Thanksgiving & Hemingway

It was a CASS-Free Thanksgiving here in Canada. It was also PTA-Free (Planes, Trains, Automobiles-Free). But it was warm enough for a bike ride and a couple of comfortable dog walks. Unfortunately all of the snow melted and now it doesn't seem very Christmassy.

Wednesday night I had a Canadian Thanksgiving feast of grass-fed hot dogs wrapped in Paleo coconut wraps. I really don't know what to think about that. Feel free to judge me!

Anyways, for Friday's deadlift workout, there was some AM caffeine and a protein supplement with stevia for lunch.

Today's Workout:

1A) Hang Clean - hit PB of 135x9
1B) Mobility/Abs

2A) Rack Pull
2B) Mobility

3A) Military Press
3B) Leg Curl

Now for a deload week and then one last 3-week heavy cycle to end 2015.

Decent list of health tips...
=> http://www.msn.com/en-ca/health/well...id=mailsignout

Today's Kickbutt Mindset Tip:
If you fall “off the wagon” cut your losses, don’t worry about it, and get right back on track. Immediately. It’s minor damage that can be dealt with.

Stay STRONG!

Almost everyone goes overboard this week…BUT don’t let one day become 30+ days of bad eating and no exercise until January. Let's relax and get back on track. Don’t wait till New Year’s Day to eat healthy again.

Have a great weekend,

Craig Ballantyne, CTT

PS - Way off topic...

I recently finished Hemingway’s compilation of The Nick Adams Stories. It’s believed these stories represent Hemingway himself, growing up in Michigan, exorcising his World War I demons, and moving into marriage and adulthood.


“Nick Adams…emerges clearly as the first in a long line of Hemingway’s fictional selves,” writes scholar Philip Young in the preface. The compilation is not old Hem’s finest work, you are better off to start with Moveable Feast if you want a Hemingway ‘biography’.


The Adams stories are early work and rough drafts, but the book is a must-read for anyone seeking the full Hemingway experience, as I am. It gives valuable insight as to what drove Hemingway to write.

On page 238, from the short story, On Writing:

“He wanted to be a great writer. He was pretty sure he would be. He knew it in a lot of ways. He would in spite of everything. It was hard, though.

It was hard to be a great writer if you loved the world and living in it and special people. It was hard when you loved so many places. Then you were healthy and felt good and having a good time and what the hell.

He always worked best when Helen (Nick Adam’s wife) was unwell. Just that much discontent and friction. Then there were times when you had to write. Not conscience. Just peristaltic action. Then you felt sometimes like you could never write but after a while you knew sooner or later you would write another good story.…It wasn’t conscience. It was simply that it was the greatest pleasure.”