MOMENTUM OF THOUGHTS abraham hicks

two power-houses of "new age" thinking sit down and bash it out (see video) these are ideas whose time has come! it seems crazy at first, but i believe it's true. just like the world will consider the most unlikely candidates to be president, they will also consider the most unlikely ideas. (And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. -nin) remember that song from the 60's that said, "this is the dawning of the age of aquarius"? mark my words...the sun is about to rise over the mountains. 

Louise Hay leads the way in guiding us all to becoming the person we want to be.

saying "be in the moment, be in the now" is very well and good,

but it is not a roadmap to how to do it. how to do it is still a mystery.

louise hay lays it out like apples, peaches and pears on a golden kitchen table flooded with golden light. she teaches, gently, how to think. how to forgive and how to heal.

these things are hard for most to comprehend. i was for me.

but louise shows the way. this is just one of many of her magical, accessible recordings.

don't judge, just listen. give it a chance. it works!

the AMAZING louise hay!

The Pursuit

i'm not sure that trying to lose weight is the right idea. this is a daunting task,
an endless, thankless venture. one that often ends in dismal failure.
perhaps the correct approach is "the pursuit of health"! this can be achieved each day. if in the beginning the best i can do is shop right, or just get the juicer on the counter and juice, or take a walk, i have succeeded in my pursuit. 

this "right effort" far exceeds feelings of terminal failure and continued excess. just as the bill of rights guarantees "the pursuit of happiness", you can guarantee yourself the pursuit of health. 

little steps in the right direction, day by day, are their own reward.

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.

30 pounds to passion (i'm getting there!)

i have now lost 30 pounds, turned my diabetes around and have perfect blood pressure!

to day is my birthday! i started this blog and my new improved 50 POUNDS TO PASSION lifestyle just a little over 3 months ago and have now i have now dropped 30 pounds, turned my diabetes around and have perfect blood pressure! the first thing i see when i look in a mirror or reflective glass window when i am walking down the street is no longer my big belly protruding from my body, but someone i barely recognize: the new improved me!

i am so happy to know that there are a few individuals out there who are following me on this journey and even joining me in it. it pleases me to know that i have inspired others to take action towards a healthy, more passionate life. but i really do want to reach out to more people out there who are suffering now the way i was just a few months ago. feeling hopeless that the medical community's idea of fixing diabetes and obesity is just prescription drugs and lighthearted encouragement to "exercise". i want to reach those people. can you help me?

for my birthday gift today, would you forward this link to 3 people you might know who could use a dose of improved health in body+mind+spirit: 

https://www.50poundstopassion.com 

thanks for being here. thanks for caring. and thanks for sharing!

juicing for smarties

before and after: home grown sprouts, ginger, turmeric, carrots, bok choy, beets, cabbage, kale.

juicing for smarties? yes! juicing is decidedly NOT for dummies, although it's the easiest thing in the world to do. even though i am a novice, and i am sure that there are many places online that can tell you a million things you ought to know about juicing, this is my blog, and this is how i roll:

1. go shopping just for veggies. don't pick up anything if it's not a fruit, veggie or some kind of root. just for today, be a purist!

2. buy a rainbow of colors. carrots, beets, cilantro, ginger, turmeric, bok choy. not only is it pretty, it's good for you.

3. don't be a sissy! go big or go home. buy a lot! see just how far 40 bucks can go when you are just buying greens. it's amazing!

4. have you ever heard of "shop & chop". this is how it's done: when you get home chop up all the leafy greens in a size that fits easily into your juicer and toss them in a dry plastic bag so they are ready to go when you are. (leave the carrots whole or cut the the long way so you can use them to help push things thru if needed)

5. gather together or buy various sized glass jars. i like mason jars... but also check out your local asian market place as they sometimes have cute glass jars with interesting lids at a good price! you're going to want to make more juice than just one serving at a time and the individual jars make it easy to store and to take with.

6. fire up the juicer and start feeding it the goods! it's best to rotate the leafy and meaty items with watery items to help flush the juice thru the machine and avoid clogging. make enough juice to last a day or two. go nuts.

7. pour the juice into the pretty jars all the way to the top, leaving as little air as possible. (you don't want the juice to oxidize). store in fridge.

8. clean the messy and then progress. that is, clean the juicer right away. it makes cleaning it so much faster and better.

9. top off a nice glass with the freshly made juice. take a big swig and enjoy the sensation of goodness, then take a pix to show-off to your juicing pals.

10. enjoy the rest of the day knowing that you have done something good for yourself. you have prepared several power meals the will nourish your body, mind and spirit! congratulate yourself!

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: 

juice "feast" / liver detox

liver detox tea

where have i been? detoxing my liver.

i am on day four of a liver detox program which includes, juicing a rainbow of veggies, drinking pure water and drinking detox tea day and night. cleansing your liver is one of the most important things you can do to improve your overall health as it means inducing the liver to purge fats, old cholesterol deposits, gallstones, poisons, drug residues, and other toxic waste. While you do this, you also clean out other vital organs including your blood and intestines. there are many benefits to regular liver detoxification. Following are just a few:

Weight loss and reduced cellulite – Improving liver function can help with weight loss as your body will start to release liquids and fat that has attached to excess toxins.

Better cardiovascular function – The structural position of the liver as a bridge between the returning blood from the digestive system and the lower part of the body to the heart makes the liver an important organ for the health of the heart. It is especially important to keep the liver clean if cardiovascular health is a risk factor because a weakened and swollen liver can obstruct the venous blood flow to the heart causing heart palpitations or even heart attack.

Improved Libido – Even a mildly sluggish liver can seriously affect your energy level as well as your libido. 

Improved immune function – Detoxing the liver strenthens your body‟s fight against harmful (i.e. cancer) cells and helps to generate healthy cells, resulting in less illness and disease.

Improved digestion, cleaner blood and clearer skin – detoxifying your liver helps to cleanse mucous, congestion, fermentation and inflammation in your digestive tract resulting in improved intestinal health, cleaner blood as well as clearer skin.

Improved lifestyle – any form of detoxification can help to reform you lifestyle addictions for substances such as sugar, salt, high glycemic carbohydrates, alcohol, junk foods, nicotine, etc.

Fewer aches and pains – by reducing the liver‟s toxic buildups, health problems such as fatigue, arthritis and joint pain, as well as other chronic diseases are minimized. The theory is that cleansing the liver with specific foods and beverages will clean these buildups from the liver, thus making you feel better.

If you look after your liver, here's the list of diseases you won't get include:

• Cirrhosis
• Cancer
• Heavy metal poisoning
• Gall stones
• Diabetes
• Obesity

Cleansing your liver also cleans out other vital organs including your blood and intestines, so it actually has multiple benefits for your overall health.

(here's some info on juicers)

eating salad is eating "raw"!

super simple salad, mixed at the table.

there is a raw food movement out there, which is good. raw food foodies are very strict about what they eat. i love to borrow from the raw food movement without getting married to it, if you know what i mean.

lots of my meals are raw, but not all. lots are vegan, but not all. this one starts with a dash of balsamic vinegar reduction, a stack of various chopped, and sliced veggies: carrot, cukes, lettuce hearts, celery, and red cabbage. then a half ripe avocado, a hand-full of fresh water cress and two freshly picked nasturtiums. a honey, vinegar and pepper oil dressing is served on the side. the salad is then dressed and tossed at will at the table.

the drink is a tart/sweet lemonade made with several whole (peeled) lemons, some wild honey and a few frozen berries blended in the blender, chilled and served cold.

love.

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.

making a u-turn: turning diabetes around

IN NINE WEEKS OF SELECT NUTRITION AND REGULAR EXERCISE I HAVE TURNED MY A1C BLOOD TEST LEVEL FROM A 7.8 (WHICH IS VERY HIGH) TO A 6.3 (WHICH IS CONSIDERED BETTER THAN IDEAL FOR DIABETICS). MY BLOOD PRESSURE IS NOW NORMAL, I HAVE LOST 17 LBS. OF FAT AND GAINED 5 LBS OF MUSCLE. PLUS: I HAVE MORE ENERGY THAN EVER.

I'M DOING THIS!

when you're first diagnosed with type 2 diabetes your whole world sort of melts before your eyes. you know nothing is going to be the same. there are shots to take, blood drops to extract and glucose gadgets to read. you feel very alone.
(and maybe a little sorry for yourself.) the new world you are about to enter includes regular doctor visits, bizarre physical ailments which can morph into really serious medical emergencies if not handled quickly and properly and a host of informational websites that look like something out of a 5 grade "how to was your hands" film playing on an old school projector. in other words, there is nothing sexy about being diabetic.

there is so much information out there, all with contradictory advice, that in the beginning it just might seem easier to bury your head in the sand, take your pills and carry on with life unchanged- except for maybe swapping sweet&low for sugar in your coffee in the morning. feeling sorry for yourself is easy! you've got a disease that no-one can cure and is a lead cause of early death in this country. why bother? of course, you know that you're supposed to "cut down on carbs", but that like "cutting down on booze or cigarettes", it's nice to talk about but very difficult to actually do.

here's the good news: there is one person who can help you get rid of diabetes, you! and not by "cutting down" on carbs here and there and trying to eat a certain pyramid or portion allocations. no. the way to do it is to realize that this is a matter of life and death and that you no longer can eat certain foods at all! in a way having a chronic condition makes things very easy. hopefully the option to take massive action becomes abundantly clear in a flash. hello? cakes, breads, white rice, potatoes and all processes foods are no longer a part of my regular life. (period) what's left is a new adventure in eating, one you could never get to know when you were infatuated with fats and deep-fried and processed foods. what's left is fruits and veggies and yogurt and fish. what's left is nutrition! action! exercise and passion!

IT ALL STARTS WHEN YOU DECIDE THAT IT'S TIME TO TAKE MASSIVE ACTION TO IMPROVE BOTH YOUR MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH!

food as medicine

once you get beyond the idea that processed and fast foods taste good and nourish you, there is a whole new world of food that awaits discovery. educating oneself about herbs, enzymes, probiotics, roots and sprouting has can be a steep learning curve, but a welcome one. when i first started researching juicing, i was amazed at the long list of healing properties associated with most fruits and veggies, and the lack of nutritional value, even detrimental effects of others foods. as difficult as it is to stay focused on healthy eating habits when not actually losing much weight, i have to remind myself that with every healthy eating choice i make i am actually healing my body from the inside out.

in dr. andrew weil's anti-inflammatory diet (for weight loss) he lists turmeric, ginger and boswellin as key nutrients to aid in healing.

quiet the mind

Normally when we think about some weight losing activity, we think about burning calories or sweating off the fat. When you meditate you have to sit very still, without making a move. Can meditation, therefore, be helpful in losing weight? Although you won't burn many calories during a typical meditation session, meditation may be one of the most important practices you will do in your effort to lose weight.

Weight loss is not just a physical activity. Sure, if you eat less and you exercise more, you will lose weight. However, all of our actions begin in our minds. If you are going to walk for forty five minutes every day, in order to increase your daily exercise, then you first have to decide to do it, and at the right time, you have to think and then go for your walk. These are all mental activities.

Similarly, if you realize that junk food is only making your waistline expand, and you want to stop eating it, you first have to make a decision to change your eating habits and then you have to walk past and not stop at the doughnut shop on your way to work. Again, these are mostly mental activities.

If you are trying to lose weight you probably already "know" that you have to exercise more, and change some of your eating habits. You "know" this to be a fact, yet you are unable to do it. All people, whether fat or slim, have this same dilemma. We "know" many things intellectually, but we are not always able to put our best intentions into action.

Meditation is one of the best methods to take control of your own self. During meditation you will learn how to make your mind stronger. A weight lifter typically exercises certain muscles, making them stronger and stronger. Similarly someone who meditates is exercising her "mental" muscle by directing her mind away from the noise of the world outside toward the calm within. Following the meditation instructions takes a bit of effort, but that effort will be rewarded.

If anyone meditates on a daily basis, she will not only become more able to concentrate during the meditation session but also more able to put her good intentions into practice and make positive changes in her life.

It is not a question of mind over matter, or having to do anything that you don't want to do. Meditation is an activity that changes you from the inside out. Instead of forcing yourself not to eat the doughnut in between meals, the very desire to eat it will vanish. Instead of fighting with yourself to go out for a walk, exercise will become something that you enjoy doing. If you get into the practice of meditation, no one will have to twist your arm to make you live a healthy lifestyle, it will become your natural choice.

Therefore, while you will not sweat off any pounds during your periods of meditation, the daily practice of meditation could be one of the most important parts of your effort to lose weight and live a long, healthy and happy life.

juicing heals

have i mentioned that i have been juicing? oh yes! you start a diet, cut out all the bad stuff, then start making healthy green smoothies and the next thing you know you're on the hard stuff: raw fruits and veggies.
there are a million combinations and the learning curve of what cures and heals what is huge. but, if you are like me you'll start out with granny smith apples, carrots and kale. then add in the other stuff like ginger, turmeric,and horse radish. i went to the library when i first did a juice fast about a year ago and checked out several books on juicing. of those books i weeded out the those that were too technical and the ones that seems too preachy and i found the author who spoke my language. i dug in and learned a lot. i was really impressed by the facts: when you compare other foods (processed ones) and all the bad things they do to your body and then look at raw foods and see all the good things they do for your body the conclusion is clear. get with the program and juice. i'm convinced that one fresh juice a day can really make a difference in weight loss and general health improvement! try it!

trust your body's ability to heal