The Diet/Fitness Thread

Moving things is one of the best ways to stay in shape, I've found..

YesNo, have you ever heard of the trick of drinking a glass of water before eating? I've heard it's a useful thing to do if you're trying to lose weight. Another variation, one which I would probably prefer, is to eat an apple before dinner - the reasoning is that it takes a while to eat it, and also, there's plenty of water in it.

Much love and all the best in your endeavor. I really wish my grandfather and others I have known had cared more about their health. To me it's always been on of the most important things, and among other things, I've spent much of my life on the question of how to have perfect health - primarily preventatively, so that I will never be sick. :-) My grandfather lived in your city; he was very intelligent but very addicted to alcohol, and he was a very talented pianist, although I only heard him play a few times.

There's a nice thought about health I sometimes recall - "keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the cosmos" (slightly paraphrased), from Hanh

I usually drink a lot of water in the form of coffee and herbal teas. It sounds like a good idea. I agree with the quote about gratitude.

The library is closed today because the weather is quite nasty, snow all over the place and still falling. I was hoping to take a walk.

Something health related I've been doing is juicing two lemons in the morning and adding the juice to a four litre milk-jug of water and drinking the entire thing throughout the day. Lemon is good for you and it zips up the water making it nicer to drink, it's also easy to keep pouring from the jug while you read, or sit at the computer etc, until it's all gone.

We do something similar with apple cider vinegar and honey. Heat a cup of water. Put in one tablespoon of honey into the heated water and stir it until it dissolves. Then add one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and pour it into a larger container. Add cold water, perhaps a quart or so more, and drink throughout the day.

Ya that's probably really good. I was thinking of adding a bunch of stuff, I still might. Apple cider vinegar is a good idea.

Also it's so cute how you refer to almost everything as 'we' ^.^

Lemon water is tasty. I've heard Apple Cider Vinegar is good for you. I have a rather creepy story concerning it. A couple of years ago I was drinking a glass of water with a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in it each day. Then one day I noticed that a small cyst I'd had for a while had gotten quite a bit larger. I know you're not supposed to do this, but I put a hot pack on it. I touched it and stuff started to come out. It got quite a bit smaller over the next several days. I had stopped drinking the acv, but started again, then noticed that the cyst was getting larger again. I stopped and started over several more days, but always the same thing happened. When I stopped, the cyst quit growing. When I drank it, it grew. Shades of Alice, I guess. Anyway, I stopped drinking it and the cyst is gone now.

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Originally Posted by Clopin

Also it's so cute how you refer to almost everything as 'we' ^.^

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The "we" is my wife and I.

I hadn't heard of any problems with cysts, qimissumg, but if it causes problems one shouldn't drink it.

I know it is! That's why it's so sweet.

Well, the thought did cross my mind that it was pulling out toxins. I quit anyway.

aaggghhhhhhh!!!! I just found the "myfitnesspal" app. Talk about feeding my numbers obsession!! Soooo in addition to counting the number of steps (it can sync with fitbit), I can count calories with the push of a button (or two). I input what I eat and when I exercise and it spits out calories consumed, calories burned for exercise, and nutritional info like amounts of vitamnins and minerals consumed.

I wish I never met this app, I've been obsessing about my Calcium intake since I found it. Imagine all the charts and graphs I can create.

This is bad.

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Originally Posted by YesNo

Regarding Kundalini exercises, I may try this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCpeQhEQQZw I like their yoga mats as well.

By the way, I weighed myself this morning and I might have lost another pound. (!) I'm now 183. I have no explanation for this.

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I've followed this Kundalini yoga video twice so far. I think I'm going to continue with it. It is not as easy as it looks. I haven't been able to complete all the exercises. I also can't sit in the lotus position which seems to be a required part of some of these exercises.

I've read warnings that "raising Kundalini" might increase schizophrenia. I haven't noticed that I am any more schizophrenic than usual, but I've only done the exercises twice so far. Hopefully something interesting will happen.

Warning: long rambling post and not all that interesting.


Hehe, yes, Kundalini is an interesting one for that reason. . from what I understand, it's just something you want to do in the proper stages. There's a really wonderful book I read quite a few years ago - Kundalini: Path to Higher Consciousness, by Gopi Krishna - I definitely consider a worthwhile read, if only for the philosophy of it. .

Yesterday I decided, while out in the air doing a bit of stretching, I would go ahead and describe the movement I do, even though I wasn't able to find the video for it. The reason being, it's actually a simple enough one that words could probably describe it well enough. .

So, all it is, you stand in a natural posture - I believe, a little sturdy pose - and then you have your arms stretched out to either side - not rigid, but pretty well fully extended. Then, you turn your body from front to back, first to your left, then to your right - going from looking ahead to looking 180º behind -

I do it loosely, a principle taught in Aikido, Tai Chi, and others. . . I sort of try to lead with my head's motion, so that the whole body moves smoothly. One thing I notice is that without this and all the other practices, there's a tendency not to move smoothly - I guess that's the physical equivalent of every time we work against ourselves -

I'm nowhere other than a novice - though I've been learning how to move my body as well as possible all my life, I wouldn't want to be anything other than one -

But I can say that this little exercise is truly fantastic. One thing I noticed fairly early after I had started doing this, is that it seems to strengthen a lot of the muscles in your body - some I didn't even use all that often, that you won't if you only walk, ride a bike, etc. - so, it had a wonderful sort of effect. . . hard to describe - it was hard to describe then and still is now, but that basically, it strengthened those muscles but also in a connected way - like, it

it really is hard to describe, lol! But it's the one exercise that seems to do more as far as reaching all kinds of good muscles, and bringing them together in a natural and smooth way -
It's hard to say why, but it's like the one exercise I would ever need to use, a long with a couple basic stretching ones, to stay in good shape. Kind of to the body as Zen is to the mind. .

But I'm sure Tai Chi in its entirety could be better - I've experienced that nothing seems to be as holistically healing and strengthening than that - It also seems to take more of an attention span than almost anything, even Zazen - but that's just for me, I also do believe doing these things that work like this - the most healing, although at the beginning most difficult - is the best way to do anything, for me personally I've gone a little different way, which is just a mix of breath meditation, Yoga/Aikido/Tai Chi disciplines, and the rest. Vipassana or Zazen whenever possible, sometimes staring at trees on the horizon, sometimes watching a bug or a spider, sometimes climbing trees, sometimes running, sometimes walking, sometimes doing stretches and working out - of all the exercises I do, the least natural it seems, and truly the one where I am not focused on finding peace. . .

But then, it could just as well as be said that I am a lazy person, and I do all of smattering of disciplines that I do because they are the way of least effort - being sick is so much bother - so I stay healthy. And then to stay healthy, I do the least amount of effort, which involves staying healthy using the best possible methods. It's funny, but it's true.

That's why laziness is considered a virtue by those who are most wise, and business is consider a vice - busyness is good for someone if they know what they are doing, but since most people do not know what they're doing - laziness would be better, so they would not be making messes in the world.

Even for someone who knows what they are doing - laziness is generally better, because laziness occurs when there is nothing left to do - when everything runs naturally, by itself and supervision.

This is the great truth at the heart of several religious, or wisdom traditions, although it is seldom said so bluntly.

And also, anytime you have the working out mentality - which I do, sometimes, because I am lazy. . . I mean, I am too lazy to do it the right way: in the whole of the earth, you will find nothing which "works out" - no animal which engages in an activity solely to strengthen muscles, to somehow make oneself more than one is. . .

All of the good results of things in nature are the results of actions that come naturally to that critter - Apes are so strong, because they climb trees and eat bananas; or alternatively, and equally true, they are so strong because their DNA tells them to be that strong.


Oh, and this Kundalini exercise is also exactly like one of the Tai Chi warming up exercises, although the later involves one standing akimbo, and doing the same motion to 180º left and right, but with a very, very slow movement, and also with a very slow inhalation and exhalation (exhalation when one is turning towards looking back, and inhaling when one is turning towards the front).

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Originally Posted by papayahed

aaggghhhhhhh!!!! I just found the "myfitnesspal" app. Talk about feeding my numbers obsession!! Soooo in addition to counting the number of steps (it can sync with fitbit), I can count calories with the push of a button (or two). I input what I eat and when I exercise and it spits out calories consumed, calories burned for exercise, and nutritional info like amounts of vitamnins and minerals consumed.

I wish I never met this app, I've been obsessing about my Calcium intake since I found it. Imagine all the charts and graphs I can create.

This is bad.

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It seems like there's an app for just about everything. Even scales have them.

I even found an app that when I point the phone into the sky it will give me the name of the stars I would see there if it wasn't cloudy and the streetlights weren't so bright. If I point it at my feet it would show me the stars down there if the earth vanished. There's an app to let me know where my wife and kids have been throughout the day.

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Originally Posted by NikolaiI

There's a really wonderful book I read quite a few years ago - Kundalini: Path to Higher Consciousness, by Gopi Krishna - I definitely consider a worthwhile read, if only for the philosophy of it. .

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I'll see if I can find it.

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Originally Posted by NikolaiI

So, all it is, you stand in a natural posture - I believe, a little sturdy pose - and then you have your arms stretched out to either side - not rigid, but pretty well fully extended. Then, you turn your body from front to back, first to your left, then to your right - going from looking ahead to looking 180º behind -

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Something like that is in the video. It is one I can do. There's one that has one's hands extended and then one inhales and bends one's knees. On the exhale, you are supposed to stand up. That and the lotus position are my major challenges. I've done it three times so far.

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Originally Posted by NikolaiI

But then, it could just as well as be said that I am a lazy person, and I do all of smattering of disciplines that I do because they are the way of least effort - being sick is so much bother - so I stay healthy. And then to stay healthy, I do the least amount of effort, which involves staying healthy using the best possible methods. It's funny, but it's true.

That's why laziness is considered a virtue by those who are most wise, and business is consider a vice - busyness is good for someone if they know what they are doing, but since most people do not know what they're doing - laziness would be better, so they would not be making messes in the world.

Even for someone who knows what they are doing - laziness is generally better, because laziness occurs when there is nothing left to do - when everything runs naturally, by itself and supervision.

This is the great truth at the heart of several religious, or wisdom traditions, although it is seldom said so bluntly.

And also, anytime you have the working out mentality - which I do, sometimes, because I am lazy. . . I mean, I am too lazy to do it the right way: in the whole of the earth, you will find nothing which "works out" - no animal which engages in an activity solely to strengthen muscles, to somehow make oneself more than one is. . .

All of the good results of things in nature are the results of actions that come naturally to that critter - Apes are so strong, because they climb trees and eat bananas; or alternatively, and equally true, they are so strong because their DNA tells them to be that strong.


Oh, and this Kundalini exercise is also exactly like one of the Tai Chi warming up exercises, although the later involves one standing akimbo, and doing the same motion to 180º left and right, but with a very, very slow movement, and also with a very slow inhalation and exhalation (exhalation when one is turning towards looking back, and inhaling when one is turning towards the front).

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In the video she has us picking up speed, but I can see the benefit of doing it slowly as well. Good point that we are the only animals who "work out". I probably also practice laziness more than I care to admit.

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Originally Posted by YesNo

Something like that is in the video. It is one I can do. There's one that has one's hands extended and then one inhales and bends one's knees. On the exhale, you are supposed to stand up. That and the lotus position are my major challenges. I've done it three times so far.

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In the Tai Chi warm-up exercises, all of them are like that too, and the instruction I remember is, "as slowly as you can do it, yet still be moving - with one long breath through the whole motion." - this interesting formula, for moving meditation with a long slow breath - seems to be one of the simplest and most effective self-healing exercises. . but it also seems to take more concentration, for me at least, than even sitting breath meditation.

Breath exercises are also interesting, Aikido has some good ones.

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Originally Posted by YesNo

I even found an app that when I point the phone
into the sky it will give me the name of the stars I would
see there if it wasn't cloudy and the streetlights weren't
so bright. If I point it at my feet it would show me the
stars down there if the earth vanished. There's an app to
let me know where my wife and kids have been throughout
the day.

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That would be cool. It might be interesting to do something like that in conjunction with a sensory deprivation tank of some kind. .