Alcohol and I

I want to give you an interesting story that probably made me venture into this exciting field of physical education and exercise. I actually started going out to clubs and dancing halls when I was about sixteen years. This was a time that I would pay to go to a club exclusively to dance, and boy, I could really dance as I had two excellent feet. Back then, I recall, young girls happened to find me quite popular due to my dance strokes and if twitter was there back then, I could probably have had a lot of young beautiful girls following me. Alcohol, to me, then was so repugnant and I totally abhorred it, as I found it so uncool and uncouth.

Fast forward to three years later after my first club experience, alcohol was soon to become a good friend of mine thanks to a long quote I had read from an intelligent man called Cliff Clavin from Cheers England whose quote I've never forgotten up to date. He said, and I quote…

  “A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. So when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. The human brain works that way too. It only operates as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. So, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That’s why you always feel smarter after a few beers.”

Interestingly I found sense in that statement and started drinking heavily to kill my weak brain cells and also remain smart (stupid thing to do, u must agree)! One day on a bright Sunday afternoon, I had one too many, and opted to go to what was called ‘Sunday Jam Session’, in a popular club in my small town. Upon reaching there, I found the most masculine bouncer at the door, so big was his thighs, that I thought he had put on extra trousers to accentuate his size. In my drunken stupor, I stepped inside without showing my receipt and hand stamp as I felt I didn't need to pay for entrance, and instead opted to go buy more drinks. Once inside, the huge dude came after me and to say the least, he really thrashed me, strangled and embarrassed me in front of my friends and probably potential suitors.

I was thrown out of the club after a severe beating and told to go home. I did go home, and that incident made me feel so weak and inadequate and it got so entrenched in my mind that from then henceforth, I made a decision to work on my physique and be in a better situation to defend myself in future, thus my interest in exercise and physical education. I’m a reformed fellow now, not as huge as that man, but to say the least, am still working out to be like him!

  So what really made you venture into your career?

LESSON FROM AN 83 YEAR OLD MAN

What really motivates us? What really made our First lady, 50 years old Mrs. Margaret Kenyatta decide to run a 42 km marathon in London and finish? What motivated the 83 year old Mzee John Ruengo Gituchi to finish the Lewa marathon, Nairobi and Nyeri half marathon with all the young men and women towing behind him right up to the finish line? In my teens, I remember going for a dance in a popular night club in my small town around mount Kenya region and to my amazement saw a man the age of my grandpa around 70 years dancing in rhythmical steps with a young lady of about 25 years and the way he was synchronizing with the steps and his adjustment to the beat left me in overwhelming feeling of admiration and sure the senior citizen had the coolest moves I’ve ever seen from a man his age.

Not to delve into old age and motivation only, I have a friend of mine from a place called Chaka, Nyeri, who got a nickname’ Rhino boy’ for his motivation into protecting the endangered rhinos single handedly. This unemployed young man woke up one morning and decided that he had to do something about the problems of rhino poaching. He decided to walk for more than 762 kilometers around Aberdare National Park to seek funds for the electrification of the park. His initial target was to raise Ksh5 million. Well, he raised Ksh 3 million earnestly and conscientiously and offered all that money to the KWS (Kenya Wildlife Service).

I cannot probably say that there is much I do out of the ordinary, as my life revolves around normalcy and I don’t normally venture much out of the ordinary.  But that doesn't mean that I can’t wake up one day and do something that I thought I would never do. Everything lies in being motivated. Having that spirit, that inner flame that ignites you to do something, the strong urge to change your life, your relationship, your society, your health, your finances, your style etc. You don’t have to sit up and think of a very big project. Don’t end up with a white elephant, rather being motivated means you can start on your journey into change by being determined and persistent all through. Let me share with you a quote I heard from a friend of mine called Gerrishon Thuo that "Mcdonald Mariga is only great because he goes where the ball is going. It's all about following your passion".

HOW I WISH.

I wish I could have done this earlier. I wish I could be more focused on my goals, I wish I could not have waited for this long to a point of where I am now. Do you ever feel that what you ever wanted to be or your goals in life are being delayed by your procrastination s and the usual “I will do it tomorrow”? To say the least, that’s me, I have always wished for a lot of things in this life, like marrying, getting kids, getting a second degree, being very good at what I do, and most important of all, making a change in this world no matter how small.

I have seen some skinny people who really need to pack up some mass or add weight for several reasons, some including, professional, personal or social reasons. Same way I have met some obese people in my line of work coming to see me or even in boxing me here on social media about their need to lose weight and to help, I provide tons and tons of information and once I follow up on them weeks or even months later I get the same answers of”… ooh…u know… well… I actually…”  line of defense. To say the least, the strong urge to change is always there but the flesh is weak.

I have been learning something very important as days go on, that no matter what u think of doing, do it now, I have always thought of doing blogs, I downloaded lots of ‘how to blog’ videos on you tube and actually got some good knowledge on blogging. I had on earlier always been telling myself that Ill open up a blog, but I would always be online but I guess I would just feel lazy, lazy because I probably feared the work that comes with a blog, since blogging is such a serious venture as you allow people in your world and let them read your mind and your thoughts. I actually feel that If I had known, I could have done this earlier.

I probably know that you also have  goals that you need to achieve but there is that small voice inside you telling you to wait. Just know that if you listen to it you will reach a point where you will regret not doing what u have always wished to start and later on regret that  you could have done it earlier, otherwise I have a favorite saying that I like and I quote” It does not matter how slowly i go as long as i do not stop”. So start up on your goal, and manage your weight. In no time you will not regret and once you look at where you started from, you will be glad and happy for yourself.

Which body type are you?

I have met a lot of people out there with different shapes and figures. Others have stood out with their curvaceous bodies that seem to hug their clothes, holding them tightly thereby making them walk in high regard. I have seen ladies in our streets, scantily swaying their bodies as if there are synchronizing to a beat. Just like u too, I have met huge men, with wide chests, huge biceps and well-toned muscles. They know the value of their size and some are always looking for opportunities to be the center of attention; they will be the ones to make the final decisions when it comes to street justice or in any argument. Just opposing with their opinions is seen as a threat and they will in most cases push their agendas on you by force. Woe unto you if you are the skinny type.

The skinny types are many and I see them a lot in the streets of Nairobi every day, they are always walking very fast thanks to their light bodies. They also speak fast and their life is all about speed. The light weights know they are fast enough and will always take advantage of you especially if you are waiting for them somewhere. They, in most cases will always tell you they are on the way coming while they have not even taken a shower to leave the house. Interestingly, they will appear at the last minute, panting heavily, the second you thought of leaving and you will be surprised to hear that they did not even catch a ‘mat’. We admire their spirit, but secretly, they want to gain weight and pack on some mass but unfortunately, they don’t like eating, since most of them have a very poor appetite, unlike their counterparts, the stout ones.

The stout type, is that lady or gentleman who wears loose clothes or ‘tents’(an obese lady once in boxed me and told me she is tired of wearing tents). This are the people you see on the streets and you are like, “how with all the hunger in Turkana do you become so huge because of eating”? This lot is more desperate than the skinny type to manage their weight, but unfortunately, they have a ‘sweet tooth’. You will see them eating all sorts of junky foods on the streets, are never late for lunch and in case, they know lunch will be a little late, they will carry something to nimble as they wait. They might have tried to lose weight several times by dieting but with no avail. They might also have bought aerobics, Zumba or Taebo training DVDs after secretly admiring the trainers’ six packs and zeal of energy. They might have tried to work out once or twice, but got bored after breaking a few sweats. Either way, when this type of people realize that losing weight is not easy, they result to feign that big is beautiful and often use the phrase ‘real men eat meat not bones’.

They are others too,

Don't care type who don’t care about their weight, they last weighed themselves five years ago, and the idea of going to a gym is foreign. They think they are worse problems in this world than knowing about your weight and they eat whatever comes their way. They don’t understand the hustle people who have weight issues go through and they normally fall in their ideal weight category. Such people who live sedentary lifestyles are on the forefront when it comes to the prevalence of hypokinetic diseases like diabetes, hypertension and cardio vascular diseases. They consider themselves to be fit because they are slender and do not suffer from any disease. However, as time goes by, coupled with a poor diet and inactivity their conditions deteriorate and they succumb to hypokinetic illnesses.

SO WHICH TYPE ARE YOU?