Seems harmless

Tags

muscle, technique, weights

When it comes to weight-lifting, good form is essential. Initially, good form can seem awkward, ugly and uncoordinated. Given time, muscle fibers adapt to new holds and positions, which create fluidity in motion, allowing one to lift more weight.

It’s in the early stages of new techniques and form that one wants to cheat. It seems harmless to cheat, and pointless to push through the tough stuff. I’ve seen businesses and people try to cut the same corners. It’s fatal if taken to the arena of character.

A lesson from snot

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flu, habit, sinus infection, snot

I’m aware this post may be gross, but hear me out, there is a lesson to be learned from snot!

Winter – the common season for colds, flus and sinus infections. If you’ve recently had a faucet coming from your nose, you know how obnoxious it is to blow your nose every three minutes. Waste of time and tissues. It seems like we should blow our nose, get all the gunk out and move on with life. The repeated process of producing snot and blowing our nose seems to be a scene from Groundhog Day rather than achieving any real healing results.

Like kicking a bad habit…usually we don’t get the gunk out with one blow. It takes several repetitions of a good habit to replace a bad one. And that is about as far as I can stretch S-N-O-T to get a lesson out of it!

Upside down toast

Tags

crust, jam, spread, toast

This morning I put jam on upside-down toast.

Half of you are cringing at the thought of such an act, wondering what would possess me to administer the spread while my toast was in the wrong. The other half are still wondering what I’m talking about. (Which is why I love studying people and personalities!)

Every slice of toast has a top and bottom…both made of crust but very distinct from the other.

When my toast popped, I thought I should try having the top crust close to me and the bottom crust farthest away from my body…just to see how different the experience would be.

It’s a cheap thrill, and for those in the first half mentioned above, you should try it. It feels wrong…if there is a wrong way to put jam on toast.

Scarcity

Tags

abundance, appetizer, dessert, eat, food

Ever wonder why we eat until we feel sick? We’re so goofy, we’ll even continue eating food after we’re sick to our stomachs.

Two words. Scarcity mentality.

We look at particular foods and think it’s so delicious and we don’t know when we’re going to have it again, so we better eat as much as we can. I don’t know any of us that can’t make our favorite dessert or appetizer any day of the week if we choose to. We just think we can’t, which makes us binge.

Two better words. Abundance mentality.

If we approach food with the idea that whatever is so delicious is worthy to be made for dinner tomorrow, or the dessert and appetizer are so stinking good we should make them this coming weekend, we will not feel the need to stuff ourselves to the point of nausea. Try it.

Scarcity mentality produces greed and selfishness.

Abundance mentality produces self-discipline, freedom and creativity.

No-Sweets September

We’re up and rolling with No-Sweets September!

A pile of us have decided that September should be without the extra sweets and goodies in life. Just a way to gain more physical discipline.

Dare to join us?! If not for the whole month, what about a week?

Step it up a notch with your physical fitness!

Put the fork down!

Several Thanksgivings ago I was in my usual post-dinner state; feeling fat, bloated, full, and lethargic. That’s the nice version.

You know exactly what I’m talking about. We fast for 14 hours prior to the huge Thanksgiving meal, then gorge ourselves until we roll away from the table, disgusted with food and ourselves.

That moment was a watershed experience. I vowed I would never gorge myself on food again. Never. My excessive eating showed lack of self-control and disrespect for my body. American tradition or not, I decided I would not continue eating until I felt full at any meal. So what if my favorite food was available? I live in a relatively free country and so far the government has not banned me from cooking or baking too many things, so I can make my favorite dish or dessert again. Tomorrow, in fact. Next week also, and for the next 52 weeks until Thanksgiving or Christmas comes around again.

Obesity is becoming a pandemic in our country and it’s because we don’t have self-control, will power, confidence, guts, balls, or determination (call it whatever you want!) to stop eating. Decide to have self-control, portion your food according to your body’s needs, and don’t go back for seconds. It’s really that simple. If there’s a food you want to eat more of, have leftovers tomorrow or write a note to make the dish next week. Turkeys are available for roasting year-around. (I apologize to any vegans reading this post.) Your life depends on this decision. Obesity is unacceptable – even if it is the norm in our society.

If you forget to make the correct decision on how and what you will eat, and are feeling the need to unbutton your pants, throw up, or roll away from the table, think of me. I’m thinking of you…thanking God I feel fantastic and wondering when you’ll care enough about your own health to take care of it.