All the Pasta Without All the Carbs ~ Golden Gloves Training Update

             
                                                                         ENTRY 12

ALL THE PASTA WITHOUT ALL THE CARBS

I don't think I am much unlike other people, I love pasta. However, as an athlete, especially one who needs to monitor weight, pasta is often not an option. 
Pasta, like bread products, is made from wheat.
Wheat contains sugars in the form of carbohydrates that are processed by the body to fat very quickly.


Now, there is a pasta option for those who are on a low-carb diet.

nuPasta is not made from wheat, so it does not contain the sugary carbohydrates of regular pasta.
It is made from konjac.
I tried it for the first time yesterday.

First of all, it is very expensive. Where a serving of regular pasta costs about 50 cents, this costs $4.

However, it is pre-cooked, and only needs to be warmed up.

The first thing I noticed after opening the package was the odd smell.  
Usually pasta does not have an odor, but this one smells like fish.
Although, it was not meant to be eaten alone. Once sauce is on it, the smell is not so bad.

Also, it has an odd texture. Even with regular pasta when fully cooked still has a firmness to it.
This pasta has a rubbery texture. 

I think that with all of these, once you start eating it more often, you will get used to the odor and texture.
The only thing you will probably not get used to is the price tag. Even then, once more people start buying it, the price will decrease a bit.

The big bonus is that a serving of nuPasta has only 25 calories. Served with a healthy veggie sauce. and you have a great meal for those who like pasta but not the calories.

Overall, a decent healthy choice, but may take a while to get used to the differences.

nuPasta is available in Ontario at Metro.




T-MINUS THREE WEEKS



It is less than three weeks to the Golden Gloves. This will be my first Golden Gloves tournament.
This tournament also includes the Ontario Championships.
I have been training very hard, six times per week. 
Now, I have been forced to cut back due to work.
Some asshole quit without notice, so now the rest of us have to fill in those shifts until they find someone else. That includes my Saturday morning and Monday evening, both sparring sessions. 
It bothers me to lose sparring time so close to the Gloves.
However, maybe if I kiss coach's butt, he can either move Saturday sparring to later, or to Friday. That means only losing one session instead of two.

I am checking my stats daily on my fancy "Before A Boxing Tournament" scale.
As of yesterday: 80.9 kg (81.0 max. for the tournament). 
Body fat percentage at 17.2, down from 18.1. Muscle mass percentage at 43.2 up from 41.8. Both of these are based on measurements from this time last year.
BMI is at 24.0, considered by the WHO as 'normal' or 'healthy' for my age bracket. Down from 25.0 this time last year.

My goal is to get fat percentage to below 15, and muscle percentage to above 45.
Both are possible.

As I say often: With a little bit of effort and a lot of determination, nothing is impossible.

--The Brick

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Not the 'I' In Team

               
                                                                         ENTRY 11

NOT THE 'I' IN TEAM




Hello everyone. I know it has been a while since I have posted anything here, but I have been really busy.

I thought I would take a bit of time to update everyone on what I am doing in the world of boxing.

Before I continue with this longer-than-usual entry, I want to say that with Golden Gloves training camp starting next week, I will not have much time to write here, but I will do my best to update everyone on my progress the best I can.

The Golden Gloves will be in December. About five weeks from now.
Coach has not yet posted the roster for the Golden Gloves. Although, I have expressed interest in going since I have never been in a Golden Gloves.
I really don't see me not being on the roster, since I have been working very hard.

That brings me to another point. Something I call the 'Grandpa Syndrome'. 
Let me explain to you what that is.
It is a phenomenon that has stalled my progress in boxing over the past four years.

I have been in boxing for six years, and competitively for four years. My skills as a boxer should be a lot higher than they are. The reason they are not is because of the 'Grandpa Syndrome'.
You see, for some reason, boxing coaches do not like working with the Masters. I have seen this happen to myself quite a few times. 
A coach will work with me for a few months, and then some new, younger guys come along, and the coach then changes focus onto them.
That happened twice at Stockyards. With Richard, and then again with Will.
Then we all know about the disaster of me changing sanctioning to the Ontario Boxing Association, which I am trying to forget, and therefore will no longer talk about it.

An athlete's progress should always be climbing. It should not flatline for a long period of time. My progress has been stalled many times and for too long,
I decided that this had to stop, and I had a lot of progress to make up.

Last May, when I decided to go back to Boxing Ontario, I went through a rather long selection process to find a new coach.
There were several reasons I chose to not return to Stockyards. In addition to the 'Grandpa Syndrome', overcrowding was another. 

I chose Coach Billy because I thought he would be different.
However, when I first met him and told him I was in Masters division, he said that he had never had a Master on his team before, and he seemed to lose interest in me before even meeting me.
That sent a warning flag up the pole: 'Grandpa Syndrome'!

I don't understand why many coaches don't like training Masters. 
It is not as if we train any differently. We are just like any other boxer. A coach does not have to change his entire training plan just because a Master shows up.

Last week I did get a bit annoyed because I was taken out of the boxers' training and into the regular class that contained mostly beginners.
Now, I don't mind helping the beginners. However, this happened three times in a row. 
I need to advance myself.  If I feel I am being held back, that is a sign of 'Grandpa Syndrome', and that will piss me off.
I have a lot of catching up to do. I can not afford to be doing any farting around.
If coach needs to kick my butt, do it. At least that is an indication that he cares about my training.

Like I said, I don't mind helping, occasionally. I am not the 'I' in 'team'.
We have one of those. Every team has one,
You know where the 'I' is located?
In the A-hole.

They should just shorten it to what it really means: "The 'I' in 'team' is the A-hole".

Anyway, that being said, I put a lot of time and effort into boxing.  I make a lot of sacrifices for the sport. I also work very hard at it. I never sit out of an exercise and I never quit an exercise. I always do my best in all aspects of training.
I don't act like Grandpa. I don't deserve to be treated like Grandpa.

This week marks my 6-month anniversary training at Xtreme Couture Toronto.
I have to say that since joining Xtreme Couture, I have seen a steady advance in my skills.

It seems that they have a decent coaching staff.
I hope this continues, and we don't fall back into the 'Grandpa Syndrome'.

Although I usually don't discuss training specifics on this post in case future opponents are reading, there is one thing I do want to mention.
Coach Billy has pointed out that I am too stationary when I am boxing, and that may be a big reason as to why I have been so unlucky with the judges. I don't do enough in the ring. You don't score points but just standing around. Moving around is what gets you points. 
The coaches have been conducting drills on this.
I have to say this is the first time I have seen boxing coaches do that.
This seems like something very basic, but of all my past coaches, none have drilled this.
They all taught offense, and defense, and footwork, but none have taught how to integrate them.
That takes a lot of coordination, You gain the coordination by doing it.

A common drill we do is "1,2,3,slip,2,3,4." In English that is an offense, a defense, and a counter-offense.
Sometimes the coach with throw in some lateral movement, "1,1,1, move to the  right, roll,2,3". 
That is three jabs while moving, then a defensive move, and a counter.
That is a good drill because it integrates everything.

It is easy to practice outside the ring, but the difficult part is translating it into the ring while you have another man in front of you trying to hit you.
Once you can translate drills into sparring, it is easy to take what you do during sparring and use it in competition.

I have always found it difficult to translate drills and bag work into sparring, until now.
I am usually frustrated after sparring because I had always felt like I could have done something better.
However, there was a big change this past Wednesday during the sparring session. I worked on the drills coach did with me in class. For the first time ever, I felt like I had a constructive sparring session. I felt really good after.

I am beginning to feel that over the past six months I have progressed substantially compared to the previous year or more.

Maybe I was right about Coach Billy, after all.
Perhaps I could see myself actually winning something, preferably before I move to Open class.
Speaking of, I currently have eight bouts. That means that after two more, I will be in the Masters Open division. 
Open division Masters do two-minute rounds.

I have to say that I really enjoy the 90-second rounds that I do now. They go really fast, and I can enjoy it for two more bouts. 
Believe me, that extra 30-seconds makes a big difference in boxing.

Here is hoping to have a great athlete-coach relationship for a long time at Xtreme.
All I ask is to not treat me like Grandpa. 
I am not Grandpa. I am a boxer like all the rest of the team.

--The Brick.


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