What is an idiom anyway? Its a phrase used that is figurative. It describes a situation in a figurative way without actual details of the event. Have you ever heard someone say the cat’s out of the bag? How about the term blackmail? These are common phrases and words that most of us hear or even say ourselves in regular conversation. How did these sayings originally come to be a part of our current conversation? Who ever put a cat in a bag? That sounds so mean.

 

Have you ever said a phrase that you heard someone else say, only because you heard them say it? Listen to this episode to find out the back story to many of these common sayings. They actually have quite a history that might surprise you.

Todd recounts the story of his first live hockey game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Ottawa Senators, and shares with the listeners all that happened. Todd also describes peoples' reactions when he wore his New York Rangers hockey jersey to the game even though the Rangers weren’t playing.

 

Shopping on the outside of the grocery aisles used to be a great idea, but what about now? In modern times, food has changed greatly. The true meaning of food is even questionable. People today are overwhelmed with choices. To make life easier, sometimes we defer to the same small list of foods that we bought last week. Are you lazy or just overwhelmed? Can you get everything you want to take home without a plan or a specific recipe? What is the disadvantage of limiting your food choices? This show explores how some of you out there consistently end up with a food shop fail due to poor planning or lack of knowledge. 

 

Do you ever throw out spoiled food or waste food? Have you ever had to go back to the food store more that you had intended because you ate too much of the food you bought? There are many ways to be much more productive and efficient when you go food shopping, Todd touches on some not-so-well-known secrets to start eating healthier and to start lose weight today.

Leaving Early 

 

 

Mission accomplished!

This week, Todd’s talks about his triumphant return home with a five dollar coupon in hand from Mackenzies Pub. He did it folks, Todd accomplished his goal of performing at three open mic nights, and now he has his first paycheque to frame. Hear about all the antics he got into from slugging around town with two big Gretsch guitars along with Jack from Across The Hall. 

 

With all the jokes and the carrying on that generally opens up Revenge Gym's Low Fidelity Podcast, the topic today settles the tone down when Todd and Marie discuss the current events of young woman facing terminal cancer, choosing to leave early and die with dignity.

 

What happens to someone that wants to legally 

'put themselves down", like we do our pets at the vet? The laws are slowly changing in North America, but not quickly enough for some. For some people living with terminal illness, their lives become incredibly painful and burdensome to others.They want to die with dignity. Listen to the challenges that some of these people have faced, when faced with the decision to end it early.

Is there something in your life that’s not working? A detox doesn’t necessarily mean detoxing from food. Sometimes a detox could be from magazines, other media or people. Marie and Todd cover some ways you can start today to detoxify your body, your mind, or your spirit.

 

Most people have heard of detoxification, but did you know that this practice has been going on for hundreds of years? Have you ever tried a detox either voluntarily or involuntarily? What inspired you to even start a detox? This episode covers the different ways you can detox and why you might even consider one. 

 

What’s the first thing you say to yourself when you wake up in the morning and look in the mirror? Did you know that you can even detox from yourself and your own toxic negative thoughts? If your’e not sure that you need to detox from your own self, find someone that you admire and would like to emulate. See if there are things they are doing in their life that you are not doing. 

 

If you’ve gone though detoxes before, this show will help you figure out how to retox less. You’ve done all that hard work, now what? What if you finish your detox, only to slip right back into your old toxic ways? Why even bother if you’re going to go right back to the same bad habits? If you’ve never had the guts to try a detox, this show will help you get started.

So you think that your cat is the sweetest little fluffy-kins that craps sunshine in a gravel filled box? Well let me tell you, while your co-workers are glazing over with another one of your never-ending, asinine stories on how “he is just like people”, I am about to burst your delusion bubble with a spiky thorn of reality. Your cat is nothing compared to Oscar Bits Miss’n. Oscar may not have looked like much with his missing ears, missing tail and his sleepy Paris Hilton eye but he was a bastion of resilient spirit and character. And that’s the kind of stuff one has to earn, even when you are a cat.

 

Oscar Bits Miss’n had a hard life. One day a woman got pissed off at the friendly old lady that fed the stray cats in the neighbourhood.  When cursing at the old lady didn’t deter her from running the stray cat soup kitchen, the miserable bitch took a pair of scissors and cut off Oscar’s ears and tail to teach her a lesson.  Oscar didn’t come around anymore and the old lady went looking for him. She found him one day under her porch where he lay, trying to wish himself to death. She called the humane society; they came by to rescue Oscar and took him to the shelter. That’s where my brother Aaron found him.

 

My brother is completely mental about animals. He always had pets, some of which I’ve liked, and some I’ve despised, like the goddamn ferret that bit me on the balls when I was sleeping over at his place. Aaron, who is an undertaker, frequents the humane society so often that some think he actually works there.  On one particular visit with his wife Jessica, they saw Oscar sitting in the back of the cage and exclaimed, “We must have that cat”.  With Oscar’s battered appearance they questioned my brother’s mental capacity. He assured them that he would love this tragic creature like a show cat, and even created an insane affluent pedigree to make Oscar feel better. Now this is were I come in.

 

Aaron and his wife won a trip to Spain and I won the “privilege” of taking care of the zoo while they were gone.  They have an iguana that hates my guts, two pythons, five bald rats, a whole bunch of fish and Oscar. I also found a bunch of frozen mice in their freezer but I am not sure if they were ex-pets or snake food. After work I’d head to their place to take care of the animals. I would feed them, check to see if the iguana was still playing dead, and make sure the rats weren’t eating each other. After my chores were done, I’d pet Oscar on my lap while watching South Park. Oscar was an affection whore. There was never enough petting and cuddling to satisfy this bloody cat. This is when it occurred to me; here is Oscar the cat that had horrible things done to him by another human being and yet he had such character to forgive and not blame all of mankind for the evils of one. I can’t say that I have shown such forgiveness for lesser crimes.

 

Okay, so maybe he sprayed snot all over your arm when he shook his head.  And he was known to have the odd shell shock flashback which causes him to freak out on your lap and bite you like a mad wombat. But you took it all in stride knowing he would be loved for the rest of his 8 remaining lives and that’s because Oscar Bits Miss’n was the best damn cat in the world.

We are generally all curious about death. Some are even fascinated with the other side. This show covers various ways in which we remember and celebrate the departed ones that we love, and how the industry of celebrating or commemorating the departed has changed dramatically.

 

In this Halloween Edition of the Antidote, Todd and Marie suggest to the listeners to never go home with strangers on Halloween night while still wearing your Halloween costume. There’s nothing worse than doing the walk of shame in full costume, announcing to the world that you partied all night and couldn’t make it home before sunrise.

 

Are you under 30 and have a will or power of attorney drawn up? If you do, well done. If you don’t, you definitely need to listen to this episode and consider getting this underway as soon as possible. Marie and Todd tell stories of why this is so very important not only for older people but for young people as well. 

 

Is there really such a thing as a green burial? In the age of green living, the concept of green dying is becoming an option. Marie shares her green burial experience, and Todd shares some of his grave digging stories. 

 

What about death and social media? Has the funeral industry embraced social media? Should you unfriend your dead friend on Facebook, or do you still keep them? Wait until you hear Todd’s answer...

 

*DISCLAIMER* This podcast episode contains topics and language of an explicit and sensitive nature that may be uncomfortable for listeners to hear while eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

If you are squeamish about concepts of death, do not listen to this podcast. Listener discretion is advised.

Can we not achieve some sense of civility? Whatever happened to the common decency that we once extended to one another? In the world of selfies, swag and endless documentation of every damn thing you do, It seems like everyone is a superstar and they’re just pissed that no one else has noticed it yet…

 

Todd and Marie look at the current state of people behaving poorly to one another, by discussing, the “Leprechaun Douchebag Incident” that occurred on a TTC bus. Last Wednesday, a man resembling a Leprechaun, wouldn’t move his bag that occupied the seat beside him when a woman asked him to move it so she could sit. She was exhausted after being on her feet all day; she just wanted to sit down. 

 

The leprechaun said “No, my bag is there.” He then called her an “airhead”, stomped on her foot, and then pushed her into a group of people. Thinking quick on her sore feet, she snapped a picture of him (see image in the podcast post), posted it on her Facebook page and wrote a lengthy description about the incident. The story then went viral…

Personal trainers generally can’t stop talking talk about how much they love to work out. To the untrained eye, it seems as if all personal trainers are poised to drop down and start doing push ups at any given moment. Sometimes it’s true, (as we have already seen with our one-minute push up videos) we talk about how great it makes us feel, how strong we get and how amazing the burn feels. What if we told you though that sometimes we hate going to that famed gym environment that we constantly preach about? What if we let you in on a secret today that sometimes we actually hate going to the gym?

 

In todays episode, Todd and Marie reveal some reasons why they hate going to workout in the gym on their own time. It’s one thing to already be there and train ourselves after a client appointment, but what about making a special trip (just like regular folks) to get our workouts in?

 

But wait a second you say... you guys are trainers. What’s to hate about a place with no desks or cubicles, people running around in ridiculously skin tight clothing, ladies and men making guttural groaning sounds left and right, being able to yell YEAH at the top of your voice like it’s Saturday night, experiencing loud music, bright lights, and being given the freedom to stare directly at complete strangers' body parts with no fear of recourse?

 

This all sounds like the perfect dream job. Who wouldn’t want to spend 24/7 in a place like that?

Listen to the show to find out why this actually sucks big time, and what can be done about it.

Do you walk around with a high sense of superiority, or are you more of the type that would step to the back of the line on a sinking ship? Even these polar opposite personality traits can go several steps further in either direction.

 

No one likes the braggart nor the brown-noser, but we are drawn to those who possess self-confidence and altruism, so where lies the personality sweet spot?

 

In this episode, Todd and Marie discuss the latest Kanye West gaff when he told all of his fans to stand-up during one of his performances…including one who happened to be in a wheelchair along with his friend with a prosthetic leg. When they didn’t stand up, Kanye berated them in front of the entire audience that booed them for not standing. Kanye did eventually concede that the man in the wheelchair had a good reason but not enough to issue an apology.

 

This isn’t the first time Kanye West’s narcissism has held him back from empathizing with his fellow man. Todd highlights 4 of West's top 10 egotistical public blowouts that have hit the tabloids in recent years to show how becoming too full of yourself is an ugly trait that you need to keep in check.

 

Most of us can recall when we’ve been Divas and Douchebags. However, to be formally diagnosed as someone with a Narcissistic Personality Disorder (aka Egomaniac), you need to identify with at least  5 of the following 9 traits:

Grandiosity

Arrogant & Domineering 

Preoccupation with Success & Power

Lack of Empathy

Belief Of Being Unique

Requiring Excessive Admiration

Sense Of Entitlement

Exploitative 

Envious Of Others

How far of a distance should you keep from the egomaniacs you come across, and what harm can your relationship with them do to you?

Have you ever caught yourself tuning out of a conversation? It happens all the time. You start listening to someone speak, then your mind waders. This is a classic sign of not listening. What else are you thinking about? Are you thinking that the speaker is boring?

 

How many epic arguments have you been a part of, or have seen happen because of misunderstanding? Most of this is due to shitty listening skills. Do you do other things while someone is speaking to you? If so, you are not fully present, and miscommunication can and will occur.

 

In school, there are writing courses, presentation courses and public speaking courses. Why aren’t there any courses on listening? Are there any? At the end of the day, being a good listener gets you closer to another person, and creates space for you to be heard as well. In this episode, Marie and Todd talk about why being a great listener can be an advantage and a skill. 

 

Have you ever pretended to be listening to someone, then they asked you a question about what they said? You have just been caught with your listening pants down. Long drawn out stories with too much detail... is that you? Marie admits she has done this more times than she can remember but wants to stop. 

 

Later on in the episode Marie provides some ways you can test people to see if they are listening to what you have to say.