My Paperclip Story

My Paperclip Story

Many of you only know me as Chuck G, the softhearted, strength coach pushover with a wife and three kids.   What you may not know is my deep spiritual connection and my Paperclip Story.  I’ve recently been instructed to share this story with you.

I’ve always had a deep spiritual connection with God and about 6 years ago I was finally baptized Catholic.  4 years ago I discovered a strong, personal connection I have and have always had with angels.  When I was about 10 years old, I decided to name my guardian angel Henry Alexander Archimedes.  When I was in Catholic school, I learned a prayer to my angel that I said almost everyday, right along with the Our Father and Hail Mary, to stay as close as possible to Henry.  22 years later, I finally learned that his name was not Henry, but was named Samuriel.  Samuriel is just one of the angels that I met about 4 years ago. 

During the time that I was really studying the angelic realm, I started coming across paperclips in the most odd places. No one else would notice the paperclips and it would seem that I would find them as if they were hidden just for me.  I didn’t put it together at first and thought it was just a mere coincidence that I would find paperclips every time I went outside, looked under a table or desk or reached inside a coat pocket.  I had come to learn that angels like patterns, numbers and colors, and I was definitely seeing a pattern with all of the paperclips being thrown my way.

After meditating on the paperclips I had found, I heard, or rather felt that these were gifts from the angelic realm to me.  They were reminders to me that I was never alone and to rest assured that my friends and helpers were always nearby.  They were always nearby when I didn’t even know it.  For my entire life, they were keeping watch nearby (which you’ll hear more about in my autobiography).  

Let me tell you that I don’t leave the house or my work with the intention of finding paperclips.  As a father of three, husband and small business owner, I’ve usually got enough on my mind to keep me pretty busy without having to also worry about finding paperclips.  Paperclips find me.  My, or rather, Our angels find us.  For whatever reason, the angels have chosen paperclips as their calling card – so to speak.   Sometimes I’ll get a very strong feeling to stop where I’m at and look around to find a paperclip.  Pretty peculiar, but it’s usually a correct feeling.  I’m not completely sure if it’s only one angel, or multiple angels that continue to leave me paperclips, but that doesn’t matter.  What matters is they are delivering the message of God The Father to me.  Angels are after all, messengers. 

Have you ever had the feeling that someone is watching you? Did you every think that you met an angel before?  Have you ever heard of people encountering angels or having remarkable experiences in their lives that could only be explained by divine intervention?  Of course you have.  We all have because angels touch each one of us everyday.   Paperclips now represent much more to me than stationary organizers.  A paperclip is a beautiful piece of silver that holds important items together to keep them from getting lost.  I need the angels in my life to keep me from getting lost.  However, life isn’t about me, it’s about “US”.  Why am I keeping all of my paperclips to myself when there is a message to be spread?  What am I to do with all of these paperclips now?   Well, this morning while I was still in bed, I asked the angels, “Why do you give me paperclips and what am I supposed to do with them?”  I immediately received and answer.  I know what you’re thinking, “Chuck is crazier than I though!  He does stay up late at night dreaming up new way to torture us!” 

The answer was this: “You have been given a gift of healing.  These paperclips are more than just reminders that we are everywhere.  They represent the healing power of the divine creator, our Loving Father Almighty.  We are simply spreading his message of healing, forgiveness and mercy for YOU to share in a world, which needs him and his message so very much.  Take these paperclips and give them to anyone who asks.  Offer them to those who are suffering and instruct them to pray and believe in the Father and his Son’s message.   Nothing is too great for the Father and HE asks us to bring all of our joys, heartaches, triumphs and challenges to Him.   The Lamb of God has sacrificed himself for us and expects us not to rely on ourselves or even our fellow man, but to place all faith and trust in God the Father.  A paperclip is an overlooked item, but the message of the paperclip is eternal.”

I’m not the only one who finds paperclips either.  I’ve told a few people about this story and low and behold, they started finding paperclips too!  The thing is, they get just as excited as I do when they find one. I often get cell phone pics and hear of stories from friends who find paperclips in odd places.  So, I encourage you to take one of the paperclips if you need one or know someone who needs one.  I’ll even send you a paperclip with a special intention if you would like.  I also ask you to keep your eyes out for paperclips too, that you may spread its message also.  Angels like to work in patterns, so you may begin to notice something completely different, like green, Volkswagen bugs, or the number 15, for instance (I’ll tell you what numbers and colors usually mean in the angelic realm).  I’m not an expert on the angelic realm, but I’ll tell you who is – Doreen Virtue.  Her book Angels 101 is pretty incredible and changed my life one evening 4 years ago.   

This is my Paperclip Story, and now it’s time for me to share it with you. 

Keep believing, keep dreaming, and never give up,

Chuck Gonzales

10 down, 355 to go

I really can think of no good and sound reason why I'm doing 365 WODs this year.  In the end, I'm sure it's some kind of narcissistic side effect.  Like most CrossFitters, it's the challenge that I want to take on.  But unlike most strength coaches, I choosing no off days.  I then have to ask myself "well hell Chuck, what's the definition of a WOD anyway?" Is cleaning the house a WOD? Scrubbing toilets for time?  AMRAP laundry?  Well, not quite.

For a WOD to count, there has to be some structure to the variables.

Intensity

Volume

Load

Frequency

Recovery

Determining the intensity for me by the Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) is the easiest way to choose a WOD. RPE is usually on a scale of 1-10 (one being the easiest 10 being the hardest.  6-20 also works for you old school coaches).  Quite honestly, I don't know how I am going to feel from one day to the next, so I don't pick a WOD until that morning.  Yesterday for example I ran a hard 5k.  Today, I feel pretty good and could possibly run another 5k, but just at a lower intensity, and not for time.  Some days I do heavy strength training, some days I do low intensity aerobic, and somedays I do the hellish, fast glycolysis work like Fran, or that damned wall ball/pull up circuit on Friday (my back still hurts btw).

Is it periodized?  Yes, and I'll tell you how.  "Undulating periodization"(UP) is a term coined by one of my favorite mentors in the fitness industry, Dr. Len Kravitz.  U.P. Training (I just made that up and I think it sounds pretty cool) changes the volume and intensity of the exercises throughout the month, week and day.  So, if I were to do Fran on a Monday (low volume high intensity, I could go for a 30 minute jog, or a slow 5k (high volume low intensity) on Tuesday.  Also, because there is minimal chest recruitment in Fran, I could also choose a day of bench (which Lord knows I need).  The last thing I want is to get injured, so even though I feel healthy, I don't want to suffer and overuse injury by choosing WODs with the same motions or intensities.

My ultimate goal to burn off this protective layer of boxing fat that I no longer need since I don't plan on climbing back in the ring anytime soon.  I also want my wife to look at me the way she looks at Matthew Mcconaughey.

So, what shall I do today?  Well, my upper body is pretty sore, still from Friday (in the chest, back and bis) and my legs feel pretty fresh, so I'll probably try 500-800 lunges and see how long that takes me.

With a warm heart and a cool head,

Chuck Gonzales

Micro-moir?

It's hard for me to blog personally when I spend so much time working on the business, blogging professionally. I am not sure how many people even read this anymore, with as many blogs that are out there today.

I have been giving some thought to publishing my Micro-moir to this blog. Not an full length memoir because I am just not old enough. It's pretty funny, very graphic and details my childhood growing up in the worst hood in Alaska until I was 14 years old. I'll give it some more thought, and see what kind of response I get too. Until then, I'll just stick to what I'm good at - writing about push ups and squats.

24 Hour Fitness

I went to 24 hour fitness for the first time today and realized that I forgot my ego, rub-on tanning lotion, and super small dri-fit tank top. I have to get the sponge bob blow up arms too.  I don't need any more size on my moobies though, but I must say that quite a few homies there had some cannons.  Yikes. 

I always get a little nervous when I am working out at another gym because I feel like I am supposed to take some kind of paleolithic approach to walking on the territorial domains of another clan;  I don't want to disturb the tribe members during ancient and sacred ceremony of bicep curls and bench press.  Perhaps one day they with accept me as their own.

It almost felt like I was walking though high school again, accept this time I was actually dating the hot prom queen and I didn't have to hang my head in shame and walk on the other side of the hall every time I passed by her in between classes. 

I did always think that I was good enough for any girl in high school and I didn't care about who was "out of my league".  I have always had a naive sense of entitlement.   Then again, maybe that's why I never actually had a girlfriend in high school.  Then again, again, I always was a really slow learner.

Will the 24 hour fitness saga continue?  Should I willingly participate in their sacred rite of passage of tribal grunting and lifting?  How should I become accepted as one of them if I do not participate in the hunting and gathering of females, when i just want to slash and burn?

Back to the lab again.   

 

Climbing Walls & Stir Crazy

I'm going crazy dealing with my overactive sence of bordom during the "Arctic Blast" storm on 08'. We weren't supposed to be here for this. We had our hopes on going to Houston for Christmas to spend with the Moon's, but mother nature had other plans. Portland International Airport and Greyhound Train Station looked like scenes from the holiday classic Planes, Trains & Automobiles. The only round trip we had was a 12 hour truck ride to PDX and back after our flight was cancelled and rescheduled to Saturday, December 27th. Good Times.

99% of my clients have cancelled these last two weeks and that means that I'm stuck doing administrative paperwork and or dishes and laundry. Both are an equal penance for most most any confessions and I'm sure that's what my purgatory will consist of .

We're really unprepared to spend Christmas here too. We delibrately ran out of the staples like, food, soy milk, booze, etc. And we weren't going shopping for the hoodrats until we were in Houston. Today Shelly and I made a mad dash through the dirty, wet slush and ruts all over town to stock up. Tar-jey had almost everything, but I really was in the mood for some Bailey's, so...

We did all celebrate Mass together at St. Anthony's though. That was beautiful. There was a nice little childrens play of the nativity and Father Peter was great as always. The Eucharist was much greater though.

To be completely honest with all of you, I have lost any and all desire to move a muscle during our winter blanketing blast. You would think that a trainer, especially one who owns his own studio would be pretty motivated to stay fit and burn off the fudge, pecan brittle, cookies, & m&m calories I have packed in my "carbo-loading" period (loading up for the long marathon of folding clothes and emptying the dishwasher). Luckily, I have a great big, genetic chest & shoulder complex, which stretches out my shirt away from my spare tire. This way, I can easily pack on 10 pounds before anyone notices.

I am at least trying to moderate how much sugar I intake per day. When I begin to slightly feel my body slipping into a diabetic coma, I stop the binge. No purging though, just passing out on the couch with a good DVD (Tropic Thunder is gut busting funny, btw).

Time for some more pecan brittle. Thank you Mary Lou!

BigChuckaliciousG

Holy Snow Day Ironman!

There's a foot of snow outside and it hasn't let up for about 12 hours.  This is nuts and I'm boarder line pissed because it's such a reminder of how much I hated growing up in the cold of Alaska.  

In the winter of 87' our front door of the trailer was broken off the hinges after either being kicked down by someone, or simply rotting off of the hinges.  It had to be strategically placed each time you closed it, in order for it to stay closed.  On one of those Alaska winter mornings where the sky was grey and wind nearly blew all of the trailers off their blocks, I foolishly rushed out of the door in an attempt to get to school on time.  In my haste, I didn't hang the door properly.  As the last one out of the trailer, I was the one responsible for making sure the place was locked up tight as could be.  That day however, I came home to a blown down door and a foot of snow wind-swept half way across our living room floor.  Luckily I was always the first one home so I had a couple of hours to clean the mess up.  

Now days all I have to worry about is when the HOA is going to take care of cleaning up this mess outside.  I know, I have it made easy with my 80 sq. ft. landscaped front yard, but now I can appreciate it more than most.  

On a lighter note, we had our first CrossFit Fundamentals Movement Course this morning at the studio.  We had a turn out of 12 souls who braved the icy roads at 8am to learn all about functional movements executed at high intensity.  The 4 hours went by way too quickly though, but everyone had a great time, I hope.  

Peace, Love, Gratitude & Blessings

Chuck G.  

4th Snow Day in a row

I have really liked staying at home with the kids this week, as their schools have all been 

shut down from "Arctic Blast". I think that was a Power Aid drink I used to like.  Frosty blue container, or, no wait,  that's the name of the bubble gum I like. On second thought, that's  "Polar Ice".  Shelly and I schooled the little hoodrats at "Scene It", an interactive DVD game with move scenes.  Shelly in turn smoked me though. 

I have skipped workouts because I am afraid of the cold, but I have managed to eat very well.  As a result, I have only gained 10 of my alloted 15 holiday pounds.  Their 10 sexy, Cindarella pounds too: it all turns to muscle at midnight.  I'm just kidding.  I haven't gained any weight, but I have lost some muscle, and it's the weatherman's fault.  Clearly not mine. 

The best way I know of to take off weight is cardio in the morning on an empty stomach.  This works wonders and is worth it's calories in gold.  A couple glasses of H2O, some Amino Vital and hit the road jack.  I'll be doing some tri's next year though, so I'll make a splash instead of hitting the concrete.  

Anyway, I'm off to get my ass handed to me for 90 minutes.  Gotta box with a killer.  

Chuckalicious