Eating Like A Champion, Part III: Dinner

"If we consume three meals a day for 1825 days, that’s 5475 meals, which is 5475 opportunities to eat with awareness, to look deeply at what we consume and where it comes from. The power in this idea isn’t in looking at the big picture of 5475 meals, it’s looking at each meal individually."

Above are the words of my UBBT Coach and mentor, Master Tom Callos. He's asked (practically demanded) that as part of my training and education as a martial arts "master teacher" that I master my diet. With that, I present to you, my dinner from the other night.

July 25: Broiled salmon fillet topped with mango salsa, with a side of sauteed seasonal vegetables and saffron rice. (Accompanied by a glass of red wine.)

Now, the most wonderful thing about this meal was not in the eating of it. Not even close, although the meal was absolutely delicious! The most wonderful thing about this meal was in the preparing of it: cooking with my wife in our small kitchen — chopping the vegetables, cleaning the fish, boiling the water — all in wonderful anticipation of sharing the meal in the spirit of gratitude with family (including my mother that evening) and friends (Joy invited a neighbor over for dinner).

I'd never made mango salsa before. Never even thought to. But when I saw the picture in a magazine and realized how EASY it was to make, I just had to go for it. And now I have a new tool in my cooking toolbox.

My daughter picked out the wine (yes, she's only 4) a few weeks ago by choosing a bottle that looked "good" to her. She was right! And now I have a memory of how funny it was to walk the isles of the wine shop with my four year old, and letting her be our faux sommelier for the evening.

The zucchini and the squash came from the garden of a coworker. You can't get more organic or local then getting your veggies from someone you know, who grew the veggies in their own back yard with their own hands and loving care.

The rice? Well, that came from a box. Cut me some slack — I'm still learning!

May each meal be filled with such joy, adventure, and discovery!

Coach Tom goes on to say,

"Dietary self-defense is more of an issue to personal protection than is physical self-defense. There are 1825 days in 5 years. You will sit down to at least 5475 meals in those 5 years. The very next meal you eat is an opportunity to practice the art of living as a martial artist. After the next meal you will have 5474 more training sessions. This isn't a burden, it is a gift."

Thanks, Coach, for a gift I can really use — and share with anyone who cares to sit at the table with me.

Sensei Jason Gould
Emerald Necklace Martial Arts
Boston

Eating Like A Champion, Part II: Lunch

My lunch on July 15: lemon tarragon cashew and chicken salad on a sun-dried tomato wrap with a side of carrots, which I washed down with a small pot of organic green tea. It was delicious!


Now in the interest of full disclosure, I must report that I don't eat like this ALL of the time (my lunch the day before was a chicken Parmesan sub with a side of potato chips, although I did get an unsweetened iced tea to go with it), but I am eating "healthier" much more of the time. I'm very fortunate in that the cafeteria where I work offers a wide variety of inexpensive food choices. The chicken salad wrap, for example, was only $3.95.

And at home, my daughter Ava (who turns 4 this weekend) LOVES to cook with me. I know that eating habits can become "generational," so I'm determined to set a healthy example for her in the kitchen. Ava is a Type I diabetic, so there's never any soda in the house. Snacks are generally healthy and fruit-based. Desserts are rare — and small.

I'm learning. (A quick karate analogy: I've got my white belt on.) And as I learn more about healthy eating (and healthy living), I'm coming to realize that WHAT you eat is critical, but so are the following factors (in no particular order):

• HOW MUCH you eat (portion size)
• WHEN you eat (time of day)
• HOW OFTEN you eat (the FREQUENCY of your meals)
• The ENVIRONMENT in which you eat
• The COMPANY you choose dine with
• The quality of ATTENTION, APPRECIATION, and MINDFULNESS that you bring to the experience of eating

And I'm waking up.

• I'm very lucky in that I have access to abundant healthy food choices. I realize that some people don't have the plethora of options that I usually take for granted.
• I'm even luckier that I have the means to obtain more than enough to eat. I realize that thousands die from malnutrition every day.

Yes, healthy eating is self-defense.

More to come.

An Interesting Week, Full of Interesting People

A quick post for the week: It's been an interesting week, full of interesting people.

UBBT team member Richard Hubbard came down to train with me and a group of my students — read Richard's post here.

I had the great fortune of receiving "darshan" from Mata Amritanandamayi, better known as Amma, "the hugging saint." She was conducting a weeklong retreat down the street from my day job, and I was able to drop in for the portion of her local visit that was open to the public during my lunch break. Neat.

Due to a mix up in scheduling for self-defense classes for children at the Carroll Center for the Blind (two different groups at the Center booked two different instructors for the same timeframe and in the same space), I met Erik Kondo, a parapalegic jujitsu practitioner and self-defense instructor. We made the best of the mix up, taught the class together, and promised to stay in touch for possible collaborations in the future. See Erik in action in the video below.



Lastly, I met several members of the team of martial artists who will be teaching along with me at the Boston Martial Arts Academy next month, as we all gathered together for a quick photo shoot to help promote the event. Imagine instructors from aikido, Brazilian jujitsu, kung fu, karate, hapkido, and capoeira all in one place, each wearing their traditional uniforms. We joked that we looked like a group of superheroes! Will post photos when I get them.

Fun times. I'm loving every minute, with gratitude!

Video Post: My Martial Arts Training, Summer 2010

The things I've been doing, the books I've been reading, the cool people I've been hanging out with, and the opportunities I'm taking this summer to become a better martial artist and Artist of Life.

Eating Like A Champion, Part I

Coach Tom has always encouraged us to "eat like a champion." To master our diet. I'm pleased to report that I've vastly improved my diet since first meeting Coach Tom — In fact, I fondly recall that my first live conversation with him a few years back was on my cell phone while I sat in a pizza shop eating a greasy slice or pepperoni and drinking a cola. (And as you might guess, he nailed me for it.) Well, I still like pizza, but I've learned to incorporate it into a much healthier way of nourishing my body.

Looking back, I've realized that one thing I haven't done yet is carry Coach's valuable message about the importance of diet forward in any real tangible way, so starting this week, from time to time I'll be showing you what I'm eating — not so much as a way of demonstrating my mastery of the subject (ha!), but as a way of showing you what I'm learning and how I'm growing.

So here goes.

Today's breakfast: An apple, a banana but muffin, and a mango smoothie.


More to come!

The 2010 Boston Martial Arts Academy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BOSTON (Allston), Mass., July 6, 2010
Sensei Jason Gould, Director and Chief Instructor of Boston's Emerald Necklace Martial Arts will be teaching the karate section of the 2010 Boston Martial Arts Academy, the city's first ever, day-long, nationally recognized seminar for martial arts enthusiasts. The event will be held on Saturday, August 28 at the Boston Center for Adult Education.

The Boston Martial Arts Academy (BMAA) is a day-long workshop held for martial arts enthusiasts, practitioners, or simply those wishing to learn more about the many martial styles and systems available. Open to students of all levels, the academy is designed to provide information and technique sharing between the many diverse martial arts systems and their respective cultures.

The academy is comprised of both classroom lectures and hands-on demonstration classes. Taught by qualified masters in the field of Martial Arts, this year's style line up will feature lectures and technique classes in: Karate (Japanese Style), Krav Maga (Israeli Style), Capoeira (Brazilian Style), Tae Kwon Do (Korean Style), Kung Fu (Chinese Style), Jiu-Jitsu (Brazilian Style), Aikido (Japanese Style) and Tai Chi (Chinese Style).Additional details about the BMAA — including registration information — can be found here. More information about Sensei Jason Gould or Emerald Necklace Martial Arts can be found at www.karateinboston.com.


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