Another day of freedom. Freedom from carb cravings! Freedom to chose! I had lunch with a friend from university and had to choose from a menu. I was hungry! It was rather interesting to chat with the waitress. I called her by name and connected with her...and then we discussed how the food is cooked and what substitutions I could make. I think I am forming an addiction to spinach! I am not trying to belittle the agony of addictions (I grew up in the environment and saw its devastating effects in my family) but I actually substituted spinach for lettuce in my salad...and topped it with seafood lightly cooked with water in the pan instead of oil. I did have some wonderful feta cheese sprinkled on top and a bit of avocado plus the usual cherry tomatoes, and other 'salad things'. I had a vinaigrette dressing on the side. It was really scrumptious! AND I got to visit with a friend...without the alcohol or wings!
I got to tell you, these USANA products I am on are rather amazing. I can now have a balanced breakfast without worrying about being hungry or tired by midmorning. And by noon, I am hungry but still in control. The supplements are incredible. So much energy!
The only thing I am a bit worried about is that two of my main supporters left today for 10 days...and I really wish I was going with them (a James Ray event that seems awesome)! I am just going to have to tough it out and hopefully hear from a few of you who are reading this blog. Yes, my main motivation is coming from within me...but a bit of external support and encouragement is always helpful! I really want to thank those who are leaving comments...it does help to know that someone is reading this!
I promised myself I would get to bed by midnight tonight and it is approaching quickly. I have a full day tomorrow with a huge meeting from 9 am until 5 pm...then church...then home to get more work done (but with time to take a stroll at sunset by the waterfront).
Friday, April 3, 2009
April 2nd
This is a difficult blog to write tonight. I spent most of the day in the emergency department with a very dear, dear friend. She is 87 years young and an amazing woman. She has taken very good care of her health all of her life and lives independently in her own home after losing her husband 6 years ago. She has always been very physically active (she was still figure skating and dancing at the age of 81 until she fell on the ice and broke her hip). She still does 1 1/2 hours of exercise each morning and can do exercises that I currently can't do. She is very, very conscious of the food she eats and takes suppliments regularly.
However, she had a health scare today. The good news is, this time it was only a scare. She is back at home tonight in her own bed. Yes, there will be more tests and there will be homecare for her...but it saddened her to realize she may not be as independent as she used to be. She has a very kind, warm heart and is constantly excited about learning new things. However, with the recent deterioration in her hearing, eye sight and circulation, she is forced to slow down.
This really brought home to me the importance of health. She has so many memories of adventures, journeys, and experiences. It was rather humerous when we talked with the doctor and had to answer questions about her health...no high blood pressure, no diabetes, no stroke, no heart problems, no medications. The only previous problem was varicous veins...at the age of 87!
I was very honoured to be there for her today and hold her hand and talk about pleasant memories with her. She inspires me.
She has agreed to share some of her exercises with me and I am paying attention to what she eats and when. There is so much wisdom in her and in her generation. I hope we are given the time to share so much more.
However, she had a health scare today. The good news is, this time it was only a scare. She is back at home tonight in her own bed. Yes, there will be more tests and there will be homecare for her...but it saddened her to realize she may not be as independent as she used to be. She has a very kind, warm heart and is constantly excited about learning new things. However, with the recent deterioration in her hearing, eye sight and circulation, she is forced to slow down.
This really brought home to me the importance of health. She has so many memories of adventures, journeys, and experiences. It was rather humerous when we talked with the doctor and had to answer questions about her health...no high blood pressure, no diabetes, no stroke, no heart problems, no medications. The only previous problem was varicous veins...at the age of 87!
I was very honoured to be there for her today and hold her hand and talk about pleasant memories with her. She inspires me.
She has agreed to share some of her exercises with me and I am paying attention to what she eats and when. There is so much wisdom in her and in her generation. I hope we are given the time to share so much more.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
March 31st
Okay...officially it is April 1st but I am just finishing my day. I need to fall into bed soon but I wanted to let all of you know I am still here. It has been a rough couple of days. I watched the video of my keynote speech from Sunday and saw how enormous my body is. I am trying to remain focused on my health instead of my weight but come on now...I looked like the Frosty the Snowman with these little arms sticking out the sides! Yes, the speech was inspirational and I do seem to have some talent for public speaking...but really! The weight has got to come off. The really weird thing is...I don't actually feel that fat! I don't know why, but I feel slim inside. I have more energy now than I have had in a very long time and I can think clearer and longer. I don't have the carb cravings that I used to have and I don't obsess about food. I have managed to lose almost 15 pounds in the last 3 weeks but there is a really long way to go. This tends to get me down.
Okay...time to focus. Keep the goal in mind...think it; feel it; live it. I am what I am. My body weight is the result of my past habits. As I continue to take my current actions and make the lifestyle shifts, my body will reflect this.
I guess I just want it to all happen right now!
Sometimes I get so darn angry that the knowledge of what our 'typical' diet does to our bodies has been known for quite some time but it hasn't been shared with the rest of society. Why haven't we paid attention? Why has the fast food industry and pharmaceutical companies been allowed to get away with this? Do they really influence our daily lives this much? Imagine what would happen to these industries if we all stopped eating the foods that are slowly killing us...the current fast food business would have to change drastically...and the drug companies would lose an incredible amount of money. However, we would also save a tremendous amount on our health care costs. If we were to eat a balanced diet that included only low glycemic carbs, and included moderate exercise, the number of obese people would drastically reduce...and along with it, the incidence of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart attacks, stroke...and who knows what else! I wonder if some cancers could be related to the foods we eat?
I have been on the planet for over 50 years now and have formed some rather typical habits regarding food. If we were to provide our children with proper nutrition and teach them the truth from a very young age, what would they feel like by the time they are 50 years old? What habits would they have?
It is difficult to change habits...according to the 'experts' it takes a minimum of 21 days....but in times of stress, we tend to still fall back on 'old habits'. If we do not eradicate these habits, we merely 'minimize' them...like the programs on your computer that you minimize but are stilling running in the background. If we are not consciously aware of our habits, they are still running below our consciousness.
It takes a combination of awareness, a willingness to change the habit, and repeated action of the new habit to remove the old one and replace it with a new one. Not just adding a new behavior...actually changing the old one.
Let me get a little scientific for a moment. Habit forming...and habit breaking...involve alterations to the connections in our brains (the points of connection are called synapses). As we repeat a behavior over and over, specific pathways between brain cells are strengthened. Their points of connection are strengthened so that the next time we experience the same stimuli (such as stomach growling), our brains direct us to follow our established pattern of behavior...our habits. To break an old habit and form a new one, the old synaptic patterns need to be weakened and new patterns need to be established. It is like having two muddy paths on a dirt bike trail. If one path is continually used, the ruts become deeper and deeper so that the next time you travel along it, you become forced to follow the exact same ruts...while the other, barely used path has very little ruts. The trick to changing a habit is to force yourself to follow the other less used pathway and use it over and over again until it forms deep ruts...while the old path has time to fill in the ruts. After a period of time, the new path is the one that will hold you tires in the ruts. But realize, this does take time...and at first, it takes conscious effort to chose the new path...until it becomes a well established habit and the synaptic pathways are strengthened.
The bottom line is...it is possible to change habits...we do have a choice...we are not stuck on the old paths! By keeping our goal in mind...and by continually revisiting our vision in a multi-senses way (feel, touch, taste, hear, see...know!), we can continue to chose the new path each time we are faced with the same stimulus.
This is what keeps me on this path. Thank God I know something about science! And now you do to.
It is not just a matter of will power...your body will actually assist you IF you give it the chance to form the new pathways in your brain...and if you give it the best chance possible...by limiting the carb cravings and feeding it what it needs to thrive...at a macro and cellular level. You can work with your body...and it very much wants to work with you!
Okay...time to focus. Keep the goal in mind...think it; feel it; live it. I am what I am. My body weight is the result of my past habits. As I continue to take my current actions and make the lifestyle shifts, my body will reflect this.
I guess I just want it to all happen right now!
Sometimes I get so darn angry that the knowledge of what our 'typical' diet does to our bodies has been known for quite some time but it hasn't been shared with the rest of society. Why haven't we paid attention? Why has the fast food industry and pharmaceutical companies been allowed to get away with this? Do they really influence our daily lives this much? Imagine what would happen to these industries if we all stopped eating the foods that are slowly killing us...the current fast food business would have to change drastically...and the drug companies would lose an incredible amount of money. However, we would also save a tremendous amount on our health care costs. If we were to eat a balanced diet that included only low glycemic carbs, and included moderate exercise, the number of obese people would drastically reduce...and along with it, the incidence of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart attacks, stroke...and who knows what else! I wonder if some cancers could be related to the foods we eat?
I have been on the planet for over 50 years now and have formed some rather typical habits regarding food. If we were to provide our children with proper nutrition and teach them the truth from a very young age, what would they feel like by the time they are 50 years old? What habits would they have?
It is difficult to change habits...according to the 'experts' it takes a minimum of 21 days....but in times of stress, we tend to still fall back on 'old habits'. If we do not eradicate these habits, we merely 'minimize' them...like the programs on your computer that you minimize but are stilling running in the background. If we are not consciously aware of our habits, they are still running below our consciousness.
It takes a combination of awareness, a willingness to change the habit, and repeated action of the new habit to remove the old one and replace it with a new one. Not just adding a new behavior...actually changing the old one.
Let me get a little scientific for a moment. Habit forming...and habit breaking...involve alterations to the connections in our brains (the points of connection are called synapses). As we repeat a behavior over and over, specific pathways between brain cells are strengthened. Their points of connection are strengthened so that the next time we experience the same stimuli (such as stomach growling), our brains direct us to follow our established pattern of behavior...our habits. To break an old habit and form a new one, the old synaptic patterns need to be weakened and new patterns need to be established. It is like having two muddy paths on a dirt bike trail. If one path is continually used, the ruts become deeper and deeper so that the next time you travel along it, you become forced to follow the exact same ruts...while the other, barely used path has very little ruts. The trick to changing a habit is to force yourself to follow the other less used pathway and use it over and over again until it forms deep ruts...while the old path has time to fill in the ruts. After a period of time, the new path is the one that will hold you tires in the ruts. But realize, this does take time...and at first, it takes conscious effort to chose the new path...until it becomes a well established habit and the synaptic pathways are strengthened.
The bottom line is...it is possible to change habits...we do have a choice...we are not stuck on the old paths! By keeping our goal in mind...and by continually revisiting our vision in a multi-senses way (feel, touch, taste, hear, see...know!), we can continue to chose the new path each time we are faced with the same stimulus.
This is what keeps me on this path. Thank God I know something about science! And now you do to.
It is not just a matter of will power...your body will actually assist you IF you give it the chance to form the new pathways in your brain...and if you give it the best chance possible...by limiting the carb cravings and feeding it what it needs to thrive...at a macro and cellular level. You can work with your body...and it very much wants to work with you!
Monday, March 30, 2009
March 29th
I did it. I gave a keynote speech at a fundraiser for WOW...Wisdom of Women. I was so blown away by the support I had. Avishek was there to videotape the speech and take still photos (it was fun having him call me Dr J) and Patty was there to handle the USANA display table and cheer me on. It was incredible to share my journey with others. At moments in the speech, people would wipe a tear from their eye and at other moments they would laugh. I love interacting with the audience. The speech was titled, "from the streets to the podium" but I added in bits and pieces about the audience members and about the venue. The speech wasn't perfect, but it did touch people and inspire them.
I have got to find a way to do this more often!
I have got to find a way to do this more often!
Friday, March 27, 2009
March 28th
There are times when I feel so very alone on this journey. Trying to figure out what to eat, when all around me I see advertisements for fast food or I get invited to join my friends for 'beer and wings'. Damn it! Why did I let my body get into this mess? I miss the laughter and commraderie of my friends sitting around a table with plates of nachos and wings being passed around and a nice tall pint of Guiness in front of me. I know what I need to do...but it is hard. If I were to speak to a couple of these people in private and let them in on what I am doing, they would probably support me enough to at least not pass the food in front of me...but I also know it would make others feel uncomfortable about eating in front of me...and I don't trust myself enough yet to not cave in and start munching.
Isn't it interesting that when I think about relaxing with my friends, it always seems to involve food. Come to think of it, most social interaction in our society seems to involve food. What is this obsession we seem to have with stuffing our faces with calories we really don't need?
I so much want physical freedom. I want to be able to move with ease and to have so much energy that I can easily do everything I set out to do each day. I want to be able to take long walks by the waterfront without hurting...and I want to be able to give speeches and conduct workshops without the agonizing pain in my knees.
I think it is time for a good cry.
Isn't it interesting that when I think about relaxing with my friends, it always seems to involve food. Come to think of it, most social interaction in our society seems to involve food. What is this obsession we seem to have with stuffing our faces with calories we really don't need?
I so much want physical freedom. I want to be able to move with ease and to have so much energy that I can easily do everything I set out to do each day. I want to be able to take long walks by the waterfront without hurting...and I want to be able to give speeches and conduct workshops without the agonizing pain in my knees.
I think it is time for a good cry.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
March 26th
Okay...I am really hurting! I just spent 3 hours tonight on my feet, jumping up and down, keeping order, interviewing people...and having a blast! I was the chairperson of the Division A toastmasters contests. I do love being in front of an audience! But my body is not yet able to keep up. My knees really hurt!!!!! I can't wait until I finally have the physical freedom to be able to do this kind of thng and just feel tired afterward without hurting so much! And you know what...they were serving pizza and cookies..and I didn't have a bite of it...I didn't feel tempted at all! It is amazing how incredible it feels not to be controled by carb cravings!!!!!
Okay...I really need to have a shower and climb into bed. Another incredible day along my journey toward health.
Okay...I really need to have a shower and climb into bed. Another incredible day along my journey toward health.
March25
What a life! I hadn't realized before how much my wacky hours affect my health...but I am now finding out. I needed to stay up the last two nights to finish one of the on-line lessons I am putting together (neuroscience course) and it has shifted my entire habits. To do the audio portion, I need to wait until the building is very, very quiet (I can't afford a sound studio) so that means I don't start recording until 1 am....and I get to bed around 5 or 6 am...so I then sleep until 10 or 11 am. I just am not feeling all that well with this schedule..although it is the schedule I lived with for the last year. I guess I have been getting used to sleeping at 'normal' hours lately and getting more than 4 hours of sleep a night. I must say that at 4 am the urge to have a coffee is huge.
But I survived it. I still haven't had any coffee and I am still sticking to the 'food program'. But I feel bloated and out of synch. I guess all those studies are right about how sleep cycles have a large effect on our health.
This is a big week for me. Lots of public speaking opportunities. I realized this week how much I love public speaking but before I started the RESET program, my legs, knees, feet and back would ache so badly after an hour or so that I really stopped attending events. It wasn't until today that I just realized the pain from my arthritis seems to be very much reduced. I had learned to live with pain for so long that I hadn't realized when it had gone. I had been taking 2 extra strength ibuprofen every 4 hours just to be able to move around but except for the day of the major caffeine-withdrawl headache, I haven't taken any at all...but have been extra busy with speaking engagements all week.
Wow.
But I survived it. I still haven't had any coffee and I am still sticking to the 'food program'. But I feel bloated and out of synch. I guess all those studies are right about how sleep cycles have a large effect on our health.
This is a big week for me. Lots of public speaking opportunities. I realized this week how much I love public speaking but before I started the RESET program, my legs, knees, feet and back would ache so badly after an hour or so that I really stopped attending events. It wasn't until today that I just realized the pain from my arthritis seems to be very much reduced. I had learned to live with pain for so long that I hadn't realized when it had gone. I had been taking 2 extra strength ibuprofen every 4 hours just to be able to move around but except for the day of the major caffeine-withdrawl headache, I haven't taken any at all...but have been extra busy with speaking engagements all week.
Wow.
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