moving out of your comfort zone

as strange it that sounds, once we start to change the way we live, get healthy and lose weight we will begin to move out of our comfort zone. we will no longer be the ordinary person on the street, eating at a fast burger place and watching tv. we will be the extra-ordinary person who eats an enlightened diet, is conscious of who she is and where he's going and active pursuing dreams and passions not watching them on tv. prepare yourself for this. prepare yourself for how great you are becoming every day. breathe into the moment, like a broadway star about to go on stage. this is your moment.

"leaning" towards yours goal.

leaning in the direction of your goal, is a choice we make 10 times a day.

sometimes i don't feel like being on a "diet". i don't feel like being perfect. but i also don't feel like going back to where i was, heavy and lethargic. in these cases, i am learning a new technique called "leaning". instead of asking what i should eat to "stay on my diet", i ask "which way would i like to lean today, toward a healthy body that functions better that the one i am in today, or towards the unhealthy body, the one i had before?" framing my decision in this light feels more like a nudge in the right direction, rather than a black and white ultimatum. i use my imagination and visualize the way i want to go. in this case, using the image above, do i want to go to the left or to the right? the action i take today determines that. but it's not like i have to cross a finish line or win a prize, just move in that direction. and i know that if i move in that direction most of the time, eventually i will get to that place.

shifting gears

when i started this project, 50 pounds to passion, my intention was to bring my life into balance. and when i looked at my life i could see that the most obvious place to start was with my body, because this weight imbalance was the "easiest" to correct because you can see it in the mirror. i changed the way i ate and increased my level of physical activity. now i feel better and i do have a better sense of self. all good.

but now as i struggle along with this effort, i am aware of some of the stumbling blocks to my success: i'm hopelessly under-employed.

why is this a stumbling block? because when i am there i am so bored i can focus on little else than where my next little treat might come from and at the end of the day i feel like i need to reward myself with food and drink just for making it through the grind of it all. on the contrary, when i am engaged in activities i enjoy, writing, editing video, solving a graphic design challenge or collaborating on a project with creative people i respect, the last thing on my mind is food.

if my goal is to find passion, and find balance i am going to have to resolve this issue. but there are few places to turn to get the answers. when everyone says "follow your bliss", i think to myself, "wow, i have followed my bliss in the past and it has lead me straight to the poor house". so in these next few weeks, i intend to maintain what i have started with diet and exercise, but my blog posts will be more focused on setting new goals, and finding new roads to accessing a healthy, happy life.

maintainence

it's been a few months now, and i have lost 30lbs, improved my well-being and had a lot of fun along the way. i started with protein smoothies, moved to fish and veggies, began walking, got a juicier, lengthened my walks, started using the juicer and did a lot of research on setting goals and quieting the mind. i started packing my own healthy lunches for work, making big batches of lentil soup to eat when ever i didn't know what else to eat and i began to have a re-newed confidence in myself and my ability to make positive changes to my lifestyle habits that with last a lifetime.

today, i am on a brief vacation away from home, so of course their are many disruptions to my usual patterns. i also celebrated a birthday. but i am pleased to say that i have done so mindfully.
not to my usual strict codes of conduct, but with loving gentle self compassion. bending some of the rules, some of the time, while knowing that the path to health remains a gentle slope, is a good way to let your body and ego mind know that the beautiful world we live in with all the complexity of dark chocolate, and coffee, and a perfect slice of pizza on the street is still there to be enjoyed. (without guilt).

the time and effort i have put into improving my body, mind and spirit, is not lost when i break from my rules for myself. rather, my long term goals are very much in sight as i take little detours along the way.

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.

reconfiguring our actions to manifest a new success

in a world that's faster and faster, and where "more and more" becomes the mantra of the people, perhaps it's time to consider how we fit in and what works for us in the long run. in order to change our perception of what success looks like, we may have to change our relationship to it. in sri sri ravi shankar's 2010 blog post entitled "our connection to nature",  he talks about how ancient wisdom describes human beings as having five layers of experience: the environment, the physical body, the mind, the intuition and our self or spirit.

sri sri ravi shankar says this:

Our connection with the environment is our first level of experience, and one of the most important. If our environment is clean and positive, it has a positive impact on all the other layers of our existence. As a result, they come into balance and we experience a greater sense of peace and connection within ourselves and with others around us.

Today we live in a world where many have become greedy and want to make quick profits and achieve quick results. Their actions disrupt the ecological balance, and not only pollute the physical environment, but also stimulate negative emotions on a subtle level, within themselves and also in those around them. These negative energies expanded and compounded again and again are the root cause of much of the violence and misery in this world. Most wars and conflicts are triggered by such feelings, and result in damage to the environment, which then takes a long time to restore and repair. We need to attend to the human psyche which is the root cause of pollution, both physical and emotional. If compassion and care are kindled within our selves, they will form the basis for a deeper connection to, and care for, both others and the environment.

so! this is about taking care of ourselves and our planet on a daily basis...NOT greedily grabbing all we can and hoarding for the future. seth godin, the original and helpful voice on the new landscape of digital connection for which there are no maps, is a singular thought leader and innovator in what he describes as our post-industrial, post-geography "connection economy."

seth godin says:

"rather than merely tolerate change, we are all called now to rise to it. we are invited and stretched in whatever we do to be artists — to create in ways that matter to other people."

HOW DO THESE TWO CONCEPTS RELATE?  sri sri ravi shankar talks about how greed in its many forms disrupt the ecologial balance and seth godin talks about how greed for mass market share disrupts community balance. the new reality has got to be one of eco balance and community.

step one: take the thorn out of your own eye.
step two:take the thorn out of your neighbor's eye.

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.

real food doesn't need a label

trust your body's ability to heal

working out the details.

working out the details. 

on a steep learning curve of food, nutrition, balance, and harmony. 

it's all juicing, soups (lentils) & neo salads. 

weight loss is still slow, but then, that was my original game plan.

diabetes: an animated explanation

diabetes is a not an easy thing to understand. this video is the best explanation i have found on this complicated topic, so i am sharing it here with you today. take the time to educate yourself about the signs of diabetes so that you may spot it in yourself or a loved one in its early stages. the mainstream medical community is slowly coming around to the idea that this disease may be managed, even reversed, to some extent by exercise and dietary restrictions. as you will see in this video, obesity is a contributing factor in type 2 diabetes. learning to spot the warnings early is vital in managing good health.

motivation follows action

Motivation follows action. When you're sitting on the couch feeling completely unmotivated, force yourself to get up, get into your workout clothes and out the door. Once you start moving the motivation will kick in!  dont give up.

slowing down, on the right path

"droodles" takes a hike with me, lake cuyamaca

my friend droodles and i took a drive into the countryside the other day. along the way he explained that he had nearly choked to death on some carrots and celery on new year's eve. i ventured that he may have been eating to fast, and that perhaps the take-away message was to "simply slow down". about half way to our destination, we stopped to take a little walk. the hike was a pretty one, but made even more magical when we came upon a stone labyrinth in the middle of nowhere. it was a gift. we made a vow of silence as we mindfully followed the maze-like path into the center. when we arrived at the middle of the maze, droodles took a deep breath and said, "wow! it felt so nice to take my time getting to where i was going!". i agreed and added, "it's a gift to see and know where you want to be, but purposefully taking the long way around to get there". i think this is true of many things in life, but especially this nutritional path i am on. it is a slow path to learn about what to eat and how to eat. and though my progress is slow, knowing where i am going makes all the difference.

trust the process

at this stage of the game i have decided to just "trust the process".
i have cut out alcohol, white flour, white rice, white pasta (all pasta).
i am drinking more water and green tea than ever. i take a 2.2 mile walk 4 to 5 times a week, and sometimes much longer. i have cut coffee consumption down to one or two cups per week, so the coffee "habit" has been broken. and i drink a healthy green smoothie every morning. i feel 10 times better already, but have to trust that staying on this path will, at some point, result in weight loss as well. the good news is that i am finding support in my friends online and keeping this public journal is also helping me stay focused. thanks to all who are out there walking this path with me!

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.”

the beginning is near

after 20 days of the new diet, one might hope for some amazing results. and after all the new adjustments and the hard work of establishing new habits anything less than WOW! may seem like a let down, and grounds for abandonment. it's important to manage expectations for stepping on the scale at this point. try to be realistic about what to expect, before stepping on the scale. know that every pound lost is a real achievement. remember that these are still the first steps of a long and glorious walk towards good health. also, remember that we have to get "here" before we can get "there". in 20 more days of being smart about what we eat and do we'll have even more to be proud of and be a little closer to where we envision to be. (and in some ways we are already there) 
the good news: the beginning is near! the beginning of really seeing and feeling the difference.