Peace and Love to You

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

With Glee

Does this woman (second picture) look happy? As in "As they shouted out with ..."? Yep, looks that way to me too. This is Linda, the runner up in the corporate fat loss contest I wrote about a few times over the past several months. Remember Darell? http://45yearold6pack.blogspot.com/2009/10/next-level-update-on-darell.html

Well, Linda wasn't too far behind Darell in body fat percentage lost at the end of the three month contest, and she was a good margin ahead of everyone but Darell. What made this achievement even more extraordinary was that she did it with almost no exercise. She attended a few of the classes I taught, but maybe only got in a dozen or fewer workouts over the entire three months, if even that. So that gave me the opportunity to basically stratify the results of simply implementing the nutrition improvements (which she nailed with precision and consistency) in the fat loss equation.

The bottom line? It's what I've said more times than I can count. If you want to get fit, exercise. If you want to be lean, clean up your eating (composition and volume).

As for exrecise, over the past few months, Linda has since made a commitment that is as firm as her new muscles, as you can see from the more recent picture. I'm very proud of her and thrilled to be a part of her process. She's now in two of my weekly classes so I regularly trot her out as inspiration for fellow students. She's a great sport about it and a great example of what you can accomplish when you finally get serious.

**********

Earlier this afternoon I was holed up in the bedroom wrapping presents for my kids and watching three shows on my computer (Hulu.com) I'd heard good things about but hadn't yet had a chance to check out: Modern Family, Cougar Town and Glee. Who needs cable?

Helping Yourself

Last night I had a singularly bizzarre, yet surprisingly uplifting experience. A friend of mine had a little too much to drink and is a hurting pup this morning. About 11pm last night, he was feeling very little pain but I was as uncomfortable as a guy with a sunburn wearing a burlap suit. He took the time to come find me and hang with me, making all the difference in the world. In between, he was in need of a little assistance that I was able to provide, which I would describe simply as, well, messy.



I called to check on him this morning, and he was licking his wounds, but also feeling badly about what he thought I'd had to endure as a result. While the truth was that my little "task" was a gift sent to me at just the right moment. It allowed me to take the focus off of myself, attend to a simple, clear priority that benefitted someone I cared about, and was the definitive symbolic conclusion to a night I was ready to have concluded.

A sense of peace followed.

So I wanted him to know he deserves not my forgiveness, but my thanks.

Feel better, Buddy.

"You can search the whole universe and not find a single being more worthy of love than yourself."
- Buddha

Pizza and Presence

Storms have been passing through my town (and my head) lately, so when the opportunity arose to get out of the house (and my busy brain, at least a bit), my eight year old son and I headed downtown to finish up some Christmas shopping. There are several cool shops on Main St (just down the road from where I live), so we braved the elements and started out on our adventure.

After about a half hour of shopping, we planned to go to a Japanese place we like (yes - Ian is a sushi boy!) but it was closed. So instead we stopped by a place that was recommended to me recently called Cafe Main.

Oh my God! The pizza was amazing! We had a small steak, zuccini and tomato combo. They make their pizza's in a wood oven and the thin crust was browned to perfection. Since we split the small (saving room for hot chocolate and a latte across the street), and ordered water, the whole lunch cost only $6.50 (before tip). Top that!

http://www.cafemainonline.com/

While I was there feeling quite blessed, another reminder snuck up on me and gave me pause to reflect and enjoy some gratitude about the unconditional love I'm surrounded by in my life. That reminder was courtesy of a little companion I keep on my wrist. It was developed by a former client of mine and her best friend. I have only had it for a few days and it's already made a big difference in the quality of those days. Check it out:

http://meaningtopause.com/

And breathe ...

Beauty and the Beast

Hopefully, it's obvious from this picture which is which. Now, since my lovely daughter is covering up one of my love handles, and the other didn't make it into the frame, you're probably not getting the full effect. But you can clearly see that this is not the midsection I was sporting when I named this blog.

Now I don't want you to get the wrong idea about how I feel about my body based on the title of this post. I intentionally let my body fat drift up a bit in the fall and winter for two reasons:

1. It's difficult to be as strict with my eating habits as I am in the spring and summer (when I get down around 10% body fat), and

2. Especially since I shaved my head, I get cold too easily in the fall and winter when I'm that lean.

The reason I'm calling my belly a beast is not because I think it's hideous, or even particularly unattractive. It's more symbolic. So many of us have a fear/aversion about our bellies. We measure our bellies by ridiculously impractical standards, and give the idea of a belly of a certain size and shape way too much influence over our sense of security and self esteem.

As I've mentioned here before, fitness is about physical capacity and robustness (energy, strength, endurance, flexibility, core support, posture, coordination; stuff like that) than it is about having visibly discernible abdominal muscles. Really, who cares? What really matters is that you live better, longer.

But if you're one of those people, who like me, doesn't mind doing the extra work to have a particularly lean body (at least one season a year!), the same principles I've introduced in previous posts to lose excess body fat for those who are clearly overweight or obese work on those last five or ten pounds as well. But once you get to that point, you have to be very disciplined and consistent to get and stay at that very lean composition (between about 8 and 12% for men; between about 12 and 16% for women).

You can find all those posts in the fat loss tips section of the post index in the upper left hand corner of the blog.

For me, starting tomorrow, it's back to the "Red Zone". http://45yearold6pack.blogspot.com/2008/06/red-zone.html

The spring will be here before we know it. But for the time being, I'm just going to enjoy the extra warmth :-)

Mind, Body and Spirit at a Crossroads

If you ever wondered whether there's any real credence to the argument that each of these aspects of yourself are intimately interconnected, consider these questions:

1. When you are feeling stressed or in conflict, does it affect your sleep, appetite and energy?

2. Have you noticed that when you're run down physically, your outlook is less hopeful; you feel less emotionally resilient?

3. If you feel disconnected or adrift because you're unclear about your deeper sense of purpose or about how you should live to realize your potential, do you also feel less motivated to take care of your body? Is your reasoning less certain and intuitive?

The last couple of weeks have provided a bit of upheaval, including, but not limited to friction with my parents during the holiday, a renewed and almost ferocious will to study, meditate and create an environment of spiritual support for myself, the shocking and unexpected passing of the 20 year old son of my wife's boss (who, coincidentally is a former high school classmate of mine), my five year old daughter coming down with pneumonia, and her sharing her initial illness that preceded her current condition with me.

As a result, I've noticed that my ability to think more deeply and beyond the present demands of the day (and sometimes the hour) have been significantly compromised. And because I've been sick, I haven't been able to work out, which is my preferred form of therapy. What I have tried to do is focus on applying spiritual principles to my challenges. The most spiritually evolved people I know always seem to operate on a little deeper, more grounded level. They seem to, more often than not, get that these physical and emotional challenges are placed in our path specifically to provide an opportunity to extend compassion, patience, understanding and a willingness to learn and grow.

And that's what I intend to do with this moment.

Have a Headache?

Any pain in the body is trying to tell you something. It hurts because the message is worth listening to; and there's no better way to get your attention than physical pain. If your head hurts it could be that you're under a great deal of stress, you need more rest, more water or any one or more of a number of other issues that need your attention. Try some of these less invasive remedies before reaching for the Tylenol (although that may be the wisest choice in the end:

• Drink some herb tea. In fact, lower the lights, light a candle, put on some soft music and really enjoy the time. This can help relieve stress while re-hydrating you.
• Take a hot bath.
• Meditate. Deep breathing and releasing our attachment to obsessive thinking can be just the trick to at least ease, if not eliminate a headache.
• If you feel localized intense pain behind the eye, especially if it's coupled with light sensitivity and/or nausea, it's likely you have a migraine. An icepack on the back of the neck can be helpful here.

Light exercise may also be helpful but start very slowly and drink plenty of water, always keeping close tabs on how you're responding. Stop if the pain doesn't improve.

Soft music may not be your thing or you may just not be in the mood for it. Then listen to something that will move you or connect on some deep emotional level. Here's what I'm listening to as I write this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCp5_HdW1ak&feature=fvw

Feel better ;-)