The Diet/Fitness Thread

[YesNo]

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.

Some of these exercises could be modified to run in slow motion.

I'm following this video daily until I get a better feel for the motions. Although I don't think my butt was made for the lotus position, I suppose it will get used to it. I keep falling over and so use a pillow in the back.

[Calidore]

I've recently read in two reputable places that chocolate milk is actually a terrific post-workout recovery drink, because it has pretty much the ideal protein/carbs ratio. I'm finding this a remarkably easy change to adopt.

[YesNo]

I wonder if chocolate ice cream would work as well. Probably not.

I started a Bikram hot yoga class this week. It is the first formal yoga class I've had. It does seem to help me breathe better.

[Calidore]

At Costco today, I walked right by a 4-pound jar of Jelly Bellies on sale without even hesitating. Willpower!

[NikolaiI]

Congrats, Calidore!! Wonderful feeling, isn't it?

One thing I learned, or became familiar with at least, a little while back is a study about which foods we enjoy. . . what the research found was that to a large extent, the foods that we love are because of the feelings that we had when we first had them. . I found this very interesting and useful - seems like knowing this would help to re-define what foods we love to eat..

[prendrelemick]

I have decided to lose a bit of weight this year. The diet I have chosen is to eat a little less.

[YesNo]

I think my weight has stabilized to around 175 pounds which was my goal and now I wonder what caused it to drop those ten pounds. Initially I did listen to a free hypnosis app I downloaded to the phone by Elizabeth Hartford, "Lose Weight Now Hypnosis". However, I listened to this only once while lying in bed and fell asleep before I finished it. I usually think causes require more discipline and repetition than that.

Later when my weight started dropping, I tried Kundalini yoga and most recently Bikram yoga. There is a lot of sweating in Bikram yoga, but my weight was already about 178 when I started that. Whatever benefit yoga offers, unless causation goes backward in time, that may not be the explanation.

Karen Kingston suggested something interesting in "Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui" that I read last night. She wrote (page 24): "A curious fact I have noticed over the years is that people who have lots of clutter in their homes are often overweight."

The reason I started reading Kingston's book was that I have also been in a cleaning mood at home. I don't know why, but it feels good, almost as good as losing ten pounds. The main room I use has lost a lot of clutter. She also takes clutter beyond the stuff we hang onto around us. Clutter is in our bodies, our minds and our emotions as well.

The clutter and weight are disappearing, but the mysteries remain.

[Calidore]

Here is today's (typical) thank-you from my elderly next door neighbor for shoveling her snow. This is why I have to keep working out.

[YesNo]

One of the good things about getting those pecan treats is that one almost has to eat them since they were a gift. One would not want to offend the elderly neighbor.

I think my weight has stabilized so that 175 pounds is the top level. I've seen it as low as 170 pounds which I would not have believed possible five months ago. Also I finished cleaning out the junk in the basement. For those unaware of this feng shui position, I consider clutter in the house to be symptomatic of the weight problem of the inhabitants.

[Calidore]

One of the good things about getting those pecan treats is that one almost has to eat them since they were a gift. One would not want to offend the elderly neighbor.

I think my weight has stabilized so that 175 pounds is the top level. I've seen it as low as 170 pounds which I would not have believed possible five months ago. Also I finished cleaning out the junk in the basement. For those unaware of this feng shui position, I consider clutter in the house to be symptomatic of the weight problem of the inhabitants.

My extremely thin mother with the extremely cluttered basement (which I am currently helping move nearly everything around in to prepare for waterproofing) would beg to differ.

Yes, I do feel obligated to eat the chocolates (and cookies, her most common thank-you gift), so I just try to be responsible about it--two a day works.

[YesNo]

You're right. There are plenty of counterexamples. One of my relatives is so neat and clean we like to label her as having some sort of obsessive compulsive disorder. She could test the upward limits of a scale.

[YesNo]

Another thing I am looking at as part of a diet is pH balance. I understand this should be about 7.4. There are paper strips one can use to test saliva and urine for pH. Sort of like a scale for weight.

I re-listened to the hypnotism session and heard it all the way through this time telling myself I want to be 170 pounds. Being somewhere between 170 and 175 already, if I do get to a more or less steady 170 pounds, I don't know if I could credit hypnosis with it.

[Sancho]

I've got a coworker who beat cancer and swears that maintaining his body's natural PH through the food he eats was instrumental. He told me his diet before his diagnosis was way too acidic and may have opened the door to cancer, something about his body always fighting to bring the PH back up to 7.4 and thereby taxing the immune system.

Sounded plausible to me. Anyway he only drinks Evian water now. Most bottled water is a little acidic and hence quenches the thirst better but Evian is at 7.4 PH (I think) and prints it right there on the nutrition label.

There might be something to it. Donno. I'm a tap-water guy.

Oh yeah, it was some sort of stomach cancer.

[Iain Sparrow]

I've got a coworker who beat cancer and swears that maintaining his body's natural PH through the food he eats was instrumental. He told me his diet before his diagnosis was way too acidic and may have opened the door to cancer, something about his body always fighting to bring the PH back up to 7.4 and thereby taxing the immune system.

Sounded plausible to me. Anyway he only drinks Evian water now. Most bottled water is a little acidic and hence quenches the thirst better but Evian is at 7.4 PH (I think) and prints it right there on the nutrition label.

There might be something to it. Donno. I'm a tap-water guy.

Oh yeah, it was some sort of stomach cancer.

If you're eating healthy foods; fresh fruits and vegetables, more soy protein and less red meat protein, less dairy products, stay away from caffeine, less processed sugar, eat certain types of seafood, drink fresh water (not tap water!), and exercise daily... you will automatically keep a proper PH balance.

[Clopin]

I drink four to eight litres of water a day, I would go bankrupt drinking bottled water I had to pay for!