Physics and health?

Physics now weighs in on the weight loss and fitness journey.

I was thinking today as I got prepared to write, why I am so concerned about all this food and exercise. I guess in short; I have a goal. I’m not really sure what they goal is at this point I suppose I have several. One just to be healthier I have never had a problem with high blood pressure, or diabetes or things like that but have always felt I could be healthier. Two, I just want to look better and feel better about myself. Who doesn’t right?

To me it is sort of like the Law of Gravity. What goes up must come down. We have all learned or heard this saying and know that if we throw up a ball that for certain, unless caught in a tree, it will come down and even if caught in a tree, eventually will come down. We can count on it, no two ways about it.

So, if the above is my goals and yours too, we have to remember that everything put into my body will either get me closer to or further away from those goals, when I make a food choice or if I choose to exercise or not, those choices will move me in one direction or another. My question every time now is; What will this choice do?

Sticks and Stones

We all remember growing up and someone would say something that was hurtful. My mom would say the following poem.

“Sticks and stones will break your bones but names will never hurt you”

Over the years, I too, have said the same thing to my children. But now that I’m working hard on a goal and perhaps I’m a little wiser, I’m beginning to doubt this. Sticks and stones do break bones but someone saying something to you can hurt you too. Maybe not physically but emotionally and although the physical parts can heal the emotional part can take years to heal. What it is does is shatter our self-confidence.

Self-confidence is what is required in order to believe in our own abilities and know that we can complete something or more importantly that we are worthy of something. If someone breaks this, we are left flailing and feeling that we are not worthy.

I’m worth this journey, I know what I’m doing is best for me both physically and mentally. I will be a better person because of it. I’m worth the sacrifices that I’m making and believe that I can complete this transformation and just as importantly so are you and I believe you will too.

Champions are NOT made in gyms!

SAY WHAT?! I'm sure many of you are saying; I thought this woman was a gym rat or at a minimum working out and eating healthy?

Well before you delete me from your favorites list, I ran across the following quote by Muhammad Ali and I'm sure many will attest to him being one of the all time best athletes as well as motivational individuals.

"Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them: A desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill."

I think this can really sum up this journey that I'm on. I can go to the gym, go through the motions but that will not, in and of itself, do it. I have to have desire to change my eating habits and be healthier, a dream of pushing my body past anything that I may have thought possible and a vision of how to put all these new found skills into practice.

I think the last sentence of this quote is the most important part. We can all learn these skills. In fact, most of us know them and we have been doing them or trying to do them for years or off and on for years. However, the skills mean nothing if we do not have the will, determination and strength of character to put them into place and follow them.

The Hare and the Tortise

Another story folks and a good one. We have all heard the story of the Hare and the Tortoise. We know that the hare shoots out of the starting gate confident that he will win the race. However, along the path he is sidetracked and becomes unfocused. The Tortoise, however, plugs along at his slow but deliberate pace and ultimately wins the race.

My challenge is like this right now. I have lots of "hares" around me. All telling me how they are doing this or that and the pounds just falling right off them. However, as I sit back and ponder, I wonder what diversions are they really going through and what are they learning. I mean anyone can sprint but how many people can do a cross country race. Up a hill, down a hill, through a puddle?

I feel as I'm plodding along, although taking this journey at a snails pace or turtle's pace, that I'm enjoying the scenery and learning how to navigate the obstacles of the cross country course. I'm learning about new foods, new ways to cook and learning about how my body handles each of these new experiences. Really in the end does it matter who finishes the race first or does it matter more of the life's lessons that we have learned? After all, both the Hare and the Tortise did finish the race, right?

Sacrificing part for the whole

Sometimes in extreme accidents or unforseen incidents a doctor must decide to amputate and appendage or remove some part of a human's body to ensure that the person lives. Now during the healing process the individual has to learn how they will live their life with this change. I, personally, have never had an issue like this but I'm sure the process can be a horrible struggle. The emotional turmoil, not to mention physical changes, would be a constant reminder to the person of their "previous" life. The individual will learn how to compensate for the changes live a new and productive life.
During our transformation we have to undergo a amputation of sorts. We must sever ourselves from foods, thoughts and old ways for the sake of our body as a whole. We are actually going through a renaissanceof sorts. However, it will not be an easy process and we will long, yearn and "hunger" (no pun intended) for our old ways.
If we learn to embrace the innovative and new course of actions we too can have a productive life that gives us better health and a longer life.

Hey I'm Learning a New Language

Today's message is inspired by my "Little Nikki" as I affectionately christened her.

During the course of my journey I have started to learn a new language and it is more important than Spanish :) If I want to be victorious I will have to learn to order items from a menu that does not contribute to my health and well being. Many restaurants are starting to cater to my way of thinking but most do not and especially when it comes to a fast food place. I mean, let's be realistic, we will eventually need to "drive through" some place for food.

Learning a new language takes time, patience and most importantly practice. When I was learning to speak Spanish I had to be forced to practice, practice, practice. Not fun, but necessary. When we are learning to order foods we have to learn new phrases and words and practice them so that they become part of our normal word useage and we associate items or actions with those words.

For example, you may have always asked for butter with your veggies, sour cream or gravy for your potato and certainly needed to have your cake too, right. Now, I am learning to ask for "steamed" veggies, "no sauce please" and for desert some "fresh fruit" or maybe "No thank you" for desert.

So, right now while you are thinking about it, write out what your new words are that you will learn to use during this process and put into your vocabulary going forward. I bet I can guess what my Little Nikki's will be.... "Fresco Style please.

Diamond in the Rough

I bet you thought you would never see a little science lesson on a fitness and weight loss blog did ya?
Diamonds are one of the world's most precious gems. The word diamond comes from a Greek word, "adamus", which means invincible. This is because diamonds are the hardest minerals in the world. They are 1000 times harder than rubies or sapphires. Not even the most powerful acids can harm a diamond's surface.
Now, I'm not going to get real technical but in short, diamonds are made from coal or just plain old lead that undergoes extreme heat and pressure and after a VERY long time out comes this beautiful gem that the world pays thousands and thousands of dollars for and are very rare.
Here comes the thread that will tie this all together, we are diamonds in the rough. When we start this journey, we are sorta dirty and coal like and not very pretty. Perhaps our eating is unclean and our bodies are kinda polluted and both on the inside and out.
After we put ourselves through some extreme pressures with eating right and exercise and time; remember, time is one of the most important elements in the diamond formation, we come out the other side being invincible. Invincible in that were not conquered by the pressures and heat of the outside world and the temptations around us, unshakable in our determinations to make it through the struggles that are around us daily.
I know that each person that is on this journey is truly a diamond in the rough and diamonds really are invincible!