Is Vaping Better than Smoking the Traditional Way? Part 2

The types of smoking devices I compared over these past few months were bud vaporizers and pipes. I tried multiple types of vaporizers but I only own the one in the picture. Multiple types of natural burning devices (pipes, bongs, etc.) were used as well. The vaporizers’ names will be anonymous because I am not sponsored.

All in all, the vaporizers gave basically the same kind of high. I did not go all in on the really expensive or decked out vaporizers because those cost around $300 or more. I plan on trying them in the future, but trying the ones that are in the $200 or less range sounded a bit safer for my wallet. The pipe in the picture cost $9.

Outside of the price, the devices are convenient to carry around. This is expected because I believe that is the main attraction with a vaporizer. I truly enjoyed the ease of hitting a button five times or simply clicking on the other devices to turn them on. Watching the indicator lights was fun because it was like waiting to open Christmas gifts with my mouth and lungs. When they turned green (to indicate party time), here’s what I experienced:

• Very easy and almost undetectable pulls.
• Little to no smoke unless it had been burning the bud for a bit (about a minute and a half).
• No burn in my throat at anytime.
• The flavor of the bud was more noticeable.
• The high was similar to vape pens.
• Same kind of effects described for the vape pen in part 1 of these comparisons.
• Easy to turn off and conceal after use.

While this was a great time, I think it’s more wasteful. The vaporizers would require a much higher amount of bud in order to come close to the high I get with a pipe; two to three hits with a pipe or one hit with a bong do the trick. Whereas I would see myself having to reload the vaporizer to try coming close to the same kind of high. For simple reference, I can load a pipe with one or one and a half pinches of bud when I would have to do about three or more pinches to load the vaporizers. So it took more than double the amount of weed to try and resemble the same high.

The question, “Is this a fair comparison since these are two different methods of burning weed” is valid; but I think it’s fair. Because at the end of the day, I’m only trying to get high. The most efficient way is smoking out of a pipe rather than a vaporizer. The most convenient, as in wanting to be able to smoke anywhere without being detected most of the time, is the vaporizer.

I may not be an “expert” because I don’t have a million followers waiting for my replies on smoking, but I have been a consumer for over 10 years. This may have skewed my ability to truly test these devices in a controlled setting because I already had a bit of experience smoking. But any person that has smoked for a while knows that if they stop for only a month, when they get high again it feels just as amazing as being a beginner. So to make sure my opinion wasn’t biased, I tried the vaporizers before smoking out of a pipe.

By using the vaporizers first, I could really see if the high was still stronger after using the pipes. I wanted to be as unprepared, in reference to tolerance, as possible. Unfortunately, the pipes blew the vapes away easily. I even stopped using the vaporizer after a couple months because the high wasn’t worth it to me. It’s also not a priority to be high all the time. But when I am, I want to be high in the most efficiently fun manner possible without tarnishing the experience.

In short, I believe it really depends on what kind of high you are going for. Whether you want a subtler introduction or you’re more extreme like me is up to you to decide. I honestly missed the burn that’s associated with smoking naturally and it was much easier to clean a pipe than a vaporizer. It was easier to add the right amount of bud into a pipe as well because I didn’t have to use as much or try to guess how many pinches would do the trick. Either way, weed is awesome, so enjoy whatever device seems to fit your needs.

Cancer Brain

You may be wondering what I mean by “Cancer Brain.” To put it simply, cancer brain is a phrase that I use to describe something that isn’t talked about in the health community. If it is, I haven’t seen anything about it. So I’d like to share some information about this affliction from personal experience.

The basics of what I experienced are:

• Memory loss.
  • Not like a normal “brain-fart.” Emotions go as well as if nothing was happening or being thought about.
  • Lost words mid-sentence without the ability to recover them.
  • Lost thoughts mid-thought as well.
• Loss of self.
  • Feeling like someone else or feeling like I wasn’t myself was a regular feeling.
• Uncertainty in almost everything.
• Feeling like my head was tight all the time.
  • Not the same as a headache.
  • Along the lines of feeling like there was a lingering muscular knot, but it was inside of my skull.
• Loss of desires in activities that are usually interesting or fun.
• Careless mistakes that wouldn’t normally happen.

There are most likely other side-effects that others have experienced. I remember speaking with a woman that was undergoing chemotherapy next to me and her saying, “Oh yeah, I have cancer brain again” when she lost the ability to remember what we were talking about as we were talking. This is her third time fighting and she remembered this specific side-effect of having this illness. We didn’t go further into the subject because we were trying to make the best of the current situation.

I feel it’s important for others to know this because this could help anyone pinpoint what may be happening in their body. Then, they can go and ask for the right types of tests to be performed. It may just be me, but I never had a doctor do any tests for cancer before it was too late. I don’t blame them because I’ve always looked healthy.

So if there’s anything to take from this, pay attention to your body and what seems to be out of the ordinary. There may not be a serious issue happening, which I hope is the case, but there’s no way of knowing until the results come back from getting the right kinds of tests done.

Why I Enjoy Having Cancer

Yep, I enjoy the fact that I was diagnosed with stage 3 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. It’s completely normal and expected for anyone that reads this to be confused by that statement. But honestly, it has brought a lot of clarity to my life.

I’m no longer confused as to who cares about me and who doesn’t. It was shocking to see how few people actually want to associate with me. But thinking back on how I’ve lived a very busy life (I worked from 5am to 10pm at times) working six days per week every week, I understand. Occasionally, I would work every day out of the week. So as you can imagine, it was very hard to reach out to anyone. I didn’t even have time for social media. So in reflection, that is partially my fault. Even though I did my best to contact people when I was on vacation or anything like that, it wasn’t enough to keep people invested in caring about what’s going on in my life. I was also a very awkward kid, so that doesn’t help. I will say that I am very thankful and appreciative to everyone that donated to my Gofundme page and other methods of donations. They helped me pay for some medical expenses.

It’s actually not a bad thing that people cut me out because now I don’t have to feel guilty about not reaching out to others. The ones that did contact me, some of them surprised me in a good way, really showed me that they aren’t the type of people to make a grudge or cut me out after a little while of not talking. The ones that did get bent out of shape could have easily reached out to me because I’m not the type of person to ignore a message or phone call unless someone is being really inappropriate or something along those lines.

Don’t get me wrong, it did hurt to feel that disconnect with those people, but I respect their space and haven’t reached out to chat since.

Another thing that is great about this whole situation is that I have time to think and plan what my next move will be. I literally had no time to think or plan or set anything new into motion because of how much I was doing already. Long story short, I was working at 5am for copywriting, then I would go and train clients at 7am, then I would massage clients at a chiropractor’s office from 9-2pm, then I would train some more at 3, then I would massage at a boutique from 4-10pm. In between those times I would do more copywriting projects and I was attending night-school to get into physical therapy school on top of that. Busy was an understatement. But now I feel as though I can think and relax for the first time in almost 6 years. I was able to pay off a lot of bills during that time period, but I still have more unfortunately.

The perk that also comes with time to think is that a lot of realizations have happened. I know more about myself than before because I’m not always focusing on other people’s problems. I’m also not afraid to speak my mind about anything anymore. That doesn’t mean that I always feel the urge to say something, but that is also speaking my mind in a different way. A good friend of mine actually showed me this great skill of holding my tongue because if he doesn’t have anything good or productive to say with criticism, he never says anything. It is only positive or informative and I’ve been adopting that way of thinking during this time. It’s an amazing way to think because it takes off my inner self’s desire to try and fix everything. When in reality, most things don’t need my input. So now I focus on what I actually want to put my energy into.

Another positive thing about cancer is that it has raised my desire to travel and experience the world. Going to Coachella, Europe, Asia, down the street to that random food place, or attending an event is something that I actually want to do now. I thought that I hated interacting with others on a large scale, such as big crowds, because I just hated people. In reality, I don’t hate people because I actually like people and love people. The things that I don’t like or love are negative actions or emotions. And since I’m an empath (an empath is someone that feels the energy or feelings of others) I can feel the people around me.

As you can imagine, this can be very overwhelming; especially as a child. This made me act on people’s feelings or ideas and solidify their belief in the type of person that I am rather than letting them actually meet me. It wasn’t until recently that I felt like I was acting on my own actions rather than on the feelings or thoughts of others. This is a liberating experience! Understanding this about myself also gave me the confidence to be true to myself and not worry about hurting someone else’s feelings. I hated doing that because I would feel it too! But now that I understand more about my empathetic psyche, I can decipher if I should ignore a certain feeling since it isn’t mine to begin with.

This has allowed me to start learning about things that I actually want to learn about. So I’ve been learning about car parts and how to tune one up, I’ve started learning about different road and mountain bikes, certain clothing items and boots have caught my attention, and I’m seeing what I want to do with my business rather than constantly flinching at what might not be perfect or might have some bad emotions of some sort. It doesn’t matter anymore because my business will thrive when I listen to what I want. The producer is who decides if we want something anyway. If you don’t believe that, did you come up with the iPhone or did they tell you that you wanted it?

Now it’s obvious that there are many negative aspects to cancer. It does suck when I wake up and it feels like my tongue is on fire or like someone has made slits underneath my tongue with a scalpel. It was also annoying when I would be shaking to get out of bed because of how much of a struggle it was to support my own body weight. Everything tasting like plaque isn’t fun when it happens either and my joints feeling like they’re being pulled by their tendons isn’t great. There are more side-effects, but those are the ones that pop up the most. It also sucks that I could literally die by a child sneezing on me because my immune system is so weak. So basically I’m on house arrest with allowed visits to the doctor’s office and the store. I’ll do pull-ups in the park and then rush home immediately afterwards because when I did stay out a little too long one time, I felt feverish and sick and couldn’t move for the rest of the day. I was still tired the next couple of days as well. Simply from being outside and around people.

None of this troubles me anymore because I focus on finding the positives in any situation. I hate the whole “stay positive” mentality because it’s pretty stupid. There is no reason to stay positive about any situation that isn’t positive. Instead, I find the positive so that I don’t have to act like I’m ok or happy; I know that I am. Acting like everything’s fine is probably what gave me cancer. It was complete denial about the situations I was dealing with and I was allowing life to take advantage of me as I watched everyone else making their life positive instead of doing what I was doing; staying positive.

How I found and continue to find my positives are by looking at what I have and seeing what my options are to make things better. So what does that mean? Marijuana! This amazing lady has always been there when I go through any pain or nausea. It also just feels good. The strain that helps me the most is Sativa. Hybrids are cool and so are Indicas, but I always feel the best when I use a Sativa. Very happy that I was diagnosed in California rather than in Kansas.

Exercise is another positive thing for me because it not only keeps my strength up, but it helps me regulate my appetite. I was weighing in at 166lbs at the beginning of this experience (lost 10lbs in 2 days before going to the hospital) but I’m now up to 194lbs. I benefit greatly from my experience in the health and wellness industry as a trainer/educator and also a massage therapist. I understand how to make every exercise movement as precise as possible and I understand how to stretch to trigger the repair cycle. There are different methods of movement and stretching that are more effective than others if you were wondering. So for anyone that says it’s genetics, you’re wrong. I have chemicals in my body that are killing everything inside of me, so there is no upper-hand for me right now. And with these odds against me, I successfully do more than double the amount of repetitions than I did at the beginning of the month.

(To be honest, I could only do about 2 push-ups. But still progress!)

The two previous paragraphs were really the game-changers for me during this time. I now have full energy every day and I feel alert. The other positives simply came from me wanting to understand myself and it has been beautiful. I know that I’m not a complete dick because I’m never really bashing anyone when I’m called a dick but am simply stating my opinion or a fact. Don’t ask me anything if you aren’t willing to handle every possible answer, especially the truth. But all in all, I’m grateful that I got cancer. These life lessons would have never happened without it.

Photo by Marcelo Leal

Is Vaping Better than Smoking the Traditional Way? Part 1

I’ve started using a vape instead of smoking marijuana the traditional way. There are some distinct differences from these two methods that may be more appealing to you. Now to be completely transparent, the kind of vaporizer I was using (and am currently using) is a wax pen. There is another type of vaporizer that uses the flower rather than a wax and that will be another comparison test that I do in the future. But I’ve experienced some pretty interesting differences between using a pen and smoking the traditional way.

Researching the flower and the wax

With the traditional method, there is obviously the benefit of knowing you’re only smoking the flower rather than different additives that are in the wax. The amount of research that you have to do in order to understand how the marijuana flower was produced isn’t as challenging as the wax pen either. This is because with a simple look at the process a manufacturer is doing and also by asking a budtender about the background of the bud, you can find the answers you’re looking for. You can instantly see and hear about the different chemicals or pesticides that were used to grow the plant and know whether or not the plant was grown with more natural remedies. Whereas with the wax, you’ll have to look up some of the ingredients because the synthetic blends’ names are a foreign language. You’ll also have to see how they grew and processed the bud in order to make it into a wax and what kind of machinery and facility they used if you really want to get into the gritty details. But since most of us won’t do that and will just look over the ingredients, it’s easier to find out how safe the marijuana is when it is in the flower form.

Speaking of ingredients, from the Leafly website, they list some of the ingredients found in wax pens as polyethylene glycol (PEG), propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerin (VG), or even medium chain triglycerides (MCT) such as coconut oil.  To save you some time, a quick explanation of some of these ingredients is that PEG is usually used as a laxative and is derived from the main ingredient in anti-freeze. PG can be found in food products, cosmetics, and medicine and is also a solvent for food colors and flavors as well as in the paint and plastic industries. This is also used to create an artificial smoke or fog used in firefighter training and theatrical settings. VG is usually added to help oil and water-based ingredients mix together to give it a sweetened or moistened effect. MCT is what is found in coconut oil and can actually be beneficial for your health. If you want to get more information than what is given about these ingredients, click the links provided that have made the full name of these ingredients a different color at the beginning of this paragraph. So in short, the ingredients in a wax pen can be alarming and it’s why they’ve been showing up less in the most recent versions of wax. But lets get to the fun part of this post’s research, smoking the two different devices. 

Smoking vs. vaping

When smoking out of a pipe, there is a bit of preparation that goes into it. It doesn’t take long at all, but it is necessary so there isn’t any wasted marijuana. First, you can crumble the bud to fit into the pipe. I’ve seen people put the whole bud into a pipe, but that is very wasteful. The best way to break up the bud is by using a grinder of some sort because you don’t get the sticky residue of weed on your fingers. Then, you can simply take out as much as you wish to use and then place it into the pipe or bong that you have. Then you have to use a lighter or a match in order to light it up and inhale it. This process is continued until your bud is white or black. Then you have to empty the bowl and put everything away. This is how I feel about the experience:

• It’s hard to tell what flavor the strain has.
• I have to be aware of how the smoke feels in my throat (burning sensation or still tolerable) to keep from coughing and to understand how high I will get.
• There is a strong smell because of the marijuana smoke that sticks to my clothes as well as my lips. This can linger for quite some time in the apartment as well.
• The high will hit me almost instantly after I’ve finished smoking. Within ten seconds.
• I feel like the effects grab hold of my entire body and are a bit stronger or noticeable from beginning to end than a wax pen.
• I can have a hung over feeling if I smoke too much. It feels like my brain has a fog within it that is subtly pushing against the inner walls of my skull.
• Don’t get the munchies. If anything, I’m more aware of my intake and how much my body needs instead of how much my greed wants.
• During the high, I feel uplifted, relaxed, or energized depending on the strain.
• Libido increases.
• Have a stronger sense of awareness of what is going on in my body.

Smoking out of a vape pen is as simple as turning it on and then inhaling when it’s ready. It has similar effects as traditional smoking, but it does have its differences. The vape pen does the following:

• The flavor of the strain is very easy to decipher.
• I have to count as I’m inhaling the pen (3 second inhale, 3 second hold of vapor and then I blow out) in order to keep from coughing because the vapor is not as noticeable as the smoke.
• The smell is actually very fruity or earthy, depending on the strain, and doesn’t stay around for long. My apartment doesn’t smell when I vape.
• The high builds steadily instead of hitting instantly like regular smoking. It can take a minute or so for the effects to really show.
• The sensation of the high doesn’t feel as powerful and is more of a “I’m high” feeling rather than a “I’ve been consumed by the weed” kind of feeling.
• I can still feel hungover if I’ve vaped too much.
• I can get the munchies from a pen.
• Same uplifted, relaxed, or energized feeling.
• Libido still increases.
• Subtly feel what is going on in my body.
• Take fewer hits than smoking because it is more concentrated. When I smoked as much as I normally do with a pipe, I was ridiculously high but it still didn’t feel as powerful as a pipe.
• Very easy to carry around and conceal.

Now this may sound confusing in some aspects because you might be wondering, “How can you feel high but not as high while still feeling the same high kind of effects?” I think it may have something to do with how much gentler vapor is compared to traditional smoke. And since vapor will not stick to things as much and can be easily masked by other things in the environment, that’s most likely the same scenario for how it is interacting with the cells and tissues within the body. Rather than heavily sticking to my lungs or diaphragm and slowly being absorbed or worked out, the vapor will be filtered out much faster.

So in short, there are benefits to both methods of inhaling marijuana. I’ve been enjoying the ease of use of the vape pen, but when I’m at home, I like to smoke the traditional way because it feels like a stronger high. Smoking the traditional way is also a better kind of experience when I’m entertaining guests. The vape pen is more of a personal use kind of thing for me. And with how easy it is to carry around a vape pen, it definitely beats the traditional way of smoking when I’m roaming around town. To answer the headline’s question, the vape pen is better for ease of use, convenience, smell, and flavoring. The traditional method is better for the overall experience, how high I get and feel, not giving me the munchies, and how easy it is to see how well prepared the strain was.

A Delicious Light Beer That Tastes Like Honey

I recently enjoyed a beer that was absolutely amazing! The beer is called Menabrea Bionda and it is a blonde lager that was created in Italy. It isn’t often that I find a beer that really catches my attention in such a grand way, but it was hard to ignore this one because it tastes like one of my favorite things in the world… honey! Now to be clear, the manufacturers say that it has toffee and caramel flavors. The aroma of toffee and caramel were definitely present when I was smelling the beer to get my palate ready for the flavors, but when I tasted this beer, the aftertaste was such a resemblance of honey that I fell in love with it instantly. The best part was it wasn’t a “Oh my God, I have diabetes now” type of flavor by being very strong. Instead, it was like a nice subtle kiss at the end of a long day that subtly lingered in my mouth before disappearing and leaving me wanting more. The balance and subtle carbonation was nothing short of remarkable either.

To give a quick description of some features of this beer, here are some facts:

• 4.8 ABV (light beer).
• 22 IBUs (not hoppy).
• Made with Alps mountain water.
• Brewed with Hallertau Magnum hops.
• Matured for six weeks.
• Selected barley malt and corn (maize) was added with the water before adding the hops.
• Toffee/caramel flavors (tastes like honey to me).
• Subtle caramel and toffee smell.

So basically, with the alcohol content of this beer it’s pretty safe to say this is a light beer. I’d say it’s perfect for the people that are stuck in the Bud Light or Miller Lite boat to try because it is a subtle transition into beer that’s actually good. It isn’t overwhelming in flavor by any means because of how low the IBUs are. It is less than half of the IBU count for a double IPA or even some Russian Imperial Stouts. All of this means that this beer goes down smooth and shouldn’t make you cringe one bit. You may smack your lips a little bit to try and grasp how amazing this flavor is because I know that I caught myself admiring this beer and adding it on my list of beers to pick up whenever I see it at the store. I could literally drink this beer all day (probably won’t be driving though, it’s still alcohol).

Another added benefit of this beer is how it uses Alps mountain water for brewing because this lets me know that it is a clean water source. This is important to me because it means that the flavor and also the hops will not be compromised by the company cutting corners in the quality of the ingredients. I always respect companies that take every bit of detail into consideration whenever they are creating a product that will be consumed by their customers. It’s also smart because it ensures that their customers won’t get sick from their beer and will be able to continuously purchase such an amazing product. I still can’t get over how it tastes like honey; I might have a problem but I don’t care to fix it.

But the hops that were used in brewing this beer are also beneficial because they assist with the mild bitterness of this beer since that’s one of the attributes of Hallertau Magnum hops. Another attribute of these hops is they give a subtle citrus flavor as well. I honestly didn’t really taste the citrus flavors of this beer but that wasn’t bothersome whatsoever. It was so smooth and such a light body beer that it was simply refreshing with every single drink. I found myself sipping on the beer and letting it sit in my mouth for a little bit to really allow it to mix with my taste-buds and it never gave an unwelcoming flavor the entire time I was doing this. Eventually, my greed took over and I was gulping the beer faster than I could realize until it eventually ended. Every bit of it was delicious to the last drop and that is truly amazing because sometimes a beer can lose its flavor or seem a little bland by the end of the glass because of possible backwash and the thin consistency of the beer. Yet this beer was still great the entire time and I had to restrain myself from ordering another glass from the bar. I would have ended up staying there for hours if I gave in to my desires.

So in conclusion, this is a beer that can substitute any light beer anyone may have had because it actually has a great flavor and it didn’t leave me feeling bloated. I never felt a buzz from this beer because of how little the ABV content was, so I believe it’s safe for anyone, even the lightweights, to try. And if you’re a fan of a subtle honey aftertaste that doesn’t leave you feeling overwhelmed with sweetness, then you should definitely give this beer a try. I’m glad that I did and I know that I’m going to be drinking more of it any time of the year. Thanks for reading about this beer and post any questions or comments that you have in the comments section below!

ABV: 4.8
IBUs: 22
Style: Blonde Lager
Pros: Tastes like honey, light body, consistent flavor, good ingredients
Cons: Run out of beer, might be hard to find

A Nice Winter Beer With A Fun Alcohol Content

Beer is almost always great. I’m obviously only speaking of real beer (micro-brews) and not what most college students are buying for their party with five or more kegs. There’s a reason the only focus at those parties is usually drinking it really fast, it tastes gross. But, for those of us that have developed a palate to enjoy a beer that took real time and effort with precise ingredients and a watchful eye over the fermentation process, Old Rasputin crafted by North Coast Brewing Company is a Russian Imperial Stout that is enjoyable for many reasons during the winter. One of the main reasons is the smooth roasty flavor it has.

Whenever I take a drink of this beer, it calms me down. Not in a way where I end up being a couch potato, but it lets me know that the day is coming to a close and I can enjoy something that was waiting patiently in the fridge for me. And when that roasty flavor soothes my taste buds, it makes me think of when I was living in Kansas and there were those days where I would look out at the snow and be completely content with enjoying the moment. This feeling of relaxation actually makes my body feel warmer and calms me down even more. Now, living in LA, I don’t have the benefit of those snowy days anymore (which honestly I miss) but that flavor of relaxation that comes with every drink is a very nice reminder of that calm. Another attribute of this Russian Imperial Stout is that the body isn’t too heavy or thick.

One thing that can happen with an Imperial stout is the beer can literally taste very thick. It’s not necessarily a bad thing if the flavors are all succinct, but sometimes, it can make me only want to drink one beer rather than 2-4. And this beer has a very smooth flavor, in my opinion. I would say that it is more of a medium body beer that leaves a nice semi-chocolate aftertaste. Very comforting and very delicious. And can you think of anything much better than enjoying the calm of nature with chocolate dancing on your taste buds as you get a nice buzz? I couldn’t either. But there is something very shocking, at least to me, about this beer.

The most shocking thing to me about this beer is that it has 75 IBUs. For those of you that don’t know, that means the bitterness of the beer (International Bittering Unit) is up there with some very strong IPA’s. This was unbelievable because the beer tastes so smooth. It doesn’t make my mouth subtly tense up involuntarily at all like some very strong IPA’s (A double IPA has an IBU score of about 60-120). Most people that drink an IPA for the very first time say, “Gross” or that it’s just too “hoppy.” So to see that this beer actually has a double IPA type of IBU score is so impressive because it is not noticeable in the slightest bit. All I notice is a delicious beer that I want to enjoy sitting on a porch or a balcony. But enough rambling, here are some facts about the beer:

• 9% Alcohol per volume
• Gold Medal in the 2018 World Beer Championships in Chicago
• Roasty flavor
• Subtle chocolate aftertaste, in my opinion
• Medium body
• Leaves a warm feeling after drinking
• Doesn’t make me feel full
• Gives a subtle buzz after one glass (depending on your tolerance)
• Nice closer to the day
• Doesn’t make me feel gassy

So the first bullet point is definitely a highlight about this beer. I have had beers that were about 20% Alcohol per volume (great time) but this one is more of an every day or casual beer that can be enjoyed without everyone passing out after two glasses. And it isn’t a party type of beer unless it’s the type of party that I like to go to which is people being civilized, everyone interacting with each other in a friendly conversational way, there’s a little snack/food spread that pretty much everyone contributed to, and everyone enjoys the fact they don’t have to put on the “exciting person” hat and can relax with good company. This is the beer that I would gladly drink at a party like that. But since parties like that don’t happen often, it is my winter relax after work drink so far. It serves its purpose like a champ and I couldn’t be happier that I stumbled upon this beer.

To wrap everything up, this is a great beer to enjoy with or without company during the winter. It leaves a nice warm feeling after being enjoyed and it doesn’t leave my body feeling gassy. The alcohol content makes it that much easier to enjoy because after a while, I just taste chocolate and roasty goodness. It isn’t too expensive by any means (10.99 for a four pack) because the quality of the beer on top of the feeling it delivers is very satisfying. The only complaint I really have about this beer is that it runs out. So if you’re looking for a nice winter beer to enjoy that leaves you feeling calm and warm, definitely give this Old Rasputin from North Coast Brewing Co. a try. Thank you for reading and post your comments below!

Pros: Nice alcohol content, great flavor, no gassy feelings
Cons: The bottle runs out of beer

How to Get Rid of Your Muscle’s Pain with Foam Rolling in Only 5 Minutes!

Have you been reminded that you aren’t a child that heals instantly anymore? If you have, you’re not alone because my body likes to remind me of this whenever I walk, bend over, or try to pick up anything without using proper form. But the good news is there’s a way to actually get rid of your pain! The magical method to get rid of your pain is foam rolling. Now some of you may already enjoy the benefits that come with foam rolling, which is also called self myofascial release (SMR). After reading this article, test this method to see if you find this to be a more efficient way to relax your muscles than what you were doing before. And for those of you that don’t know what these benefits are, foam rolling can:

• Increase range of motion in your joints
• Decrease the sensation of pain you may be feeling in a muscle or a joint
• Improve your muscle tone
• Improve circulation within your body
• Improve muscle elasticity
• Correct postural imbalances
• Help you go to sleep because of your body feeling relaxed

Basically if you’re not foam rolling, you’re making yourself stay in pain when you don’t have to. But I understand why a lot of people don’t do it. The simple answer is, most people don’t know how to do it! I know this to be a fact because after being a personal trainer for over 5 years I saw more than 75% of people in the gym not doing it as effectively as they could. The main problem is people think they are supposed to be the ones to roll the foam roller, when in reality, the foam roller is supposed to move because your muscles are relaxing instead of you pushing your body rapidly or at a moderate pace back and forth.

What I mean by your muscles moving the foam roller by relaxing is exactly what it sounds like. Your muscles will literally begin to allow the foam roller to move along themselves when they are relaxed enough for the weight of your body to start sliding you along the full length of that muscle on the foam roller. And if there is a knot or a collection of excess tissue in one area, you may remain still as your body sinks deeper onto the foam roller before you start moving. With that said, here is the proper way to foam roll efficiently so that you only have to “roll” in one direction (sometimes both directions because you’ll want to go back and forth if it is a chronic type of tension you’ve been dealing with) only one or two times:

• Place the tight muscle that you want to alleviate onto the foam roller
• Relax onto the foam roller until your muscles begin to sink around the foam roller (imagine you’re relaxing to the point of still being able to “touch the ground” with that muscle even though the foam roller is in between you and the ground)
• Be patient if your muscles are really tight (they will feel hard to the touch when they’re overly tight) it may take time for your body to trust you and relax enough for the muscles to separate.
• A sensation of pain may arise from sinking onto this foam roller but always make sure that it is a good hurt rather than a sharp oh my God I might die kind of pain
• Once you’ve felt the good hurt sensation, you may feel the muscles touching the foam roller begin to swell
• Breathe deeply until your breath matches the intensity of the sensation you feel so the pain remains tolerable
• Keep allowing them to swell and then guide your body in the direction that will allow you to roll along the length of the muscle by gently pushing into the ground, without moving, in the direction you want to go or tilt your body in a way that gravity will be the one guiding your body as the muscles relax. You will start to feel the foam roller move along the length of that muscle you’re releasing
• This movement will most likely feel very slow, but that sensation of a good hurt should be consistent throughout the entire roll if you have tension in that muscle
• If there is no pain, it may not be as serious as you thought or that’s not the part of the muscle that is damaged. It also may not be the right muscle to foam roll
• Once the foam roller has moved across the full length of the muscle, repeat these steps if you continue to feel discomfort and then move onto the next muscle when the pain has subsided.

By doing this process with a foam roller or a Lacrosse ball, which is my personal favorite but it can be a lot more intense, your muscles will start to heal themselves properly. If you’re wondering how quickly you will feel relief, the answer is instantly! Literally the moment you stand up from rolling your quads, glutes, and/or hamstrings you will feel how much better your low back or your knees or whatever was bothering you doesn’t hurt nearly as much and a lot of times not at all. You will be amazed by how much this free tip makes life so much easier for you.

When a muscle releases, it can feel like one of two things. It can feel like a bubbling sensation or a kind of miniature spasm when it is flushing excess fluid. It can also feel like the muscle relaxes or “melts” and no longer gives the feeling of pain. Neither type of release is better than the other because they are both a form of your muscles relaxing to a better resting tension amount. Feel for these types of sensations in addition to the good hurt and you will be ecstatic about how the pain you thought you’d have forever is actually something as simple as tight muscles.

One of the most important things to keep in mind is that you should not be distracted by watching TV or chatting with friends or thinking about the pizza you want to order because you won’t be able to feel your muscles swell or give you those notifications of relief or pain like you should. Every single one of those notifications are crucial to you understanding how effective you are rolling at any given time. And if you don’t pay attention and then notice after a few minutes or so that your leg or arm is numb, now you have an annoying sensation to deal with and might have cut off a nerve because of the lack of attention you gave to your body. Don’t do that! Make sure you feel and assess yourself for that short 5 minute duration, that’s really how short of a time it can take, and do not roll over any muscle for more than 30 minutes at a time. By that point, it’s safe to say the muscle isn’t ready to release yet because it may have needed more blood to heal the damaged tissue before it lets go of the inflammation that may be causing the pain. By helping it relax, you’ve allowed your circulation to improve enough for the healing process to begin again. And if you’re rolling on more than one muscle, it may take more than 5 minutes to get every muscle relaxed.

You might be wondering what kind of foam roller to use if you are a beginner. Personally, I recommend starting with a normal flat foam roller so that you have a friendly introduction to the effects of foam rolling. When you are a little more seasoned and understand how to sink onto a roller you can progress to a rumble roller, which is the type of roller displayed in the photo attached to this blog post. This is my favorite type of foam roller, the black one in particular (it’s firmer than the blue one) because since I am a frequent gym goer, the most relief I feel is from this type of a roller or a lacrosse ball because of how firm they are. Test out which roller works best for you and you’ll have the perfect tool to give yourself muscular relief when you have low back pain, knee pain, hip pain, or shoulder pain.

So now that you know how to get rid of some muscular pain within 5 minutes of proper foam rolling, you can get back into the activities that you used to love or simply enjoy not being in pain! If you have a serious condition like swelling, sharp/shooting pains, or anything that is alarming, go to the doctor or a medical professional like a physical therapist or a chiropractor (they’re also doctors) to see what is going on. Enjoy the benefits of proper foam rolling and get rid of your low back and knee pain with these tips! If you have any questions or want to share your experience, write about them in the comments section!

Enjoying vs. Abusing Marijuana

Since the legalization of marijuana has been spreading like the weed it is in America, I’ve been able to learn how to enjoy marijuana on a deeper level. I’m not talking about some “spiritual experience” or some other hippie dippie stuff, I truly mean there is a way to enjoy marijuana without abusing it. This concept was foreign to me when I lived in Kansas because the laws are very strict about marijuana; too strict in my opinion. So anytime I would get some, light it up and go to space was my mantra. The apartment or house I stayed in would be pregnant with smoke and all of my snacks were vacuumed into my stomach with mind-blowing flavor. While this sounds like a great time, I’ve found there’s a better way to enjoy this plant.

When it used to be a competition as to whether or not I could smoke a whole joint or a whole blunt to myself, now I only smoke 2-3 hits when sometimes I only do 1 hit. What is the effect you may ask? Still an amazing high that doesn’t leave me with ridiculous amounts of cotton mouth and I can actually remember everything that happens when I am high. Those aspects of smoking were never feasible to me in my younger years because I was constantly having to throw water down my throat. So to give a clear understanding of what it feels like when I only do the 2-3 hits of marijuana, here’s what I experience:

• A light pick-me-up in my mental state of mind.
• Memory stays intact.
• A desire to tinker with different hobbies.
• I clean my apartment more frequently.
• I only eat when I’m hungry (Sometimes I don’t eat at all because I honestly don’t feel the desirous craving for food like I used to).
• I stretch or foam roll (SMR) my muscles that feel tight.
• Interest in hearing different subject matters.
• Thinking heavily on how to focus my life and I actually think about smoking less often (there are days where I don’t smoke at all now).
• Feel like I want to move or just do something where I can interact with or enjoy the company of others.
• Seem to have more clarity on what is bothering me or what issues I should face in my life and when the high subsides, I start working on how to fix those problems.

This may sound shocking to people that either smoke weed all the time or not at all, but this is actually how I feel when smoking only those 2-3 hits unlike a full joint or a massive bong rip like I did in the past. Smoking a little bit instead of a lot helps me analyze marijuana as well. I can see what it tastes like, how it affects my mood (not all of them are the same), if I feel more awake or more relaxed instead of just being sleepy all the time, and ultimately, how strong the strain really is. To compare how I felt in the past, here is a list of how I would feel when indulging in almost any strain of marijuana like I used to:

• My eyes would feel like 20 pound dumbbells were attached to them.
• Every bit of snack food I had became a missing persons report.
• My memory was blown out as I exhaled.
• Cotton mouth became a normal feeling.
• The couch was another part of my body that I didn’t want to move.
• I would go into my head and wouldn’t hear other people around me at times.
• I would pass out after a while depending on how much I smoked.
• Productive thoughts were considered to be mixing ketchup with macaroni and cheese.
• Video games were pretty much all I could pay attention to.
• Music sounded amazing, no matter the song.
• I would basically only think about getting higher or the next time I would get high.

While this may sound very negative, it was a great time when I did it. But now that I know how to enjoy marijuana in what I believe to be a better way, I have no desire to repeat my old smoking habits. One thing that rang true for both versions of smoking was that sex was great. It’s great on its own, but smoking marijuana beforehand heightened the senses a bit and made a much more enjoyable experience (lasted longer too). Not to the point where I want to smoke every time beforehand, but it is a nice little “You down?” moment at times.

What I believe it all boils down to is I was abusing rather than enjoying marijuana. The side-effects alone definitely show that my brain was being damaged to the point of memory loss, my body’s water content was being dried up and I had to replenish it frequently, and my overall personality was being corrupted with a false sense of sociability. So in short, marijuana can be a great experience when it is done right. For the people that are able to purchase it without the strict and ridiculous regulations that are attached to a plant that does nothing unless ingested, enjoy the experience!

Rekorderlig Cider

I’ve recently taken an interest in ciders during this winter season. One of the ciders I tried this week was Rekorderlig. The name should make it very clear that this is not an American company, because it isn’t. It’s a Swedish based cider that is blended with wild berries and is made from pure Swedish spring water. The thought of getting a buzz from something that tastes like berries and came from clean water sounded amazing! So of course, I bought the cider without hesitation and would like to share how it was for me.

After pouring my first glass, I had to smell it to see if my sugary desires were going to be fulfilled. So I took a big whiff and caught hints of berries instantly. It wasn’t an overwhelming scent that made me guzzle the whole glass without thinking clearly, but it was more of what you would expect a bunch of berries covered in water would smell like; subtle and welcoming. So now that my palate was properly introduced to this cider, I took a drink and let the cider sit in my mouth for a couple seconds. I swished it around to see if there was anything unsettling or if the flavor started to taste artificial, but it still tasted really good. At first, it had the flavor of an upgraded Franzia. For those of you that don’t know Franzia, you either had a better or more watchful childhood than I or you simply may pass on the thought of drinking boxed wines; it’s literally in a box. But after that initial recollection of boxed wine subsided, here’s what I tasted:

• Berries that were complimented with a fizzy sensation
• A very smooth texture that didn’t taste syrupy
• Light body (it’s cider, so that should be obvious)
• A subtle berry aftertaste that didn’t overwhelm my taste buds

The cider itself is not very strong in terms of alcohol content because it only has 4.5% Alc./Vol. in each can. And since each can has 33g of sugar, drinking more than 3 will most likely lead to a much unwanted headache. The nutrition label may say that 33g of sugar only amounts to 11% of the recommended daily intake for a person with a 2K calorie diet, but from my experience as a health and fitness professional, I’ve read that the recommended daily intake for men is about 37.5g of sugar and for women it’s about 25g. Whose right and whose wrong, I don’t know because sugar content isn’t regulated in America yet and there is a lot of misdirection when it comes to health because a lot of companies are just trying to sell a product. Test it yourself by looking at the nutrition label on your next purchase of an American food or beverage product and see if the percentage of sugar for your daily intake is listed. Either way, quite a lot of sugar, so drinking more than two may not go well for people that are susceptible to getting headaches.

All in all, this is a tasty beverage that is a nice closer to the day. It probably shouldn’t be the drink of choice at a party if you are trying to go HAM, but it is a nice treat with a meal or at a little get together at the lake or the beach. I will say that this is a pretty expensive cider though. When some ciders range from $6.99-$9.99 for a six pack of bottles, these four cans cost $13.99 at Bevmo. It may be because of the cost of shipping and everything that goes into the legalities of distributing alcohol in the U.S. from an outside country, but that is something to keep in mind. If you’ve tried this cider or are a fan of ciders as well, share your thoughts in the comment section!

Pros: Easy to drink, very refreshing
Cons: A lot of sugar, not a lot of alcohol, pricey

Subtle slaps by missed writing mistakes

As a writer, every subtle little mistake feels like a slap to the face. Enough of these little slaps can make me feel inadequate and question my existence after a while. Dramatic as this sounds, this is actually how I feel when I make a mistake with any type of content. One subtle little slap that tends to happen is when a word is repeated or left out completely.

When I was looking over/editing some content that I wrote for a client, one piece of a sentence jumped out at me. The piece of the sentence was, “to make the flow of your body is properly put into balance.” I thought I was going to pass out from the mistake that I made in this sentence. So of course, I corrected the error by adding the word “sure” and checked every other piece that was written at least three more times. This may sound excessive from an outside perspective, but every mistake feels like a slap to me.

Another mistake that can happen is unknowingly misspelling a word. A disc may become a disk, a plane a plain, a heart a hart, or many other simple little changes that make a completely different meaning can happen. I feel like these slaps happen when my brain goes on auto-pilot and focuses on just writing rather than writing meaningful content. The “just writing” mentality is one that I fight to avoid because it is a lazy habit and my writing is always better when I am focused with a disciplined approach. Yes it would be great to do bong rips until I think I’m Jesus and everything I do becomes gold or drink enough alcohol to have a symphony of ideas come out of me like Donald Draper, but I find that’s not the way it is for me. So diligently watching my writing and avoiding this lazy habit of “just writing” is what I strive to do.

Finally, there are the subtle slaps with punctuation. The question of comma vs. semicolon and if I’m using too many or too little commas is always circling my mind. The way that I overcome this mental struggle is by remembering some standard fundamentals. When I’m using an if statement, there should most likely be a comma. If the end of the sentence sounds more like a fragment but I feel compelled to have a pause, a semicolon is most likely the best punctuation mark. Lastly, if the content’s flow is choppy rather than fluid, I most likely don’t need a comma somewhere.

Every point that’s been made has been saying one thing; editing is everything. Without editing, these slaps will bombard my face with bruises until I am disinterested in the content. Also, editing is something that takes more than one day or one attempt to get to good standing. One thing I like to do is look over my material on the computer, give it a few days to sit if the deadline for a project allows, and then look over the content again on both the computer and my phone to find those hidden mistakes. I’ve found that looking at a piece of writing on two or more different platforms really does make errors that were missed jump out at me. Having a printed copy is another way to look over some content but I find that to be wasteful.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post on editing. I hope you found this informative and helpful with your future writing projects. Post your comments below and share this information with anyone that may find this useful. Happy writing!