happiness

moving forward is about staying in the moment.

being grateful for where i am.

taking care of myself just for today.

forgiveness. understanding.

and knowing that the mystery of life (and it's challenges) is a gift.

walk more. breathe more. give and be love.

dont be lazy

 

this kind of poster, this kind of thinking, is easy to post on a blog, but hard to do in real life. real life is hard. it is usually filled with unforeseen challenges, deadlines, due dates, parking meters, easy-access junk food, and hard to find whole food. after month's of steely resolve and planning and doing the right thing, it's temping to find an excuse to slip back into our old, bad habits. a little at first and then a little more. it's comforting to move in familiar ways and feel the dull comfort of a clouded mind. but! we have been down this rosy garden path before and we know where it leads: unhappiness, self-loathing and eventually a certain kind of disconnected-hopelessness. 

so, if you must, rest!  but not for too long! stay connected and re-connect to those who are moving in the direction that you want to go. then, pick up your pace, appreciate what you have and take a few deep breaths. yes the path you have chosen is harder and steeper, but it leads to a better place. have faith. 

And most important of all: DON'T BE LAZY.

(ps: there is an important addendum to this post here)

 

faith in yourself (and where you're going)

Amanda Sizemore, farmer, handling the crops that survived devastating rains.

i don't think about faith much. haven't used the word in many years. i don't tend to say things like "ya gotta have faith!". i always thought that was more of a christian-thing, referring to of course to "faith in god". but as i have considered what keeps me from meeting my personal goals and staying on track with my health, i have decided that it is not lack of willpower or lack of desire, but rather a lack of faith.

change is difficult. even when it is change for the good. even when it is self selected change. changing the way you think about food, how you prepare it how much you eat and when and where. and focusing daily on gratitude and goals and breathing and walking. all change for the good. and the results are good too! the slimming effect is good. more energy is good. but, alas! sometimes exhausting. i begin to wonder "how much longer can i keep this up? will my dreams come true? is it all worth it?"

and this, my peeps, is where faith comes in. faith in myself. not faith in some far away place or person or idea. faith in being alive today. faith in knowing that good things will sprout from the seeds that i labor to plant today. faith like a farmer has faith!

when i went looking for a "faith" image to accompany this blog post, i was afraid of what i might find, and all my fears came true. it was mostly churchy-imagery with hookey slogans attached. but when i changed my search to "faith in where you're going" it lead me to the image you see above and to the story of two farmers, Jeremy and Amanda Sizemore who know about faith:

Storms swamped their fields with rain that sometimes totaled 3 or more inches in a day. In May alone, the area absorbed a record-breaking 9 inches. So much rain makes it logistically difficult to get in the fields to plant crops, and it creates a perfect environment for pests, fungi and other diseases. The Sizemores estimate their revenue came up about 50 percent below expectations because of lost crops. But they never quit, and they plan to come back bigger next year. “Farming is more about having faith in what you're doing than having control over it,” said Jeremy, 35. “If you ain't got faith, you ain't going to last long.”

so as i move back into my body and eating the right stuff that nourishes me, "the whole me" rather than feeding my diseases, i have to give thanks to my faith for keeping me on track. because just as mr. sizemore says,"If you ain't got faith, you ain't going to last long.”

for the rest of the story about the sizemores go here.

wabi-sabi weight loss

Wabi-sabi is not only a style, but a Japanese philosophy based in Zen and built on three principles: nothing lasts, nothing ends, and nothing is perfect. “Wabi” means a deliberate humility, a lack of materialism, and a deep connection with the environment. “Sabi” is different. It literally translates as “bloom of time.” Taken together, Wabi-Sabi is a worldview that perceives beauty in roughness, elegance in imperfection, and serenity in the natural process of decay. Wabi-Sabi is homespun and homemade, the chip on the lip of a pot, the patina on a copper box, the new colors and textures objects take on as they age. More than just aesthetics, wabi-sabi extends into all parts of life. It’s a philosophy that believes enlightenment comes with the acceptance of material impermanence.

So how does Wabi Sabi come into weight loss? For me, calming down and accepting things (and myself) for what they are helps me stay focused on what is true. Thoughtless commercial food consumption is an extension of materialism (and probably hoarding). It is that haunting need to have more. To have the bright shiny thing that comes in a package: a big mac, a snickers, a deep-fried happy hour special that comes piled high on a plate. Wabi sabi is not like that. Wabi Sabi is quiet. It is humble, like an ordinary apple, a bowl of black beans or a handful of green beans. Wabi Sabi is pure, and intentional, and imperfect.

mindfulness

Being mindful in the moment is the greatest gift we can give ourselves. Being mindful of the gifts we have been given and the love that surrounds us, is the first step in knowing that we are enough and we have enough.

Mindful eating has the powerful potential to transform people’s relationship to food and eating, to improve overall health, body image, relationships and self-esteem. Mindful eating involves many components such as:

• learning to make choices in beginning or ending a meal based on awareness of hunger and satiety cues;
• learning to identify personal triggers for mindless eating, such as emotions, social pressures, or certain foods;
• valuing quality over quantity of what you’re eating;
• appreciating the sensual, as well as the nourishing, capacity of food;
• feeling deep gratitude that may come from appreciating and experiencing food

Mindful eating draws substantially on the use of mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness helps focus our attention and awareness on the present moment, which in turn, helps us disengage from habitual, unsatisfying and unskillful habits and behaviors. Engaging in mindful eating meditation practices on a regular basis can help us discover a far more satisfying relationship to food and eating than we ever imagined or experienced before. A different kind of nourishment often emerges, the kind that offers satisfaction on a very deep emotional level.

For more info on this topic go to: 

man in the mirror?

why bother to shop for fresh foods and eat the right stuff, take walks in the morning and learn more about nutrition? wouldn't it be easier to do what everybody else does: to eat what's convenient and stay in bed a little longer? being lazy easy. it's also easy to complain. it's easy to lament about things gone wrong or why we don't have what we think we deserve. and it's sometimes hard to be creative, to re-consider old ideas or invent new ones.

so, why write a blog? why make a short film? why paint a painting? why fall in love? all of these things require risk and possible failure. they require learning more and making mistakes and falling down and getting up again. i believe that being vulnerable is the beginning of being alive. that sharing who you truly are is the greatest gift you can give, not being the (supposedly) safe someone who sits on the side and judges. i don't want to end up being that proverbial unburned scented candle that lingers in the guest bedroom bathroom collecting dust in its cellophane wrapper. i want to be the candle that burns bright and needs to be replaced because it's all used up. time to make the change.

through this process of "50 pounds to passion", i have discovered something. i have discovered that in order to find my own passion i need to accept myself for who i am right now. i need to stop judging myself for who i am not and start loving myself for who i've become. spending time each day in gratitude is a good way to start. and knowing that in a world that is screwed up as ours is, the stronger each of us becomes in body, mind and spirit, the better chance we'll have to be supportive of a more peaceful, amazing world.

i am worthy, grateful, mindful and strong.

knowing i am on the right path in my head is one thing. knowing it in my body is another. i struggle sometimes, so i am dedicating today's blog post to the ideas i need to internalize. i am about to begin the process, a new one for me, of quieting my mind. some call this meditation. i will call it my "practice". please share with me and others exeriences you have had with meditation in the comments area below. and if you haven't done so already, join our community by signing up for email at the top of the column on the right. peace!

nourish yourself: white bean & kale soup

http://nourishedkitchen.com/kale-and-white-bean-soup/#

learning to love yourself means learning to nourish yourself. making soup from scratch is a time honored tradition for "sharing the love". make time in your busy day to do something that's good for you, take a walk, breathe deep, really connect with someone, and make soup.

full stop. full start.

well. here i am again. not feeling so alone now, knowing that i have at least one faithful follower named calamity jane. thanks for the note CJ!

after so many weeks of working so hard to eat right, exercise and lose weight i took a 24 hour break for it all and gained 5 pounds back. that's 8 weeks to lose 10 pounds and one day to gain half of it back again. i was dismayed.
disillusioned. i gave up.

then the next morning, i went for my walk and made some fresh lentil soup with red peppers and turmeric and started a new batch of sprouts. today i weighed myself and that 5 pounds is gone again. i'm back on track.

but things are different now. now that i have some new healthy habits in place like walking and sprouting and eating mostly stuff without labels, i am going to focus less on food and start working on my mind and spirit too. the idea from the start has always been about balance, not just weight loss. i have to remind myself of these things. so less focus on loss and more focus on the now.

happiness

i have spent a great deal of time focusing on food and nutrition on this blog so far, and that is a good start. but as the intention of 50 POUNDS TO PASSION is to release the stuff of weight that holds us back to embrace the stuff which is the now. by eating right and staying in motion i will lose unwanted pounds, and that is good and natural. and as this process unfolds i need to also focus on my mind + spirit. keeping in balance is the way i choose to be.

ten pounds lighter!

well, i finally took off ten pounds of weight. just dropped off all of a sudden. and you know what? i feel ten pounds lighter! it's great. 'felt like i was wearing these things (see photo) all day long. to celebrate, i took a hike with my friends droodles and puma. unlike previous hikes, on this one i didn't lag behind or have to stop all the time. i just hiked along like a regular guy. felt great to be outside, breathing deep and sharing time with people who i care about. "hey, i lost ten pounds" i'd say to myself as i leaped over a rock or a little stream. and then i'd give myself a little affirmation by throwing my fist into the air and saying, "yes!".

re-focusing

after 30 days of my new diet/exercise regime, i decided it was time to check in on my weight. i prepared myself for the possibility of lack luster results. when i step on the scale, i was horrified to discover that all of my efforts were decidedly unimpressive. i hadn't gained weight, thank god! but the results were dismal at best. the last time i went on a diet, it was at this point that i threw in the towel and chalked up my efforts to hopeless! after a short-lived binge on roasted lamb, boiled potatoes (with gravy) wilted spinach, two bowls of egg-nog ice cream and two bowls of popcorn (with butter)... i came to my senses.
today i went to the whole foods store to begin the re-boot of my diet.  i purchased the itemes your see above: lemons, limes, apples, red cabbage, broccoli, cilantro, carrots and spinach. time for less cooking, more whole foods, less peanut butter on my apples when i snack, and fewer snacks!  when i came home i got my "shop and chop" on by making a big red cabbage salad, with green onion, cilantro, carrot, lemon & lime juice and a table spoon of organic honey. this is where the rubber meets the pavement. got to get some traction here. have to read more labels, and track what i eat more closely. the good news is, i feel ten times better than where i was a month ago! my walks are faster and farther. and i swear i am down one belt loop. guess i need to be grateful that i didn't GAIN weight over the holidays. the beat goes on.

gratitude

50 POUNDS TO PASSION is a process of becoming more true to who we are. it is a journey that unfolds daily. i am discovering that one of the secrets to success in this journey is an "attitude of gratitude". maybe it is because this process requires so much giving-up, that there is solace in being grateful for what we have. or maybe it is the other way around, knowing we have so much makes us less greedy for the things we don't really need.
be grateful for your home even if it is not perfect. be grateful for your mind, you can read can't you?. be grateful for the ability to walk each morning. (get up and go! some folks no longer have this option!) be grateful for all the wonderful food choices in the grocery store. not everybody has so many options.
getting rid of extra weight (body-mind-spirit weight) means making right choices every day, every minute. being grateful every day, every minute helps us to make those right choices. it's a kind of preparation. being grateful isn't a church thing. it's a life thing. start your process of change in the new year with a new attitude, an attitude of gratitude.

for more on gratitude you can watch this video. 

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.”