a child’s attention and the younger they are, the quicker you need to be.

Sports league photography isn’t for everyone, in fact it is really for very few. You have to love working with kids, have the patience of Job, and have a quick mind, quicker wit and also the understanding that sometimes you have to crack the whip to keep control.

It’s fun, it’s challenging, it’s rewarding and it’s a big part of what I do.

In happiness and health as always.

Mike C

The value of junk food in a nutritional plan

Most fitness and nutrition experts are staunch supporters of cheat meals in any nutritional plan. It goes without saying that even though our best intentions are always there when it comes to our health; we still end up with some kind of craving at some point.

In today’s world, we are bombarded with constant push and pull advertising about what you should eat, what you shouldn’t eat…I’m Lovin’ it…I’m hatin’ it…Total insanity!

Anyone who follows any kind of fitness and nutritional plan can most often point out and avoid (most of the time), things that don’t “fit” in their food choices. Whatever type of plan you follow, there are numerous common types of food that everyone knows are just plain and simply bad for you.

As I am in a phase right now where I am leaning out, I have been regimented about my eating. I have completely eliminated grains & processed foods (except my protein shakes) and I have spread out my eating over 6 smaller meals.

The plan is good and works for me. I did however mention “cheat meals” and the need for them. When you are restricting your food choices and being faithful to a leaning out process, you really should limit your cheats. 10% of the time during normal phases is acceptable but you really should limit yourself as much as possible.

How is junk food valuable to a nutrition plan? Last night I was doing my usual running the kids around, shooting some hockey photos on ice and running around. I didn’t have enough time to complete dinner so I told everyone that it was take out fast food/cheat night.

Of all the choices for my cheat meal of the week (once a week is pretty much it), the LAST place I would choose is McRaunchies. As a member of a semi-democratic household, I capitulated to the wishes of the other members.

We haven’t food from that place for a long time (the kids had it in the summer). We all had various selections of burgers and fries. I had something that rhymes with SMORTER SHMOUNDER (no cheese please) and fries.

Here is where the value of junk food finally comes in. It sucked! Yep, my one and only cheat meal this week was wasted on absolute garbage. I could have had a few slices of carnivore, hot pepper pizza, some fish and chips, a gyro, a “toasted” sub or ANYTHING ELSE.

I wasn’t the only one as my son even said his stomach didn’t feel great after eating. Needless to say it will be a LONG time (never say never) before we ever grab a quick “bite” from the house of McRaunch.

And so the value of junk food in a nutritional plan is that is truly does display how crappy food becomes when it has been killed of any nutritional value, processed beyond recognition, covered in grease and trans fat and served to BILLIONS every year.

The house of McRaunch isn’t the only place you can find this type of food but it is the poster child for it.

In happiness, health and a little cheeky fun!

Mike C

The value of a recovery week

It’s time to take a recovery week. I likely should have taken this week before starting my 30 runs in 30 days but I found myself “inspired” and didn’t do it.  Add a very long 13 hour day of crouching and taking photos of little hockey players…and you get a silly soft tissue injury (lower back and groin). It was a silly little off-balance thing where someone bumped me while I was squatting down and “TWEAK” there it was.

I have blogged about recovery weeks before but this is a different way to look at this often overlooked training tool. Yes you heard me right…a training tool!  Recovery weeks don’t mean just sit and do nothing but rather take a break from serious fitness.  Take a walk, light stretch an easy bike ride…something light.

Think of your body as a machine. When we are active in our fitness pursuits whether it be endurance, sport specific fitness, power lifting, body building or anything in between; we stress our bodies.

Stressing your body by working out rigorously is the only way to achieve results in whatever category you fall into. Running, lifting, intervals, plyometrics and the higher stress exercise regimens that we follow are challenging our body’s ability to recover after each and every workout.

A planned rest/recovery week is not only advised; it is critical to your success! Our body needs a chance to “relax” and “recharge” in order to ensure we are maximizing our gains during our training weeks. Every 12 weeks is the standard accepted period of time, however you can take it earlier if you are feeling burned out. Don’t confuse “burnout” with “lack of motivation”. You should really push yourself to do your best for the 12 weeks and then plan your rest week.

Another side of this is recovery is the mental side. When we are truly focused and training hard and with intensity; our minds are under stress to keep that mental edge and to force our body to perform at a higher level. A recovery week allows you to relax a bit and to focus your thoughts on other things.

The benefit of a recovery week is also a good time to revisit your nutritional and fitness plans. During this week, you are going to need a lot less food due to the decrease in output. You need to use this time to adjust, tweak and try new things to help you refocus on your nutrition.

You can also use this week to plan out your next 12 weeks of workouts. Ideally you should be practicing a good method of periodization which will change your routine at regular time intervals.

This practice helps to keep the body from adapting (we do that VERY well) and can be anything from varying your exercise selection, weight load, rep count, set count, rest period or any combination of those. Your periodization can be based on a weekly switch, a daily mix up or just a nice complete change every 4-6 weeks.

If you are like me, often times you make an excuse to keep going without a rest. I just started a new routine or I have to look good in the bridesmaids dress or I am ALMOST at 405 on the bench or I am doing this 30 runs in 30 days challenge and I feel INSPIRED!

The trick is..PLAN your week off, plan your workouts, plan your periodization an most of all plan on having a well deserved rest so you can start fresh in only 7 days!

In happiness and (rested) health as always!

Mike C.

30 runs in 30 days

My friend Arthur is a talented athlete who competes in numerous Triathlons. He caught my Facebook post (http://www.facebook.com/mike.cheliak?v=feed&story_fbid=191291465882#) where I admitted that I can’t run worth crap (I really can’t).

Arthur being the nice guy that he is suggested I take a 30 day challenge. The challenge is to run for at least 20 minutes every day for 30 days. You don’t need to break any land speed records (as slow as 4MPH on a treadmill is fine). The key is to run every day whether on a treadmill or on the road.

Since I do 20 minutes of interval work on most workout days and some kind of activity on off days, I decided that I could fit this in to my routine.

I am about at the end of my “Get Big” stage and now sit at 215 pounds which is about 20 pounds heavier than my happy place. I am just shy of 5’7” and built like a fire hydrant. You can see where my lack of running ability is rooted! 30 days of running will lean me back to my Greyhound like physique (HAHAHAHAHAHA), OK my leaner fire hydrant look.  I don’t figure to cut down 20 pounds in 30 days but 12-15 is likely.

I am going to switch off my current 4 day split routine and start the Turbulence Training 2K9 Fusion workout which is a 3 day split (Mon, Wed and Fri). The only thing I am changing (sorry Craig!) is that I am running for at least 20 minutes after each workout instead of doing the intervals, which by the way are a LOT of fun!

Nutrition wise, I won’t change much except eating less.  I do lose the processed food when I am am leaning down and don’t eat any bread or pasta at all.  I get all my carbs from veggies including potatoes and yams and whole grain like brown rice.  The key (YA, NO, DUH) when leaning out it to EAT LESS!  I also practice an intermittent fasting routine called Eat Stop Eat.  I do two fasts per week when cutting down.

I love a challenge and this one is going to be tough. Not because the task is so daunting but because this is something that I am not very good at and something that I just don’t do very often.

It may not be pretty but I can promise you one thing… I will do it!

Thanks for the inspiration Arthur (I think).

In happiness and health as always!

Mike C.

Princess Margaret Hospital 5K Your Way

VISIT THE PHOTO GALLERY

How do you Conquer Cancer?  You do something about it!  I cover a number of events for the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation and it NEVER ceases to amaze me the amount of truly inspiring people who are among us.

Today was no different.  In the midst of one of the largest Marathon Races in Canada, the PMHF held the 5K Your Way to Conquer Cancer.  Add around 3000 dedicated Champions of this great cause and what do you get?  Over $900,000.00 of money raised to help Conquer Cancer in our Lifetime!

The math is simple but the formula is not.  To put on an event such as this you need to have a highly dedicated, motivated and talented group of people.  The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation is lucky to have these people!  Participants, volunteers and sponsors complete the equation and the result is once again; a beautiful dedication to a most worthy cause.

Congratulations to all!

In happiness and health as always.

Mike C

Easy Curried Chick Pea and Vegetable Stew

The one thing you will start doing as you begin exploring spices and different cultural cuisines is experimenting with spices. Curry for instance is a very diverse spice mixture. It varies from region to region, from country to country and even from family to family.

Curry is all about your preferences, spicier, more aromatic or more savoury and the list goes on. Most recipes of curry powder usually include coriander, turmeric, cumin, and fenugreek in their blends. Depending on the recipe, additional ingredients such as ginger, garlic, fennel seed, cinnamon, clove, mustard seed, green cardamom, black cardamom, mace, nutmeg, red pepper, long pepper, and black pepper may also be added.

If you don’t feel quite that adventurous, just go to your local East Indian or Asian Grocer and ask for a good curry blend based on your preference. If that fails, you can find a decent curry in most grocery stores. You might even find a decent imported curry powder in some grocery International sections.

INGREDIENTS
14 ounce can of Chick Peas (Rinsed)
2 TBLSP oil
1 cup coarsely chopped onion
1 cup coarsely chopped carrots
1 cup coarsely chopped celery
1 finely diced hot Asian Chile Pepper (Asian food market – very hot! And optional)
2 cloves minced garlic
2 TBLSP chopped fresh ginger
3 TBLSP Hot Curry Powder (or your own curried spice mix)
1 20 ounce can of diced tomatoes (no salt added)
1 cup vegetable stock

METHOD
Heat the oil over medium heat in a med-large sauce pan. Add the onion, carrots and celery and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add the hot pepper, garlic and ginger and continue to sweat the mixture for another 2 minutes. Add the curry powder and mix very well. Continue to heat and stir constantly so the curry becomes very aromatic. Add the vegetable stock and mix to loosen the veggies and spices. Add the chick peas and the diced tomatoes.

Cover and simmer for at least 45 minutes. At this point, you can adjust the salt seasoning if needed. I always let this sit off the heat for a little while to let the flavours mingle. I store this in the fridge in a glass container with a lock top. It lasts for at least a week unless you eat it all!

Serve with an aromatic Basmati rice (add some whole cardamom seeds and cloves to the water when you are cooking it. Remove the seeds and cloves after cooking…YUMMO!

In happiness and health as always!

Mike C.

My guide to a better quality workout

Quality Workouts

Everyone who works out will tell you that they have “on” and “off” days at the gym. Sometimes you just don’t feel it and sometimes you do.

Is there a magic formula to getting that edge we all look for? Not exactly, but there are a few things you can do to give yourself the best possible level of energy to complete a good workout.

Pre-Feeding?
Most gym goers think that you need to “fuel the fire” before you hit the iron. While it’s true that you need energy, the worst thing you can do is scarf down a big meal before going to work out.

Eating anything substantial less than an hour before working out is a recipe for a bad workout. Why? The digestive process requires energy and the initial stage of digestion (which takes the most energy) lasts anywhere from 1-3 hours depending on your meal.

What does this mean? The best likely scenario is that you get a chance to feed a few hours before working out. If this isn’t possible, you should limit the amount of food you intake prior to your gym time. Have some yogurt, fruit or something relatively simple with some basic carbs to fire you up.

Pre-workout/workout drinks
I am not a HUGE fan of fitness supplements but they do have a place in any fitness regimen to some degree. I have a little concoction that I use when I work out. This is a nice little mix of carbs, protein and supplements to help you last through your workout. Is if for everyone…NOPE…I just happen to think it works for me.

10 ounces of good quality pure Orange Juice (I like Tropicana)
2 ounces of POM (Pomegranate Juice)
1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
1 Scoop Creatine
1 Scoop Glutamine
Ice cubes to make your liquid fill a 20 ounce hydration bottle

Before you go to the gym, drink a good 16 ounces of water (room temp – don’t ask why just do it). Start sipping your workout matrix very slowly about 15 minutes before you hit the gym. Continue drinking it slowly as you workout. Make sure you have some water set aside for post workout hydration.

Stimulants
Can you say controversial? Yep! I don’t really have any opinion about stimulant use except to advise that you should really be careful with them. Even the garden variety “over the counter” brands have potentially nasty side effects.

I don’t do the pill form stimulant thing anymore, but I DO LOVE COFFEE! I have one large coffee in the morning and before I go to the gym I have a single espresso (made on my nice old Bialetti stove top espresso maker) before I head out to the gym. I find it really makes a difference in the energy of my workout and my overall focus. You may not, I DO!

Quality before quantity
This is likely the most important thing you need to adhere to. Whether you are a true iron pumping meathead (like I tend to be), a fit and lithe woman looking to tweak her look just a little more or just an average person looking to get more fit; YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE YOU DO THE EXERCISE PROPERLY!!!!

You can completely sabotage your results by doing half assed reps of exercises you can’t even pronounce while rushing through your routine to get to the open cardio confessional (that is for another day).

Quality over quantity pertains not just to the amount of reps but also to the weight you use. You need to study the correct movement of the exercises you are doing. There are THOUSANDS of sites online that show you how to do it right.

My suggestion is to book a Personal Trainer for about 10 sessions to really explain the correct way to do things. A good PT won’t just sit you on a machine and say do it; they will build your plan according to your needs and will explain and teach you how to do it right.

Get Mental
Not GO mental…get mental. Sometimes you just need to get your head around it. My suggestion is to schedule your weekly calendar including your work schedule, personal events, family time, party time and without a doubt…WORKOUT TIME!

Nothing gets you prepared for a good gym session than knowing well in advance when it is going to be. Make it an appointment that you can’t break…PERIOD!
NUFF SED?
While I am not a certified expert, I have studied and educated myself over a long period of time. What works for me may not always work for another person. The thing to remember is that you are learning and educating yourself and there is always value in trying something new (as long as it isn’t REALLY weird or dangerous).

Keep learning…I do!

In happiness and health as always!

Mike C.

How not to finish a Mountain Bike Race

There are many people who will tell you the deepest, darkest secrets of fitness, training, nutrition and competition.  What you will very rarely find is someone like me who is going to tell you the cold, hard truth about the things you need to do to ensure you DON’T complete your race.

Sunday September 13th, 2009
I woke up with a sore throat.  I was at the Wasaga Beach Triathlon/Half Marathon weekend doing what I do best…taking FANTASTIC photos of all the hard working athletes.  I stayed hydrated and made the best of it.

Monday September 14th, 2009
I felt like shit!  Sinus congestion, cough, irritated throat and general crappy feeling.  I managed a half assed workout but my heart was NOT in it.

Tuesday September 15th, 2009
I felt like shit!  Sinus congestion, cough, irritated throat and general crappy feeling.  I did as little as possible.  Got up…did mostly nothing…went for a nap…drove the kids around…went to bed.

Wednesday September 16th, 2009
I felt like shit!  Managed to sit in front of the computer for a bit and then I had a nap, had chicken broth for supper and went to bed.

Thursday September 17th, 2009
I still feel like crap but I now have Flonase which cleared up my sinus issue.  I went for a 20K trail ride (really just a VERY LIGHT RIDE).  I felt like crap!  My energy was really low and my breathing was not bad but still a bit laboured from the cold.

Friday September 18th, 2009
I paid for yesterday’s ride

Saturday September 19th, 2009
Lakeside II Triathlon Weekend day one.  I now have very little voice left thanks to cough-o-mania.  Up at 6:30AM, out the door at 7:30AM, on site at 9:15 AM.  Started shooting at 10AM and finished around 5:50PM, left the site and got home around 7:40PM.  I FEEL LIKE SHIT!  Process what I can and off to bed.

Sunday September 20th, 2009
Lakeside II Triathlon Day 2.  I REALLY FEEL LIKE SHIT!  Off I go again to a shorter day of shooting.  I manage to make it through and I sounded like a cast member of the Soprano’s.

Monday September 21st, 2009
Processed all the weekend and relaxed…still not feeling great.

Tuesday September 22nd, 2009
Did a 20K ride around the easier trails today.  Made it through, still feel like shit!

Wednesday September 23rd, 2009
Today is the first day I actually feel like I have any energy at all.  Went to the gym and did a light push/pull/big/small/core workout.  Didn’t really feel great but at least I hoisted some iron!  Rode to and from at an easy pace and felt OK.

Thursday September 24th, 2009
Out for a little rigourous ride.  It did NOT go well.  I had to stop a couple times just to recover.

Friday September 25th, 2009
Not feeling great but pushing through.  Just a doggie walk today.  Getting ready for the Milton TRiKiDS event tomorrow. 

Saturday September 26th, 2009
Feeling a lot better and the TRiKiDS Triathlon is a really fun series to photograph.  The event was from 9:30 until nearly 4PM.  I squatted ALL DAY!  As any good photographer will tell you, you HAVE to shoot at the level of your subject. Anything else looks stupid.  I did bodyweight squats for around 6.5 hours straight!  If you have any concept of quad workouts, I guarantee you would have a lot of trouble making it through this one!

Sunday September 27th, 2009 RACE DAY
After I woke up, I should have decided not to race.  Instead, I prepared myself.  Light simple food for breakfast along with some really heavy coffee for some energy.  Lots of hydration before the race and a nice 2-3K ride warmup followed by a good core and leg stretch session (yes I know what I am doing).

THE RACE
I really felt pretty good going into this.  It had rained pretty much for the last couple days and somewhat heavy at times.  Last night was really a good downpour so I knew the course would be yucky.  I didn’t mind.

I started out great.  The first couple stages weren’t particularily tough and were just a bit mucky.  Once we started getting into the hilly sections of the escarpment, things changed!  Several racers were wiping out on the short bridges and narrow trails and most of us were walking our bikes up the bigger hills.

My first wipe out was on a small (6 foot long) wooden bridge.  As soon as I hit it, my bike went left.  Not a bad still but still a little pain.  I picked up and continued to Hydro Hill (Nasty piece of work).  I made it up via ride/walk as did most. 

Another 3km up, I decided I was too clean and wiped out once again.  This time was a little down hill (off trail) slolom.  I ditched about 20 feet off the trail but managed to push back up.  My quads at this point were “tweaked” to say the least.  The previous day of Squat Fest was now starting to rear it’s ugly face.

I managed to push through anothere 7 km or so and then I wiped out one more time.  After getting up this time, my quads said “STOP” and I agreed.  It took me a good 30 minutes just to get my quads to release.  My cramping was so bad at this point that I had to sit in the MOKUSO position to engage my quads so they wouldn’t spasm.

The morale of this story is simple.  I do this stuff to have fun.  When it ceases to be fun due to whatever the reason, I stop.  No matter of “must complete” mentality will make up for the fact that I really shouldn’t have started this race in the first place.  I really shouldn’t have done this race given the couple of weeks I had previous to the event but I did.

I DID have fun (until my body said it wasn’t fun). My fun is played between the limits of what I am able to do. On a good day, this race would have been doable and fun…on this day…mail it in Mr. Rockefeller, this boy is going home!

Whatever you do…just have fun.  Don’t beat yourself up when you don’t “hit the mark” and don’t make excuses “not to participate”.  Just do what you can , what you enjoy and what gives you a sense of fun.

In Happiness and Health as always!

Mike C.

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In happiness and health as always!

Mike C