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.

today is an opportunity

as i continue this journey i am learning a great deal about nutrition and the power of movement. i am changing what i eat, even though i have regular slips, and beginning to understand how important it is to change what i think as well. i have a feeling that i can no longer afford to be vague about what i want in life. just trudging forward in what is a "perfectly fine world" is not getting it anymore. it's time to zero in on my true hopes and dreams. yes i want to have a healthy body, but what do i want for my mind and spirit? what are my goals?

from an early age we are told "you can do anything!". remember the inspirational posters in the halls at middle and high school: shoot for the stars! and then life begins and maybe you go to collage and you get a job and you have some adventures and some success and you are working for free to build your portfolio and the next thing you know (or i should say, the next thing I know) i'm 50. was i a success? what did i do and what did i not do? but more importantly, what am i going to do next? who am i going to be next? this is where the work begins. here is where the opportunity begins. where do i go from here: i begin with gratitude. i reflect daily on all the beauty and wealth and health i have. but i must also begin to focus on legacy each day. what i want to accomplish next and what i want to give back. getting clear on my goals and dreams clears the fog of indecision and self doubt. if my total goal is for body+mind+spirit balance, i need to take the time to sit down and get clear on these things. 

(below is a tony robbins video at TED Talks, which is not his best, but covers some of the topics i've discussed here- it's just 20 minutes)

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.

connecting the dots: feeling the passion

now after losing 17 pounds of fat and gaining 5 pounds of muscle, i have a confession to make: I AM FEELING THE PASSION.  yes, i can feel the passion returning into my life, after just 8 weeks. i am surprised to find that my energy levels have already improved, i have a little bounce in my step and i sometimes even feel like dancing! i attribute this pre-mature development of a "zeal for living" to a nutritionally balanced diet which excludes white flour, white rice and processed foods, includes regular exercise (including zumba, yoga, walking and biking) and the dismantling of several bad habits (including morning coffee, and happy hours specials).  as i am adjusting to a new, healthier way of living, i am discovering that the learning process itself has also acted as a propellant toward happiness. discovering new things helps keep one feeling young. and there's so much to learn, and get excited about, when you love food as much as i do. in addition to learning, the the act of breaking old habits has a power all its own. knowing that you have the power to control your life through what you think and what you eat can have a very positive effect on overall mood. (not to mention clearing the carb-fog from your brain)

when i first started this project on december 1, 2012 all i knew was that something had to change. that i needed to reclaim my life...and now just 8 weeks later i can feel that change! (i hope you can too!) 

making "the change"

in the age where everything is "available for purchase" online or from the driver's seat of the car, it may seem odd that something as simple as good health doesn't just pop out of a can. "presto!" is a term that came along with the advertising age of the 1940s and 50s, and with it all the gadgets and fast foods that helped lull the modern world into obesity. as a result, things that were naturally slow, solid or whole took on a sort of boring, dated look. what had once been valued in society began to evolve: fast became faster, big became bigger, cheap became cheaper and all at an invisible cost.
today we stand at the beginning of a new age! now that the mayan calendar has come to an end, let's let that old world of over-consumption end too. let's, together, make a new year's resolution to re-focus our attention (and intentions) away from what was weakening us, and poisoning us, and focus instead on what will make us stronger and healthier! you know, in every single article, blog post and testimonial i have read on the topic of "maintained, long term weight-loss" the secret to success is always the same:

eat more fruits & vegetables and exercise daily.

this is the elusive miracle pill! this is what is the core of all the fad diets that seem to work. this is the math! and getting one's head around this simple fact, finally getting this concept into ones bones, is what i call "the change". it's the KNOWING of what you want. it is the KNOWING of what's important. and best of all, it is the KNOWING of how to get it!
there is a famous quote by anais nin that i like, it goes, “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” it may be helpful to bear this in mind as we begin making new, knowing choices in the new year!
i hope you will consider joining me on this important journey, and that together, through the process of this blog, we find ourselves 50 pounds lighter, 50 pounds stronger, and 50 pounds closer to our true passion.