the AMAZING louise hay!

coffee vs. green juice

 

i have been struggling to get back on track. falling off the health wagon with a pizza here and some toast there has really screwed me up. having lost the weight, and then re-gaining some back, i really FEEL the difference. in every step and in how i move and think. part of the fall comes in letting coffee slip back into the equation. this is easy to do, as many diet websites encourage coffee as a good choice to drink and  some even suggest it has weight loss and insulin-stability factors. but! i have noticed that when i drink coffee in the morning, i do not drink a green juice. it is one or the other, as they really don't work well together. and missing out on the green juice is a bad way to start the day. coffee is sort of a false start, giving quick (nervous) energy instead of the slow sustained energy my body learns to crave.

here's some news i found on green juicing:

Green Juice

Green juices are a bit different than fruit and non-green vegetable juices in that they are rich in chlorophyll and low in sugar. Chlorophyll is a magical biomolecule, which allows plants to absorb energy from light. Yes, I know how COOL is that. Therefore, chlorophyll is HIGHLY energetic, which is why it is such a valuable supplement to our diet since most all foods are completely VOID of any life energy at all! Yes, if the food has been cooked, or has been manufactured, it is a DEAD food.
Chlorophyll’s ability to make us buzz is not the only thing it’s good for though. With a molecular composition very similar to hemoglobin, chlorophyll helps to purify the blood, build red blood cells, detoxify and heal the body, not to mention provide us with a quick source of energy. In addition, green juices often contain powerful detoxifying agents such as cilantro, which have even been shown to impact heavy metal toxicity. Therefore, the GREENER the BETTER – richer in nutrients, antioxidants, and cleansing properties.

(source: http://www.theholykale.com/2013/01/is-green-juice-the-new-coffee/)

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.

finding helpful resources.

here is a link to coachcalorie.com which is a great ongoing source for eating right and staying fit. of all the sites i have discovered this one makes the most sense. although the good info is surrounded by lots tacky ads, check it out. you'll find helpful info like this:

You make the choice every day as to whether you will follow the plan or not. Here are some examples of these types of goals:

• I will decrease my calorie intake by 500 calories a day, for the next 10 weeks.
• I will eat lean protein with each meal and replace processed carbohydrates with whole ones, 90% of the week.
• I will exercise no less than 5 times a week for at least 40 minutes at a time.
• I will add a cup of vegetables to each meal every day for the next 10 weeks.
• I will increase the amount of miles I run by 1/4 mile each week for the next 12 weeks.
• I will decrease my soda intake by one per week.
• I will start bringing my own healthy food to work 5 days per week for 12 weeks.

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: 

finding passion begins with vulnerability

now that i have lost 25 lbs, and am feeling like a different person from when i first started 3 months ago, i finally feel like "this is going to happen". taking the slow route has had it's share of challenges. but like the turtle and the hare, it's how things turn out in the end that matters. on this illustrious occassion, i thought this would be the right time to re-consider the original goal of this blog and the intention behind it: FINDING PASSION.

in conjunction to the efforts to lose weight, i have also been working on the other to realms of the equation: mind+spirit. the 50 POUNDS concept is to let go of the stuff (mental and spiritual junk) that is clinging to me and that i am still clinging to. as i have let go of the unforgiving idea worthlessness, i have also found it helpful to be open to the concept of vulnerability. accepting myself for who i am, knowing that i am not perfect, is the first step to accepting others for who they are, knowing that they are not perfect either. this is a great weight off my mind and spirit. and just like the new patterns for eating, this takes constant adjustment to begin establishing new patterns of thought.

berne brown's ted talk is one of the most inspiring videos i have watched on the topic of vulnerability.  in fact, some of her ideas on vulnerability were instrumental in leading me to create the 50 POUNDS TO PASSION blog.

keep learning. embrace new experiences.

• Visit libraries and other community facilities – learn something new about cooking raw food, sprouting, walking, breathing or how to meditate.
• Try something you have always wanted to do but never actually done.
• Rediscover an old interest.
• Fix a bike, then ride it around the block a few times.
• learn an instrument, join a jam session, record song then post it online.
• Find and practice a new recipe for a food you know is good for you.
• Enhance your creativity - check out when art groups meet in your area.
• Join a book club or start one.
• Start learning another language then book a flight and speak it.
• Commit to learning to identify a new plant every day for a month.
• Learn to identify the various birds and bird calls in your garden.
• Join a zumba class or tai chi class – learn and be active at the same time!

the art of practice

practice isn't necessarily fun. but spending time consciously working on improving a skill has one of the biggest productivity payoffs around. that makes intuitive sense with music and athletics. but I think that's the case with many life skills as well. practicing the art of getting up and taking a walk, practicing the art of buy smart foods, practicing the one thing that you are particularly bad at and that might be holding you back (for me that's negotiation). making these things part of your day helps you to grow. and growing helps keep you young and vibrant. it is also true that when something is practiced it becomes second nature. so when life throws you a curve ball, and your distracted, you still have the skills you have developed through daily practice. practice may not always make perfect, but the art of practice is perfect in and of itself.

wsj article on practice
a video: matisse-and-the-art-of-practice