You have to cheer the only Canadian NHL team.........

As a Leafs fan for thirty eight long years I grew up disliking The Montreal Canadiens and enjoy the rivalries I have formed with friends & family who cheer them on. When Montreal was the only Canadian team to make the playoffs this year just about everyone I talked to said "I"m cheering for Montreal as they're the only Canadian team in the playoffs"

Some might say I'm just "A Disgruntled Leafs Fan" but that's not the case at all. I will cheer on any other team aside from Montreal, Vancouver or Ottawa. (The Oilers, Flames & Jets are alright in my books)

The thing I heard the most is "Don't you want the Stanley Cup back in Canada"

Out of the four teams left in the NHL Playoffs The Los Angeles Kings have the most "Canadian" players so if they were to win the cup The Stanley Cup would have the most visits back to Canada with the players when they get their day with the cup.

Canadians on four remaining teams :
Los Angeles 15
New York Rangers 13
Montreal Canadiens 13
Chicago Blackhawks 9

Someone told me it was "Un-Canadian" & "Un-Patriotic" NOT to cheer for the Habs, well this is the biggest pile of crap I've ever heard in my life. I wear my Team Canada jersey & cheer for Team Canada at the Olympics, World Championships & World Juniors. Part of me even felt a little guilty for cheering Carey Price at the Olympics but as soon as the gold medal was handed out it was back to cheering against him.

"It's Canada Vs USA" No........ No it's not it's the NHL

Do you REALLY think that if it was the Toronto Maple Leafs Vs The New York Rangers Habs fans would be cheering the Leafs? Montreal would root for Toronto like I’d root for a global outbreak of the bird flu.

When Vancouver was in the finals a few years ago Vs. Boston I'm sure everyone in Montreal was cheering them on....... Not likely. They want to be the first team to "Bring the cup back to Canada" and were probalby cheering against the Canucks like the rest of Canada outside of B.C.

Would Boston Red Sox fans cheer on the Yankees if they were playing the Blue Jays in the semi finals? Would all of the USA cheer on the Miami Heat if they were playing the Raptors in the finals? I doubt it.

Who are you cheering for in the Eastern Finals?
	Montreal Canadiens
	New York Rangers
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Losing Weight To Help Homeless & at risk Veterans

In September 2013 I started a weight-loss challenge and as I have tried and failed many times I wanted to come up with a way to stay motivated and not fail again.  "Lose For Food" was born.  I decided I was going to help out two charities with my mission "The Calgary Food Bank" & "V.E.T.S Canada"

I pledged that I would donate $1.00 for every pound I lost in the next 365 days as well as one pound of food for every pound that I lose to the Calgary Food Bank.

Here we are almost nine months later and I have lost 70lbs so far.

Yesterday while checking my email I noticed an email from Anytime Fitness which is the gym where I currently work out.  The email stated they were starting a contest called "Get 10,000 & Give 10,000"

They're giving away $10,000 to the most inspiring story and that person receives $10,000 to pay it forward to someone.

I instantly thought of the folks at V.E.T.S Canada to receive the $10k as I have worked very closely with them over the past few years and have seen first hand the great work they do with Veterans who need assistance.

What would I do with the $10,000 I receive if I win this?  The first thing I will do is buy my lbs in weight-loss in food and donate it to the Calgary Food Bank and top that donation up to $500 along side of it.

I also found out back in November that me and my lady are going to be having our first child in the first few weeks of July.  This money would help us out a lot with things we're going to need for the little one.

A lot of people have asked how I'm losing the weight well the answer is simple, I'm working my a$$ off.  I go to the gym five times a week now and do cardio every day and some circuit training every 2nd day.  I have cut out junk food, pop and take out food and replaced with healthy meals & drink a lot of water.

The original pledge I made to the Calgary Food Bank & VETS Canada helps me stay motivated.  On days when I don't feel like going to the gym I think about the people I'm going to be able to help if I keep working hard and that usually lights a fire under me.

The "Give 10k Get 10k" contest is for all of North America so it's going to take a lot to help us take this one home and be able to donate $10,000 to V.E.T.S Canada as well.

Please consider going to the link below and sending a vote my way & sharing the link to this page on your Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ ect.

If you have never heard of our "Thank A Soldier" page and efforts feel free to check out "The History of Thank A Soldier" 

Thank You
Dave M. - Calgary, AB

CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR MY STORY 

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Updated Photo : June 13th, 2014 - Total Weightloss now at 81lbs

It's OK to put down your smart phone

Smartphones, for most of us, are always within reach, and in most cases they have become an extra appendage. Remember the last time you forgot your phone at home and the ensuing panic that followed until you were reunited with it.
There's even a term for cell phone addiction called "nomophobia," meaning "no mobile phone phobia." For thousands of years, we have operated by having intimate conversations with each other were we laughed, told stories, and connected face to face.

A few weeks ago I was at the Calgary Flames Vs Ottawa Senators game and sitting next to a man who was sitting next to his 4 yr old son. His son was attending his first ever live NHL game and you could tell he was excited. He was asking his dad questions about every play and what was going on.

His dad had his face buried in his smart phone and ignored the boy completely for at least 3 or 4 minutes. The boy stopped talking waiting for a response and the man never said a word. The little boy stared at him and then went right to his soda. Here's this boy as his first NHL game ever a memory he will never forget and here's his father texting away and tweeting photos of how awesome his seats are little does he know the effect he's having on his child.

As someone that attends a lot of concerts & live sporting events this is something I’ve seen more and more. We have forgotten how to enjoy the moment and instead want to post on Facebook & Twitter about how great a time we’re having, yet everyone seems to be glued to their phones.

I feel we have lost the ability to “Enjoy The Moment” and instead need to post the moment on our social media pages. I remember going to my first ever concert when I was in Grade nine Alice Cooper & Motorohead. I couldn't wait for the next day of school to talk about it with my friends about how awesome it was but that doesn't exist anymore.

I used to go out to the pub with friends a few times a week and always had my phone on the table, but then I made a decision to keep my phone in my pocket all night and talk to people. The first night I did this I felt like I was at the bar by myself. The eight people I was with were all glued to their phones tweeting & facebooking their night away. 

I was at a Tim Hortons recently and saw five teenagers sitting in the corner glued to their cell phones and not talking to each other for about thirty minutes straight. They got up to leave, and I saw one of them zombified to his cell phone leave his bag.

I called out to him and said “Hey man you forgot your bag” without even looking from his phone he grabbed his bag I got a "Thanks man!" and he ran after his friends to catch up.

The next time you are on a flight anywhere watch what happens as soon as the plane lands, people are fidgeting, panicking as if that phone in their pocket is a drink of water in the Sahara desert and God forbid their phone has been off for over and hour and someone may have tweeted them, texted or tagged them in a face book photo.

Just remember folks as Juan Pablo would say “Eeetz Ok”

It’s Ok to put down your phone for awhile and enjoy the moment. Maybe call a friend and ask them “What’s New” without checking their facebook page or Twitter timeline to see what they've updated.

Here’s some ideas for how to put your phone away:

Phone stacking – When you go out to the pub with friends friends, institute a rule that you will all pile up your phones on the table, and the first person to grab his or her phone buys everyone at the table a round of drinks.

Focus on being present – Try to engage in the moment, and with the people around you. Use “self-talk” to remind yourself, “I am talking to this person right now”. Staying active can also be helpful. Take time to go on walks, exercise, meditate, and breathe. All of these activities can help people to stay in the present moment.

Take a “Technology Holiday” – Take a day, a weekend or even a week off from your phone and email. Time away from screens can help you reset. You don’t need to be sitting on a lounge chair by the palm trees to put up an away message.

Get a watch – Sometimes we use our phone or computer to tell time. When we do this we may get sucked we may get sucked into another application or email. Having a regular timepiece may spare us those extra temptations.


Now feel free to Tweet or share this write up on your Facebook & Twitter pages 

Snow Day In Newfoundland

This sure made me miss living on The Rock!

Post by Kayla Scott.

A different sort of "Facebook Nomination"

I was taking a scroll through my "Facebook Timeline" a few days ago and noticed a bunch of women posting photo's of themselves wearing no makeup and nominating friends to post the same kind of photo via a "Nomination"

I then stumbled across my cousin Stephen P.'s  Facebook page and saw the following post :

"Someone nominated me for the "photo with no makeup" thing....has to be a mistake. So, i started my own nominating trend: "post a photo of yourself looking disgusted at your own flatulence"

#fartsmellnomination

On the bottom of this post was a "Challenge" to myself & a few others  to post the same sort of photo so OFCOURSE I accepted, this started a chain of photos and for those of you who are sick of looking at the "No Makeup" photos have a look at these and feel free to submit yours.

Here's mine : 

#fartsmellnomination

What does 10,000 calories look like?

Yesterday at the gym I passed a milestone which was burning 10,000 calories in total on the treadmill. I usually do 5KM three times a week on my “Cardio Days” and usually burn 500-600 calories in the 49:00 it takes me to walk 5KM.

The machines I use at Anytime Fitness allow you to log in and track your progress so as you can see in the below photo it took me 17 hours on the treadmill to pass this mark. It got me thinking about how hard I’ve worked to do that and about some of my favourite treats that “Old Dave” used to consume on a very regular basis. So what does 10,000 calories equal?

If you wanted to consume 10,000 calories you could consume any of the following :

75 bottles of Budweiser Beer

18 Big Macs from McDonalds

20 orders of McDonalds Fries (Large Size)

33 bottles of Coke

20 Extra Large Tim Hortons Coffees

23 Bagel B.E.L.T’s from Tim Hortons

37 bags of All Dressed Potato Chips

9 Large Dairy Queen – Oreo Blizzards

21 slices of Meat Lovers Pizza from Pizza Hut

18 Fully Loaded baked potatoes from Wendy’s

105 strips of bacon

116 Chicken Wings - Note I used to go to a “All You Can Eat” wing night on Thursdays for 9.99 the scary thing is I used to consume about five lbs of wings on any given Thursday. That would roughly be about 5000 calories not to mention the amount of alcohol I would also consume would be about 6 or 7 pints of beer so that would be almost 6000 calories on one evening. It makes me sick to my stomach to think about that but when I look at the above list I know I’ll never go back to eating garbage like that.

If you want to keep track of my progress on this journey you can follow @Lose4food on Twitter or keep on eye on The MAIN BLOG PAGE.

Homeless People Are Not "Creatures"

After reading an article in The Metro Calgary about a Face book page started by high school kids that posts photos of videos of homeless people in Calgary,   After working closely with the folks at V.E.T.S Canada (A group which provides assistance to homeless & at risk Canadian Veterans) seeing the posts on this page made me sick to my stomach at the way these people who are just as human as you and I were being portrayed on this public site.

The original page was deleted by Face book but they’re back with a new page called “Creature Sightings” which the caption for the group says “funny pics of indigenous intoxicated interesting individuals”

The saddest thing about this is that everyone on this page doesn't look over twenty years old and they all think these photos and videos are great entertainment at the expense of others misfortune.
I’m in downtown Calgary just about every day and often pass about ten or more homeless people just waking a stretch of five or six blocks.  So the same day I had read this article I decided to walk around downtown Calgary for a few hours and have some conversations with these “Creatures” as the page so describes them.

I first talked to a guy named Joe who was shocked when I asked if I could sit with him and have a chat.  He first was shocked that I wanted to chat with him but we talked for about fifteen minutes.  Joe and his wife had split up after he had been laid off from his job due to cutbacks and when his wife threw him out he decided to live out of his Van for awhile.  He said he had tried going to shelters but would be attacked and have his personal items stolen.    He said to me "If you are not dirty people give you this horrible look like you are a liar or a fraud."  

I asked Joe if he had any family he could contact.

“There is my mother, but she is looking after my little sister and they barely make enough to put food on the table already. I don’t want to make things even harder. That’s what it means to grow up. You have to look after yourself. I know I’m not in a great place now, but I’ll find my feet.”

I gave him a contact number of a friend of mine that manages a warehouse in Calgary who is always looking to give people a chance at a new start and I could see his eyes flood up.    Joe is not a creature, Joe is a human that had a tough break and I have no doubt he will “Find his feet”

Over the next hour I sat down with five different “Homeless Creatures” (As the Face book site referred to them) and none of them had the same story.    One used to be a mortgage broker, Another worked as a professional musician for 25 years.  I spoke with a guy who used to be a truck driver throughout Canada & USA who got addicted to drugs & alcohol and ended up losing his job, his home & his family.

The only common thread was that they lacked a community and shared a reserved and wistful smile that held the memory of better days and a distant hope for the future.

It’s kind of ironic that when you watch the news & view social media that everyone is “Taking a stand against Bullying” yet the same people that are probably wearing their pink shirts on a given day of the month are posting photos on these pages and laughing at the misfortune of others.

A quick search of similar Face book pages brought up several results across Canada with the same “Public Shaming” theme attached to them.  As an example “Only In Hamilton”

The next day this article & their Face book page was still bothering me so I decided to spend a few hours the next day handing out Tim Hortons gift cards not just to “Homeless People” but to random strangers downtown who were walking around looking like zombies on their smart phones or a look on their face like if they smiled their face might crack.  I am not one to post things looking for a pat on the back from anyone however I strongly suggest others might do the same sort of thing.  You will be blown away at the stories and reactions that you receive.

Dave M. – Calgary, Alberta

If you would like to know more about V.E.T.S Canada and they work they do check out their website by clicking the link on the photo below.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE V.E.T.S CANADA PAGE