Instructor Spotlight: Mr. Aaron

  

Mr. Aaron IS AWESOME! 

He’s been a student of ours since he was little and is one of our Junior Black Belts. We are excited to see him join his brother on the mat and share his passion of the martial arts with a whole new generation of Warriors.

 

Mr. Aaron strives to teach our Little Warriors:

"How to become better."

 

The kiddos love Mr. Aaron because:

He is super patient with his students

He is a bit of a goof ball and enjoys hanging out and getting to know them

He is a fellow gamer

He is a calmer, quieter energy they feel comfortable with

A few of Mr. Aaron’s favorite things:

     Mr. Aaron is friendly and loves just hanging out with the students and his fellow instructors. He is a big fan of gaming on the computer and cheese fries. He is always down to talk computer games and enjoys working on dynamic trapping and kicks. He is currently working on the adult  

 

A little bit more about Mr. Aaron:

     Mr. Aaron and all the men in his family (to include his big brother Mr. Alex and his dad) train at Warrior’s Way. We are grateful to have a long-time relationship with them all and be a part of their journey. 

#RaiseAWarrior 

Screen Time For Parents

                We live in a uniquely media saturated time. Everyone has a phone (or two), and we are always connected 24/7. This has led to a lot of good- like always having a camera or the ability to record a video and capture a memory forever at your fingertips; but it has also come with a price. Some of these costs we realize, like society normalizing the expectation that you be available at all times of the day, for work, for friends, and for your family. However, some of the costs aren’t as readily apparent. Since the reality is we won’t be dropping our phones anytime soon here are some things you should be conscious of while responding to the never-ending cycle of updates and messages that come throughout the day.

It impacts our parenting

                Every generation of parents has its own trials to overcome and this one is ours. We live in an era where continuous partial attention is the norm. Letting our phones interrupt us and pull our attention from what we are doing is practically instinctual now. In fact, go ahead and try it. When your phone goes off don’t look. Can you wait 10, 15, 30 minutes or more? I think you might find it interesting how hard pressed you are to delay looking at your device when it goes off. Our response has become habitual.

This lifestyle of continuous split attention doesn’t just harm us, but also our children. Parenting which has long been an emotional cued and responsive system is now disrupted. We are constantly present physically, but are we truly available and invested mentally and emotionally?

It makes us unhappier

                This lifestyle we have bought into has us stuck in the digital equivalent of an unending spin cycle. Our daily life is built around the premise that we are always on – always working, always parenting, always available to our spouses, our parents, and anyone else who might need us. And what a miserable premise that can be. That’s in addition to having the ability and expectation to always be remembering, staying on top of our household, the news, and what everyone else is doing. Walking to the car? Better order more toilet paper from Amazon. Gone are the moments of quite introspection. Had a thought? Your phone’s vibrating probably stole your attention away and it’s gone forever now. Not to mention the perfectionistic pressure of everyone’s supposed achievements, milestones, and happiness bombarding us 24/7. I mean what about all that truly makes us happier, more in the moment, and grateful?

It is an easy issue to ignore

                As parents we like to think we are always on and looking for ways to parent better. While this seems productive, we must be cautious that we aren’t projecting. For example, being middle aged and overweight myself, it is easier to obsess over my dog’s caloric intake and restrict her diet than heaven forbid address my own food regimen and habits. It’s a classic case of projection – or the psychologically defensive displacement of one’s failings onto another. Don’t we do the same thing when we are obsessive over our child’s screen time? It feels productive and good. After all we are helping them be better, right? Plus it’s much easier to focus on their habits than realizing our own might also be a problem spot that needs improving.

                Now this doesn’t mean we are condemning you for buying into our device focused culture they are pretty handy, and we aren’t ready to boycott them yet. We are merely seeking to awaken you to the realities and impacts you might not always be willing to recognize. Every action (or inaction) has a cause and effect. And we aren’t always in charge of that outcome. Merely our choices. You’ve got this Warrior parents! Every day is an opportunity to be better than the day before!

P.S. Stay tuned for more great lessons on parenting screen time and why it matters to you and your kiddos as we dive into this topic this month.

#RaiseAWarrior 

Healthy Habits During A Less Than Structured Summer

    I don’t know about you, but a slow weekend is the bane of my health goals. I am really good about meal prepping, lunch packing, and having a plethora of healthy snacks at the ready as I go about my work week. Like I am a goal crusher. And some weekend’s when we’re jam packed with activities, I can keep up that momentum and say no to fast food. I’ve found it’s the slow weekends that get me. The weekends of no plans where there is a surprising amount of free time. And in those moments, I find myself, and my family aimlessly taking multiple trips to the fridge and pantry.

                Now don’t get me wrong. Snacks aren’t inherently bad, and they are a great mini meal to bridge those gaps between meals and keep hunger and energy levels from dipping to low. However, maybe it’s just our household, but I feel snacks literally disappear into thin air. Because all that unsupervised snacking turns into a grazing mentality. And habitual grazing and snacking is not the kind of food habits we want or need to model for our children.  

Reality Check: What is Grazing?

                Grazing is what occurs when snacks are readily available upon demand. Grazing is a habit of constant snacking, and it can be more trouble than we realize. Because grazing doesn’t rely on us being intuitive to what our body needs. We don’t rely on the internal cues like hunger, fatigue, or irritability. Instead, our food intake becomes based on external cues like: habitual actions (think siting down to watch TV or game), it being readily available, it coming into our sight line, someone else snacking, walking through the kitchen, etc. It leads to eating on autopilot and without thought. And mindless actions are not often a positive thing.

Ways to Improve

1.       Identify your triggers: At what times of day do you find you or the members of your family unconsciously reaching for a treat? Do you reward yourself for doing a minor inconvenience? Do you habitually make a stop on the way home from school? Do certain times or activities of your day always involve food? Can you watch TV or scroll through TikTok without a snack? Identifying the times that you mindlessly begin snacking helps you set a better example and then enables you to tackle your families’ habits on a broader scale.

2.       Create a predictable schedule: If you think about it we all tend to get hungry or need a snack at very specific times. These moments are typically the mid or lull points of our day. Use that predictability to your advantage and become more rigid about the timing of your meals and snacks. This predictability will create a habitual rhythm of eating that will help even on the less structured weekend days where we don’t have standard things breaking up our day. Make your meals and snacks that constant standard thing.

3.       Give a heads up when things are outside the norm: You know when dinner will be late or if you have evening plans. Get the whole family on board accordingly and work together. If you normally have dinner at 6pm but won’t until 7pm today let everyone know and remind them they might want a bigger after school snack to tide them over. Managed expectations help keep the majority of the grumbles at bay no matter your age (don’t believe us? Try it with your partner).

4.       The Open/Closed Kitchen Mindset: One of the things that makes grazing so easy is the food readily being available and without any structure or consequence. So consider treating your kitchen like a restaurant that only operates within certain hours. Using a phrase like “the kitchen is closed” is an easy phrase and mindset that helps your whole family make healthier choices about eating and snacking. Start by thinking about your most common habitual snack and mealtimes. These are good and natural times for the kitchen to be open. Be present during this time. Work through making good choices together. Then after a certain amount of time “close the kitchen.” This let’s your family know the kitchen is a off limit’s space right now. At first you might think this a bit harsh but in reality, it is merely a boundary and if presented by ensuring your family the next timing of a meal or snack they will be reassured that this isn’t an end of the world ordeal. That doesn’t mean your family will love the idea but the accountability and habits it helps build are much more productive towards a healthy and wholesome lifestyle and relationship with food.   

5.       Allow reasonable choice: This requires a special sort of balance. Giving your child a voice in food preference and amounts gets them involved and interested in trying new things, but too much choice leads to a spoiled and picky eater. A good rule of thumb to help your is to offer two or three choices within the same category. For example: giving your child the choice of starch (like beans, sweet potato, or corn) for a side with dinner or offering a fruit smoothie or apple with peanut butter for a snack is a far better game plan than the open-ended black hole battleground of “what would you like to eat?” After all, when we are given the same choice our first instinct isn’t necessarily a healthy one.

    Now it’s time to plan and invoke some more intentional parenting! We hope these food boundaries help you and your family be healthier now and help your child grow up with a health relationship with food. You’ve got this Warrior parents!

#RaiseAWarrior