Losing weight can be hard if not scary. I feel like wanting to prove myself wrong, or right. I know now that I can do this. I didn't realize that today, there are a variety of health and mental issues caused by a sedentary lifestyle. That is why exercise is important. I want and need to lose weight. However, it is my time to take some action. It is time to take some serious action at that. I have been inspired to take action. I am on a diet plan that I promised myself that I will follow. It will be easy to overcome things, but hopefully I will wait. Waiting is quite hard, but that is only because I am not a patient person. I have been feeling bad about myself, and it is because of guilt. When if I was fit now? How would things change? Those are the questions that I have asked myself a few times before. I gained a lot of weight over the years and for years I had to not only deal with that but the problems that come with a huge weight gain in such a short period of time. I have to try even harder to lose weight and to stick to it. It has been a struggle to have to work this hard for this many years. I realize that I have put so much pressure on myself that I have failed. I have to realize that I should no longer be afraid to fail. I have failed already. I have nowhere to go but up, which entails loving and respecting myself. I have to and I want to do this for me and me alone. I can do this.
Saturday, June 4, 2016
Friday, May 6, 2016
"Cake by the Ocean" by DNCE
"Cake by the Ocean" by DNCE
This is a fun song to listen to when one is dancing by his or herself. I love the singing of this song. To me, it is such a cool song. I find it quite motivation. Maybe I can dance to this one. Most of all, I love playing this song over.
Thursday, May 5, 2016
Let's Get Physical: The Psychology of Effective Workout Music
Let's Get Physical: The Psychology of Effective Workout Music
New research clarifies why music and exercise make such a good team, and how to create an optimal workout playlist
By Ferris Jabr on March 20, 2013
“I dare them to find the iPod on me,” Richie Sais told the New York Times in 2007, when he was preparing to run the Marine Corps Marathon. USA Track & Field, the national governing body for distance racing, had just decided to ban athletes from using portable music players in order "to ensure safety and to prevent runners from having a competitive edge." Rais resolved to hide his iPod shuffle under his shirt. Many fellow runners protested the new rule, which remains in effect today in an amended form: It now applies only to people vying for awards and money.
For some athletes and for many people who run, jog, cycle, lift weights and otherwise exercise, music is not superfluous—it is essential to peak performance and a satisfying workout. Although some people prefer audio books, podcasts or ambient sounds, many others depend on bumpin' beats and stirring lyrics to keep themselves motivated when exercising. A quick Twitter search uncovers plenty of evidence: "Trying to let my phone charge a little more before I go, because lord knows I can't even try and workout without music," tweeted @Gianna_H21. "I just made my mom turn around to get my headphones. I can't possibly work out without music," @Codavoci_Kyle admitted.
In the last 10 years the body of research on workout music has swelled considerably, helping psychologists refine their ideas about why exercise and music are such an effective pairing for so many people as well as how music changes the body and mind during physical exertion. Music distracts people from pain and fatigue, elevates mood, increases endurance, reduces perceived effort and may even promote metabolic efficiency. When listening to music, people run farther, bike longer and swim faster than usual—often without realizing it. In a 2012 review of the research, Costas Karageorghis of Brunel University in London, one of the world's leading experts on the psychology of exercise music, wrote that one could think of music as "a type of legal performance-enhancing drug."
Let's Get Physical.....
New research clarifies why music and exercise make such a good team, and how to create an optimal workout playlist
By Ferris Jabr on March 20, 2013
“I dare them to find the iPod on me,” Richie Sais told the New York Times in 2007, when he was preparing to run the Marine Corps Marathon. USA Track & Field, the national governing body for distance racing, had just decided to ban athletes from using portable music players in order "to ensure safety and to prevent runners from having a competitive edge." Rais resolved to hide his iPod shuffle under his shirt. Many fellow runners protested the new rule, which remains in effect today in an amended form: It now applies only to people vying for awards and money.
For some athletes and for many people who run, jog, cycle, lift weights and otherwise exercise, music is not superfluous—it is essential to peak performance and a satisfying workout. Although some people prefer audio books, podcasts or ambient sounds, many others depend on bumpin' beats and stirring lyrics to keep themselves motivated when exercising. A quick Twitter search uncovers plenty of evidence: "Trying to let my phone charge a little more before I go, because lord knows I can't even try and workout without music," tweeted @Gianna_H21. "I just made my mom turn around to get my headphones. I can't possibly work out without music," @Codavoci_Kyle admitted.
In the last 10 years the body of research on workout music has swelled considerably, helping psychologists refine their ideas about why exercise and music are such an effective pairing for so many people as well as how music changes the body and mind during physical exertion. Music distracts people from pain and fatigue, elevates mood, increases endurance, reduces perceived effort and may even promote metabolic efficiency. When listening to music, people run farther, bike longer and swim faster than usual—often without realizing it. In a 2012 review of the research, Costas Karageorghis of Brunel University in London, one of the world's leading experts on the psychology of exercise music, wrote that one could think of music as "a type of legal performance-enhancing drug."
Let's Get Physical.....
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
How Do I Slow Down My Thoughts?
How Do I Slow Down My Thoughts?
Posted on May 21, 2011 by Sen
According to a particular study it was seen that close to 99% percent of the thoughts, in a human mind, tend to be repetitive, with just 1% space left for any original or new thought, if at all. The reason thoughts become repetitive is because of the law of attraction that gets activated each time a thought arises. Each thought has the power to attract onto itself more thoughts like it and thus strengthen its momentum. Once a thought gathers momentum, it can almost create a wall of thoughts that ends up stifling any sense of spaciousness in your mind.
Bringing in more space between thoughts
The more conscious you are the more likely it is that your attention will not get pulled into each thought that arises. Remember that attention is the fuel that provides momentum, or energy, to each thought. The unconscious state of “consciousness” is when it’s lost in the mind, thus fueling each thought that arises and carrying the burden of a wall of thoughts with no space for real intelligence or creativity to seep in.
There are several techniques that people use to “still” their mind. Having practiced most of these techniques myself, I found that the bottom line of all these practices is to “control” the mind. There may be some temporary benefits to be had from these practices, but they don’t give you any sense of freedom because you are still “caught” in the mind trying to control it.
When I got exhausted of all these techniques and got tired of trying to control the mind, I simply let go of it all. I just allowed the mind to do what it wanted to do, and paradoxically the mind started becoming more and more silent when it was not resisted anymore. The secret to slowing down thoughts is to simply relax and let go of the mind completely, and let it do what it wants to do on its own. You move into a space of relaxed presence.
Moving from thinking to presence
There is an incredible amount of intelligence and wisdom, in the simple state of active presence. When you are simply “aware” without the need to “think”, you are in a state of radical intelligence and creativity. Awareness is the unconditioned intelligence that has the capacity to bring forth something “new” into your experience.
The mind, in its conditioned patterns of thinking, can never hope to create any true solutions because it’s operating from the same structures that created the problem in the first place. The mind is a good tool for mechanical processes but it’s completely useless when you want to come up with “solutions”. Only from the unconditioned intelligence of “pure awareness” can anything new be born, and solutions have to be “new” because they cannot come from the past patterns that created the problem.
The more “present” you are, the less active tthe mind tends to be. Becoming more present may seem like a “practice”, and in a way it is, but there’s more here than just a technique. Once you start realizing that who you are in essence is the “pure awareness” that is prior to all forms, you automatically start resting in this space more and more – not because you have to, but because you realize it to be your home, who you really are.
Your thoughts slow down as presence increases
To be lost in thoughts is the old state of consciousness; it’s highly mediocre and does no justice to the limitless potential that lies within each being. Who you are in essence is the same intelligence that created this world and this tremendous potential for limitless creation is lost when your consciousness becomes trapped in “conditioned” thinking.
The transformed, evolved, or new, state of consciousness is to move through life in a simple state of “pure awareness” without needing to interpret and label everything through the “conditioning” of the mind. Let the “awareness” talk, let the “awareness” work, let the “awareness” write, and listen, and watch.
Moving through the conditioned mind, is like watching life through tinted glasses. You will never have clear vision. You don’t need these glasses, so just let go them and come to pure vision. The unconditioned intelligence of pure awareness has the capacity to transform your entire reality and it does so without creating any conflict in the totality.
Your mind will automatically start resting more and more, as it allows the intelligence of “pure awareness” to take over from it. You will notice that the pace of your noisy thoughts is slowing down and a silent intelligence is working in your life.
Source of full article
Posted on May 21, 2011 by Sen
According to a particular study it was seen that close to 99% percent of the thoughts, in a human mind, tend to be repetitive, with just 1% space left for any original or new thought, if at all. The reason thoughts become repetitive is because of the law of attraction that gets activated each time a thought arises. Each thought has the power to attract onto itself more thoughts like it and thus strengthen its momentum. Once a thought gathers momentum, it can almost create a wall of thoughts that ends up stifling any sense of spaciousness in your mind.
Bringing in more space between thoughts
The more conscious you are the more likely it is that your attention will not get pulled into each thought that arises. Remember that attention is the fuel that provides momentum, or energy, to each thought. The unconscious state of “consciousness” is when it’s lost in the mind, thus fueling each thought that arises and carrying the burden of a wall of thoughts with no space for real intelligence or creativity to seep in.
There are several techniques that people use to “still” their mind. Having practiced most of these techniques myself, I found that the bottom line of all these practices is to “control” the mind. There may be some temporary benefits to be had from these practices, but they don’t give you any sense of freedom because you are still “caught” in the mind trying to control it.
When I got exhausted of all these techniques and got tired of trying to control the mind, I simply let go of it all. I just allowed the mind to do what it wanted to do, and paradoxically the mind started becoming more and more silent when it was not resisted anymore. The secret to slowing down thoughts is to simply relax and let go of the mind completely, and let it do what it wants to do on its own. You move into a space of relaxed presence.
Moving from thinking to presence
There is an incredible amount of intelligence and wisdom, in the simple state of active presence. When you are simply “aware” without the need to “think”, you are in a state of radical intelligence and creativity. Awareness is the unconditioned intelligence that has the capacity to bring forth something “new” into your experience.
The mind, in its conditioned patterns of thinking, can never hope to create any true solutions because it’s operating from the same structures that created the problem in the first place. The mind is a good tool for mechanical processes but it’s completely useless when you want to come up with “solutions”. Only from the unconditioned intelligence of “pure awareness” can anything new be born, and solutions have to be “new” because they cannot come from the past patterns that created the problem.
The more “present” you are, the less active tthe mind tends to be. Becoming more present may seem like a “practice”, and in a way it is, but there’s more here than just a technique. Once you start realizing that who you are in essence is the “pure awareness” that is prior to all forms, you automatically start resting in this space more and more – not because you have to, but because you realize it to be your home, who you really are.
Your thoughts slow down as presence increases
To be lost in thoughts is the old state of consciousness; it’s highly mediocre and does no justice to the limitless potential that lies within each being. Who you are in essence is the same intelligence that created this world and this tremendous potential for limitless creation is lost when your consciousness becomes trapped in “conditioned” thinking.
The transformed, evolved, or new, state of consciousness is to move through life in a simple state of “pure awareness” without needing to interpret and label everything through the “conditioning” of the mind. Let the “awareness” talk, let the “awareness” work, let the “awareness” write, and listen, and watch.
Moving through the conditioned mind, is like watching life through tinted glasses. You will never have clear vision. You don’t need these glasses, so just let go them and come to pure vision. The unconditioned intelligence of pure awareness has the capacity to transform your entire reality and it does so without creating any conflict in the totality.
Your mind will automatically start resting more and more, as it allows the intelligence of “pure awareness” to take over from it. You will notice that the pace of your noisy thoughts is slowing down and a silent intelligence is working in your life.
Source of full article
Sunday, May 1, 2016
My confession or two made
I have a confession or two to make. I have rarely exercised. I used to feel that something is wrong with me. Well, it isn't laziness. I am overwhelmed with taking care of myself, which includes diet and exercise. Those are two ways to further succeed in being healthy. I wasn't sure of my goals and I am still I am not. I wonder if I should be dancing. I have been overwhelmed so easily. My mind is flooded with doubts and anxieties that I tend to quit. I have allowed myself to be afraid of failure and that fear stems from that anxiety. The answer, and the key, to exercise is to calm my mind down. I just hope it will be easier said and easier done.
Saturday, April 30, 2016
The High Performance Life by Joe (from tumblr)
Appreciation is born through Struggle
Appreciation – “the recognition and enjoyment of the good qualities of someone or something.” And so why is it then that we do not appreciate much of what we have? We have our health, we have possibilities, our successes and the prospect of what THPL can be for our life. Yet we either take for granted what we have or find what we have not to our liking. We can and need to work on this but……the other side of life (challenge and struggle) is the side that we in the THPL community focus on.
The THPL journey sets us up for those moments in life when we take on something very hard, where we can put in the next level of effort, when we do not have a guarantee of a successful outcome. In these circumstances, some sort of struggle is a natural (and positive) element and it is how we get to the end of a challenge and mission – when we do get to the end we feel a level of satisfaction and appreciation that is indescribable. We cannot manufacture this feeling – we can only know it if we had experienced the “struggle”. And when the struggle is complete but before recovery is complete, it is best to reflect, to take notice of the moment and to internalize how through challenge and difficulty we were able to get done what we set out to do – that is what appreciation is - it exposes all that is important and discards that which matters none.
Loving life and appreciating all I have (and the struggle it took to get there)
Ciao
Joe
Source of article
Appreciation – “the recognition and enjoyment of the good qualities of someone or something.” And so why is it then that we do not appreciate much of what we have? We have our health, we have possibilities, our successes and the prospect of what THPL can be for our life. Yet we either take for granted what we have or find what we have not to our liking. We can and need to work on this but……the other side of life (challenge and struggle) is the side that we in the THPL community focus on.
The THPL journey sets us up for those moments in life when we take on something very hard, where we can put in the next level of effort, when we do not have a guarantee of a successful outcome. In these circumstances, some sort of struggle is a natural (and positive) element and it is how we get to the end of a challenge and mission – when we do get to the end we feel a level of satisfaction and appreciation that is indescribable. We cannot manufacture this feeling – we can only know it if we had experienced the “struggle”. And when the struggle is complete but before recovery is complete, it is best to reflect, to take notice of the moment and to internalize how through challenge and difficulty we were able to get done what we set out to do – that is what appreciation is - it exposes all that is important and discards that which matters none.
Loving life and appreciating all I have (and the struggle it took to get there)
Ciao
Joe
Source of article
Friday, April 29, 2016
15 Exercise Tips for People With Type 2 Diabetes
15 Exercise Tips for People With Type 2 Diabetes
1.
Get a move onExercise is safe—and highly recommended—for most people with type 2 diabetes, including those with complications. Along with diet and medication, exercise will help you lower blood sugar and lose weight.
However, the prospect of diving into a workout routine may be intimidating. If you're like many newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics, you may not have exercised in years.
If that's the case, don't worry: It's fine to start slow and work up. These tips will help you ease back into exercise and find a workout plan that works for you.
2.
Try quick workouts
As long as you're totaling 30 minutes of exercise each day, several brief workouts are fine, says George Griffing, MD, professor of endocrinology at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
"We need people with diabetes up and moving," Dr. Griffing says. "If you can do your exercise in one 30 minute stretch, fine. But if not, break it up into increments you can manage that add up to at least 30 minutes each day."
3.
Focus on overall activity
Increase activity in general—such as walking or climbing stairs—rather than a particular type of exercise.
However, don't rely on housework or other daily activity as your sole exercise. Too often, people overestimate the amount of exercise they get and underestimate the amount of calories they consume. (A step-counting pedometer can help.)
Link to full article
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