I don't rightly remember if this is something I read on the Internet or something I gleaned from a TED talk, but either way, it was one of those AH HA moments.
Working for the military, I've often heard the phrase, "Hope is not a plan," usually in response to someone saying something along the lines of, "Well we hope..." this will happen or this group of people will come through or ...you get the idea.
Hope is passive. When we hope for something, we sit by and wait for things to happen.
Faith, on the other hand, is active. When we have faith, we move forward as if things are happening to bring about a certain outcome, that people will come through on their word.
We've all heard that things in motion tend to stay in motion. Faith is the catalyst, the energy source of that motion.
It has been said that faith can move mountains. What mountains are your faith moving today?
Namaste!
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Monday, May 26, 2014
MaXIMIze - Toning versus Weight Loss
Last week, I was having too much fun in Las Vegas with the family...now, back to the regularly scheduled programming...
We've all heard that we should get at least 30 minutes of exercise per day. Movement is necessary to keep our blood flowing and our muscles toned. And toned muscles is what we should focus on, not weight loss.
Toned muscles will help keep us going as we age. So yes, we need 30 minutes of exercise per day at minimum. And we need to exercise our whole body from the core outward. Walking, swimming, pilates, and yoga are great forms of exercise as is going through the weight circuit at the gym. With the plethora of training media and equipment at our disposal, we have plenty of opportunities to take care of our bodies.
How much time do we spend sitting passively in front of our computer or TV for entertainment instead of taking 30-60 minutes of our day to take care of our bodies?
Which activity will do us better in the long run?
The choice is ours.
Next week starts a new month (June already!) and with it, a new topic. We'll be discussing our spiritual health, and that's when I'll get into dealing with stress, practicing meditation, and tracking our energy flows.
Until then, namaste!
We've all heard that we should get at least 30 minutes of exercise per day. Movement is necessary to keep our blood flowing and our muscles toned. And toned muscles is what we should focus on, not weight loss.
Toned muscles will help keep us going as we age. So yes, we need 30 minutes of exercise per day at minimum. And we need to exercise our whole body from the core outward. Walking, swimming, pilates, and yoga are great forms of exercise as is going through the weight circuit at the gym. With the plethora of training media and equipment at our disposal, we have plenty of opportunities to take care of our bodies.
How much time do we spend sitting passively in front of our computer or TV for entertainment instead of taking 30-60 minutes of our day to take care of our bodies?
Which activity will do us better in the long run?
The choice is ours.
Next week starts a new month (June already!) and with it, a new topic. We'll be discussing our spiritual health, and that's when I'll get into dealing with stress, practicing meditation, and tracking our energy flows.
Until then, namaste!
Sunday, May 11, 2014
MaXIMIze - Lifestyle Change versus D-I-E-T
Yes, diet is a four-letter word - we tend to view dieting as a temporary state, akin to taking antibiotics for an infection, and frankly that is why the dieting mindset does not work for the long haul. And believe me, life is a long haul!
If we look at the changes in our eating and drinking habits that would be beneficial to our overall physical health as true lifestyle changes or even a bettering of ourselves - such as we do when pursuing higher education of any type - those changes are more likely to stick and become the good habits that replace the bad habits in the long-term. And the long-term is what we are shooting for here, not the short-term quick fix. Our bodies are going to last us 70-90 years or more, so we owe it to ourselves to take the best care of them that we can. And - as long as we draw breath, it is never too late to make these changes and live a better life.
Just like what we choose to read, listen to, or watch can elevate us or drag us down, so too can our eating and drinking habits.
Here are some rules of thumb I've learned over the years:
The more colorful the fruits and vegetables are, the better they are for you.
Darker lettuce is better for you than lighter lettuce (romaine versus iceberg for example).
Fresh and in season is better than canned or frozen.
Natural is better than processed or artificial (cane or beet sugar is better than high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners)
If you eat meat, a serving is about the size of the palm of your hand.
Home-made or home cooked is better than store-bought or processed.
The gist here is as close to natural as possible and portion control. Both help reduce the toxins we ingest. Also, drinking plenty of water over the course of the day helps the body flush out toxins and keep our digestive tract, well, on track.
Eating right doesn't mean giving up on sweets or treats either - again, as close to natural as possible and portion control.
One of the things I've done in the last year to help ensure I eat healthier is to subscribe to a service called Farm Fresh to You. They deliver in-season fruits and vegetables and organic eggs to my doorstep every other week. They do have weekly service as well, and you can tailor the list of items so you don't get food you know you won't eat. And, they provide recipes for what they deliver in the box, so you're not left wondering what to do with, say, bok choy, when you get it.
I also visit the farmer's market a few blocks down from my day job when it is in sessions (Wednesdays from May to October) to augment what I get in my deliveries and to get out of the office on a weekly basis for a nice stroll!
I know a lot of us say we don't have time to cook, however, I bet if we looked at the amount of time we spend eating out or engaged with either the TV or the computer we could find plenty of time to cook a delicious, nutritious meal at home. Even if you have an active life with school and sports and such, you can still prepare easy meals for yourself and your family with a little preplanning. For example, if you have leftover chicken, you can easily cook some rotini pasta and mix the chicken and pasta with cut up tomatoes, avocados, artichoke hearts, black olives, and other vegetables you like and a bit of dressing to make a quick meal of a salad.
The choice is ours - live a healthy lifestyle for the long-term, or go on the diet for the short-term over and over and over again.
Just like a well-maintained car will last much longer than a car that is only fixed when it breaks down, so too will our bodies stay healthier longer when we live a proper lifestyle instead of depending on diets for the quick fix to our self-induced weight problems.
And, eating right can help mitigate a host of other ills such as diabetes, allergies, insomnia and fatigue, just to name a few.
Remember the challenge I gave you last week of tracking what you eat and drink? Look at that list from last week and think about how you can change what you imbibe for the better long-term health of your body.
And, again, it took time to get where we are at, and it will take time to get where we need to be in this area of our lives - however, the long-term benefits are worth it!
Until next week, namaste!
If we look at the changes in our eating and drinking habits that would be beneficial to our overall physical health as true lifestyle changes or even a bettering of ourselves - such as we do when pursuing higher education of any type - those changes are more likely to stick and become the good habits that replace the bad habits in the long-term. And the long-term is what we are shooting for here, not the short-term quick fix. Our bodies are going to last us 70-90 years or more, so we owe it to ourselves to take the best care of them that we can. And - as long as we draw breath, it is never too late to make these changes and live a better life.
Just like what we choose to read, listen to, or watch can elevate us or drag us down, so too can our eating and drinking habits.
Here are some rules of thumb I've learned over the years:
The more colorful the fruits and vegetables are, the better they are for you.
Darker lettuce is better for you than lighter lettuce (romaine versus iceberg for example).
Fresh and in season is better than canned or frozen.
Natural is better than processed or artificial (cane or beet sugar is better than high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners)
If you eat meat, a serving is about the size of the palm of your hand.
Home-made or home cooked is better than store-bought or processed.
The gist here is as close to natural as possible and portion control. Both help reduce the toxins we ingest. Also, drinking plenty of water over the course of the day helps the body flush out toxins and keep our digestive tract, well, on track.
Eating right doesn't mean giving up on sweets or treats either - again, as close to natural as possible and portion control.
One of the things I've done in the last year to help ensure I eat healthier is to subscribe to a service called Farm Fresh to You. They deliver in-season fruits and vegetables and organic eggs to my doorstep every other week. They do have weekly service as well, and you can tailor the list of items so you don't get food you know you won't eat. And, they provide recipes for what they deliver in the box, so you're not left wondering what to do with, say, bok choy, when you get it.
I also visit the farmer's market a few blocks down from my day job when it is in sessions (Wednesdays from May to October) to augment what I get in my deliveries and to get out of the office on a weekly basis for a nice stroll!
I know a lot of us say we don't have time to cook, however, I bet if we looked at the amount of time we spend eating out or engaged with either the TV or the computer we could find plenty of time to cook a delicious, nutritious meal at home. Even if you have an active life with school and sports and such, you can still prepare easy meals for yourself and your family with a little preplanning. For example, if you have leftover chicken, you can easily cook some rotini pasta and mix the chicken and pasta with cut up tomatoes, avocados, artichoke hearts, black olives, and other vegetables you like and a bit of dressing to make a quick meal of a salad.
The choice is ours - live a healthy lifestyle for the long-term, or go on the diet for the short-term over and over and over again.
Just like a well-maintained car will last much longer than a car that is only fixed when it breaks down, so too will our bodies stay healthier longer when we live a proper lifestyle instead of depending on diets for the quick fix to our self-induced weight problems.
And, eating right can help mitigate a host of other ills such as diabetes, allergies, insomnia and fatigue, just to name a few.
Remember the challenge I gave you last week of tracking what you eat and drink? Look at that list from last week and think about how you can change what you imbibe for the better long-term health of your body.
And, again, it took time to get where we are at, and it will take time to get where we need to be in this area of our lives - however, the long-term benefits are worth it!
Until next week, namaste!
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
MaXIMIze - Self-Image as a Saboteur
Change comes from within, as does beauty.
This morning, I saw a headline that said people who lose weight still see themselves as fat. Once you have a certain construct or belief about yourself, it is very difficult to change that belief - harder even than to change a belief you hold about another person.
However, in order to truly MaXIMIze yourself and MaXIMIze your life, you need to replace old negative beliefs with new positive beliefs.
You are beautiful, you are worthy, you are special, you are perfect, you are worth MaXIMIzing!
Now go forth and express your inner beauty by MaXIMIzing yourself and MaXIMIzing your life!
Namaste!
This morning, I saw a headline that said people who lose weight still see themselves as fat. Once you have a certain construct or belief about yourself, it is very difficult to change that belief - harder even than to change a belief you hold about another person.
However, in order to truly MaXIMIze yourself and MaXIMIze your life, you need to replace old negative beliefs with new positive beliefs.
You are beautiful, you are worthy, you are special, you are perfect, you are worth MaXIMIzing!
Now go forth and express your inner beauty by MaXIMIzing yourself and MaXIMIzing your life!
Namaste!
Sunday, May 4, 2014
MaXIMIze - Physical Health
This month's focus is on Physical Health, and as I was brainstorming ideas to write on this month, I realized this is a huge topic that covers more than just diet and exercise. We'll touch on things from, yes, diet and exercise to dealing with stress to meditation to journaling to energy flow. Our physical health is the foundation for our being in so many ways, and it is also a barometer, a gauge if you will, of what is going on in the other areas of our lives.
Somewhere along the line I picked up this list of seven things successful people do on a daily basis.
1. Get enough sleep
2. Eat breakfast
3. Exercise
4. Floss
5. Read
6. Save money
7. Eat more fruits and vegetables.
Did you notice that five of the seven items on the list are directly related to physical health? I could write a post on each of those alone - that's how important our physical health, our physical well-being, is.
This is definitely one area where we need to practice extreme self-care, because no one else will do it for us. Others may encourage us to take better care of ourselves, but it is truly up to us to choose to follow that encouragement and commit to taking the best care of ourselves as possible.
To do that, we must stop thinking of paying attention to what we put into our bodies - diet - and how we use our bodies - exercise, or the lack thereof - as four-letter words, bad, or even truly work. Giving ourselves the right kind of nutrition is like putting the best gas and oil in our cars, and getting enough exercise is like getting our cars tuned up on a regular basis. If we can care for our cars - our things - this well, we should give at least that much care and attention to ourselves, right?
So, my first challenge to you this month is to keep track of what you eat and drink, and what kind of physical activity you engage in. Awareness is key in knowing what you are doing right now and discovering what needs to be adjusted.
This may well be a month where bonus posts come up during the week, since there is so much to cover on this topic! So until the next post, namaste!
Somewhere along the line I picked up this list of seven things successful people do on a daily basis.
1. Get enough sleep
2. Eat breakfast
3. Exercise
4. Floss
5. Read
6. Save money
7. Eat more fruits and vegetables.
Did you notice that five of the seven items on the list are directly related to physical health? I could write a post on each of those alone - that's how important our physical health, our physical well-being, is.
This is definitely one area where we need to practice extreme self-care, because no one else will do it for us. Others may encourage us to take better care of ourselves, but it is truly up to us to choose to follow that encouragement and commit to taking the best care of ourselves as possible.
To do that, we must stop thinking of paying attention to what we put into our bodies - diet - and how we use our bodies - exercise, or the lack thereof - as four-letter words, bad, or even truly work. Giving ourselves the right kind of nutrition is like putting the best gas and oil in our cars, and getting enough exercise is like getting our cars tuned up on a regular basis. If we can care for our cars - our things - this well, we should give at least that much care and attention to ourselves, right?
So, my first challenge to you this month is to keep track of what you eat and drink, and what kind of physical activity you engage in. Awareness is key in knowing what you are doing right now and discovering what needs to be adjusted.
This may well be a month where bonus posts come up during the week, since there is so much to cover on this topic! So until the next post, namaste!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)