This is what I woke up to this morning. So I went straight back to bed. No training required when it's the end of the world or when you have TTOM like a motherfucker!
The End
Showing posts with label Phase Six. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Phase Six. Show all posts
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
100 Day Challenge - Day 41 - Help ! The Sky has Fallen
This is what I woke up to this morning. So I went straight back to bed. No training required when it's the end of the world or when you have TTOM like a motherfucker!
The End
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
100 Day Challenge - Day 42 - I Was the Most Beautiful
An English naval officer was marooned on a remote island in the South Pacific. He had befriended a native man to whom he was constantly trying to prove his superiority. For the Englishman, everything was a contest. This puzzled the native, for whom life was fun, like a game.
One day the Englishman, in a typical fashion, threw down a challenge to the native. Pointing out a spot about half a mile down the beautiful sandy beach, he announced, "We will have a competition from here to that distant point."
The native agreed. The Englishman, always taking charge of things, set up the conditions: "We will train in our own style, privately, for two weeks. On the fourteenth day, we will compete."
When the day arrived, they took their places on the starting line and set off. With his usual intensity, pushing himself to the limit of his physical ability and grimacing with the strain, he drove himself through the sand until, gasping for breath, he lunged for the finish line. Exhausted and soaked in sweat, he turned to see how his opponent was doing.
To his joy and amazement, the native was only about halfway to the finish line. The Englishman watched him float gracefully along the shoreline with long, comfortable strides, a smile on his handsome face. When he finally pranced across the finish line he found the Englishman jumping and down and shouting "I won! I won!"
The native looked at the Englishman in disbelief. "What? You won? No, I won, I was the most beautiful!"
from
Body, Mind, and Sport: The Mind-Body Guide to Lifelong Health, Fitness, and Your Personal Best
One day the Englishman, in a typical fashion, threw down a challenge to the native. Pointing out a spot about half a mile down the beautiful sandy beach, he announced, "We will have a competition from here to that distant point."
The native agreed. The Englishman, always taking charge of things, set up the conditions: "We will train in our own style, privately, for two weeks. On the fourteenth day, we will compete."
When the day arrived, they took their places on the starting line and set off. With his usual intensity, pushing himself to the limit of his physical ability and grimacing with the strain, he drove himself through the sand until, gasping for breath, he lunged for the finish line. Exhausted and soaked in sweat, he turned to see how his opponent was doing.To his joy and amazement, the native was only about halfway to the finish line. The Englishman watched him float gracefully along the shoreline with long, comfortable strides, a smile on his handsome face. When he finally pranced across the finish line he found the Englishman jumping and down and shouting "I won! I won!"
The native looked at the Englishman in disbelief. "What? You won? No, I won, I was the most beautiful!"
from
Body, Mind, and Sport: The Mind-Body Guide to Lifelong Health, Fitness, and Your Personal Best
Sunday, 20 September 2009
100 Day Challenge - Day 44 - Hunger Torches the Fat
The old miserable Katie used to hate hunger. It used to be a constant gnawing emptiness that made me cranky and unpleasant to be around. Now hunger is my friend.
I make sure that I eat large, nutritious, physically and psychologically satisfying meals that keep me comfortable and full until the next scheduled meal. And when I start to feel hunger before my next feed I am happy.
Hunger is feedback. It means I have eaten the amount of food my body needs, it has processed it all and used it all up to fuel my activity, internal organs and my brain. It has run out of the good stuff and is asking for more.
Here's the part that I love. I tell my body that more food is coming soon, but in the meantime, there are plenty of fat cells it can consume to access extra energy. I imagine a Pacman game, with little munching mouths gobbling up the blobs of fat. When the hunger subsides (which it always does because hunger comes in waves) I know that I'm still moving and functioning because I'm torching the fat.
There is also no reason to fear that getting 'too hungry' will precede a binge. This is my limiting belief and makes no sense under close examination. Naturally lean people get hungry every day and they don't eat until they are sick as a consequence.
The urge to binge is always precipitated by a feeling of pain or deprivation so my correlation between hunger and bingeing is a result of my old feelings that hunger was uncomfortable, continuous and painful so I wanted to soothe that pain with food. Now that I know that being hungry is an opportunity to access my energy storage units (fat) and is only temporary while my body switches fuel sources, I don't find it painful or uncomfortable at all.
Nom nom nom nom nom nom nom gobble up that yummy fat, there's plenty to keep us going ☺
I make sure that I eat large, nutritious, physically and psychologically satisfying meals that keep me comfortable and full until the next scheduled meal. And when I start to feel hunger before my next feed I am happy.
Hunger is feedback. It means I have eaten the amount of food my body needs, it has processed it all and used it all up to fuel my activity, internal organs and my brain. It has run out of the good stuff and is asking for more.
Here's the part that I love. I tell my body that more food is coming soon, but in the meantime, there are plenty of fat cells it can consume to access extra energy. I imagine a Pacman game, with little munching mouths gobbling up the blobs of fat. When the hunger subsides (which it always does because hunger comes in waves) I know that I'm still moving and functioning because I'm torching the fat.
I'm coming to get you -- nom nom nom fatty fat tastes good
There is also no reason to fear that getting 'too hungry' will precede a binge. This is my limiting belief and makes no sense under close examination. Naturally lean people get hungry every day and they don't eat until they are sick as a consequence.
The urge to binge is always precipitated by a feeling of pain or deprivation so my correlation between hunger and bingeing is a result of my old feelings that hunger was uncomfortable, continuous and painful so I wanted to soothe that pain with food. Now that I know that being hungry is an opportunity to access my energy storage units (fat) and is only temporary while my body switches fuel sources, I don't find it painful or uncomfortable at all.
Nom nom nom nom nom nom nom gobble up that yummy fat, there's plenty to keep us going ☺
Saturday, 19 September 2009
100 Day Challenge - Day 45 - It's Our Special Pirates' Day
Ahoy there me hearties, grab your parrot, peg-leg and grog water bucket -- it's International Talk/Blog Like a Pirate Day today.
Shiver me timbers gang, our deeds are so famous on the seven seas that the whole wide world be giving us Pirate love.
Arr, what can ye do today t' celebrate? Maybe write a list o' all the great thin's you have accomplished on this quest, or be taking a look at ye treasure map and see if ye gettin' close.
Me parrot concurs that today be the day t' live as your authentic self. Weigh anchor and surrender the excess booty!
If ye be competing today, I hope ye bikini looks like this. Blimey, good luck ye gorgeous lasses. Arrrrrrgh, be bloody proud of being a sexy wench!
Smooth sailin', an' fair winds t' ye!
Shiver me timbers gang, our deeds are so famous on the seven seas that the whole wide world be giving us Pirate love.
Arr, what can ye do today t' celebrate? Maybe write a list o' all the great thin's you have accomplished on this quest, or be taking a look at ye treasure map and see if ye gettin' close.
Me parrot concurs that today be the day t' live as your authentic self. Weigh anchor and surrender the excess booty! If ye be competing today, I hope ye bikini looks like this. Blimey, good luck ye gorgeous lasses. Arrrrrrgh, be bloody proud of being a sexy wench!
Smooth sailin', an' fair winds t' ye!
T' me,(c) Tom Smith
Yo, Ho, Yo, Ho,
It's "Talk Like A Pirate" Day!
That time in September when sea dogs remember
That grown-ups still know how ta play!
When wenches are curvy and dogs are all scurvy
And a soft-wear patch covers your eye,
Ta hell with our jobs, for one day we're all swabs
And buccaneers all till we die!
So hoist up the mainsails and shut down your brain cells,
They only would get in the way,
Avast there, me hearty, we're havin' a party,
It's "Talk Like A Pirate" Day!
Yo Ho!
Friday, 18 September 2009
100 Day Challenge - Day 46 - Why Calories are not the Whole Story
We all know that eating more calories than you burn results in fat storage and consuming less calories than you burn results in weight loss.
So why is that some people can eat a great deal of calories and not gain weight and others just eat a single donut and put on a kilo overnight? If a donut is the same amount of calories for a slim person and an 'easy gainer' why the difference in result?
The difference must be in the calories burned. Is it just a cruel metabolic joke or is there another explanation? It can't only be metabolism because sometimes I can get away with more calories than I would expect, and at other times, a strict adherence to a calorie restriction program gives me much less fat loss than the sums would suggest. This is the reason why my maintenance level has always been baffling.
The answer to the calorie quandry is indeed metabolic, but not in the way you imagine. Let me explain.
In order to fully utilise the incoming calories for energy, repair and eliminate the waste the body has to use its parasympathetic nervous system [rest and digest].
It explains why I ate a beautiful HUGE post comp meal in a calm, relaxed manner and didn’t even register a blip on the scale, and yet weeks and weeks of calorie restriction with my body under stress doesn’t result in any significant weight loss. It also explains why my weight was the most stable it has ever been the week I purposely did no exercise at all and focused on relaxing.
Intense exercise also stresses the body, but is not a reason to stop if you enjoy it – I think the feelings of enjoyment and pleasure cancels out the stress reaction or at least gets you back to relaxed fairly quickly. But when you exercise while feeling sick, stressed, rushed, guilty, or punishing yourself for your "sins" you enter the sympathetic state (shut down digestive system) which means you won’t be able to burn your stored fat as energy, you’ll just get drained.
On the other hand, simple walking, yoga, stretching, using a fitball for a chair [my latest craze!] can also torch the fat cells if you are calm enough to access your fat when you need extra energy.
So it is not what you eat but HOW you eat that matters. To burn up all the excess fat simply and easily all you have to do is enjoy the food while you are eating AND afterwards (when digestion is taking place), be as relaxed as possible during and after meals and think happy thoughts!
It is possible that calmly eating chocolate cake with love and acceptance will result in more weight loss than eating lean chicken and green beans with gritty determination quickly followed by anxiety while you count down the hours until the next meal.
It is not what your exercise choice is but HOW you exercise that matters. If you enjoy it you will be re-energised as body releases it's stored energy but if you are doing it under sufference because you think you have to you will be depleted and hungry ("can't get to the food I've got inside me -- give me some more")
EASY when you know how. It is entirely possible to love yourself thin ...
Do you agree or am I talking through my very relaxed sphincter?
So why is that some people can eat a great deal of calories and not gain weight and others just eat a single donut and put on a kilo overnight? If a donut is the same amount of calories for a slim person and an 'easy gainer' why the difference in result?
The difference must be in the calories burned. Is it just a cruel metabolic joke or is there another explanation? It can't only be metabolism because sometimes I can get away with more calories than I would expect, and at other times, a strict adherence to a calorie restriction program gives me much less fat loss than the sums would suggest. This is the reason why my maintenance level has always been baffling.
The answer to the calorie quandry is indeed metabolic, but not in the way you imagine. Let me explain.
In order to fully utilise the incoming calories for energy, repair and eliminate the waste the body has to use its parasympathetic nervous system [rest and digest].
Parasympathetic fibers slow the heart; stimulate peristalsis; promote the secretion of lacrimal, salivary, and digestive glands; induce bile and insulin release; dilate peripheral and visceral blood vessels; constrict the pupils, esophagus, and bronchioles; and relax sphincters during micturition and defecation.In the event of stress, guilt, self criticism, conflict, exhaustion, fear and anger, the sympathetic nervous system [fight or flight] takes over and shuts down all the above functions. [The parasympathetic system also controls the sex organs so there is a hint as to why my period stops when I diet].
(The sympathetic nervous system is) the part of the autonomic nervous system that is concerned especially with preparing the body to react to situations of stress or emergency, that contains chiefly adrenergic fibers and tends to depress secretion, decrease the tone and contractility of smooth muscle and increase heart rate.If we eat when we are under the control of the sympathetic nervous system [stress], none of our food (or our stored fat reserves) is processed properly and ends up in storage (fat) instead.
It explains why I ate a beautiful HUGE post comp meal in a calm, relaxed manner and didn’t even register a blip on the scale, and yet weeks and weeks of calorie restriction with my body under stress doesn’t result in any significant weight loss. It also explains why my weight was the most stable it has ever been the week I purposely did no exercise at all and focused on relaxing.
Intense exercise also stresses the body, but is not a reason to stop if you enjoy it – I think the feelings of enjoyment and pleasure cancels out the stress reaction or at least gets you back to relaxed fairly quickly. But when you exercise while feeling sick, stressed, rushed, guilty, or punishing yourself for your "sins" you enter the sympathetic state (shut down digestive system) which means you won’t be able to burn your stored fat as energy, you’ll just get drained.
On the other hand, simple walking, yoga, stretching, using a fitball for a chair [my latest craze!] can also torch the fat cells if you are calm enough to access your fat when you need extra energy.
So it is not what you eat but HOW you eat that matters. To burn up all the excess fat simply and easily all you have to do is enjoy the food while you are eating AND afterwards (when digestion is taking place), be as relaxed as possible during and after meals and think happy thoughts!
It is possible that calmly eating chocolate cake with love and acceptance will result in more weight loss than eating lean chicken and green beans with gritty determination quickly followed by anxiety while you count down the hours until the next meal.
It is not what your exercise choice is but HOW you exercise that matters. If you enjoy it you will be re-energised as body releases it's stored energy but if you are doing it under sufference because you think you have to you will be depleted and hungry ("can't get to the food I've got inside me -- give me some more")
EASY when you know how. It is entirely possible to love yourself thin ...
Do you agree or am I talking through my very relaxed sphincter?
Read another opinion here.
Thursday, 17 September 2009
100 Day Challenge - Day 47 - The Magic Question
Richard turned to me in frustration and said "It really annoys me that the last mail pick up is at 3pm in the afternoon. My morning's are really busy and I don't get to respond to my correspondence until the afternoon but I am never finished by the time the mail is picked up so I am always a day behind. This place is so frustrating!"
So I asked the magic question ..."What would you like instead?"
"That's easy" he said" I'd like the mail to be picked up at 4.30pm."
"Why is that important to you?" I asked
"Because I could get all my work done in the afternoon, sent in the mail that day and my clients would recieve a speedy response from me".
"So go ahead and ask" I said "but instead of saying what you don't want, ask for what you want instead and why."
Richard phoned Alan and instead of saying how annoyed he was about the present situation he said "Hey Alan, I was wondering if we could change the time the courier picks up the mail in the afternoon to a later time. I am finding it difficult to get all my mail ready by 3pm so a 4.30pm final pick up would really help me out."
"No problem" said Alan, "I'll phone the courier service and get that fixed up for you right away".
If Richard had picked up the phone and said "Hey Alan, I am really frustrated about the stupid rule that the last mail pick up is at 3pm, please sort this out" Alan would have felt criticised as well as being responsible for trying to come up with the right solution that would make Richard happy. Alan's response to Richard would have been totally different.
The magic is in asking the Universe/God, yourself and others "what would I like instead? and why?"
I am really cross that I am carrying more weight than I'd like because I've haven't been on plan
I would love to feel at peace with my body, to appreciate it's beauty and eat in a healthy sustainable way so that I can be happy and joyful right here and right now.
It is destructive and self limiting to react badly to a number on the scales and I wish I didn't do it.
I would love to weigh myself without an emotional reaction to the number because it would allow me to be appreciative for my progress and give me feedback on my body's reaction to my choices.
It drives me crazy when you leave your room all messy because you get cranky when you have to spend the weekend cleaning it up.
I would love it if you would pick up your clothes, make your bed and pack away your books in the mornings before you go to school so that you have a relaxing, welcoming space to come home to and you won't have to spend the weekend tidying up a big mess because you will have done a small amount each day.
It is really disappointing that you have made a careless mistake in the estimate and your client is going to be charged more than he expected when he gets the final invoice
I think it would really help you out if you could get someone else to check your estimates before you send them because someone else will be able to see your work with fresh eyes and spot any accidental mistakes. I am happy to do it if you'd like. Then your clients will be amazed at your accuracy and attention to detail when their invoice matches the estimate exactly.
What would YOU like instead? and why is it important to you (or to them)?
Give it a try with you family, friends and co-workers, see what happens and then try it on yourself.
Imagine how wonderful it is going to be when you get what you want ...
So I asked the magic question ..."What would you like instead?"
"That's easy" he said" I'd like the mail to be picked up at 4.30pm."
"Why is that important to you?" I asked
"Because I could get all my work done in the afternoon, sent in the mail that day and my clients would recieve a speedy response from me".
"So go ahead and ask" I said "but instead of saying what you don't want, ask for what you want instead and why."
Richard phoned Alan and instead of saying how annoyed he was about the present situation he said "Hey Alan, I was wondering if we could change the time the courier picks up the mail in the afternoon to a later time. I am finding it difficult to get all my mail ready by 3pm so a 4.30pm final pick up would really help me out."
"No problem" said Alan, "I'll phone the courier service and get that fixed up for you right away".
If Richard had picked up the phone and said "Hey Alan, I am really frustrated about the stupid rule that the last mail pick up is at 3pm, please sort this out" Alan would have felt criticised as well as being responsible for trying to come up with the right solution that would make Richard happy. Alan's response to Richard would have been totally different.
The magic is in asking the Universe/God, yourself and others "what would I like instead? and why?"
I would love to feel at peace with my body, to appreciate it's beauty and eat in a healthy sustainable way so that I can be happy and joyful right here and right now.
I would love to weigh myself without an emotional reaction to the number because it would allow me to be appreciative for my progress and give me feedback on my body's reaction to my choices.
I would love it if you would pick up your clothes, make your bed and pack away your books in the mornings before you go to school so that you have a relaxing, welcoming space to come home to and you won't have to spend the weekend tidying up a big mess because you will have done a small amount each day.
I think it would really help you out if you could get someone else to check your estimates before you send them because someone else will be able to see your work with fresh eyes and spot any accidental mistakes. I am happy to do it if you'd like. Then your clients will be amazed at your accuracy and attention to detail when their invoice matches the estimate exactly.
What would YOU like instead? and why is it important to you (or to them)?
Give it a try with you family, friends and co-workers, see what happens and then try it on yourself.
Imagine how wonderful it is going to be when you get what you want ...
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
100 Day Challenge - Day 48 - In an Instant
It can happen in an instant ...
It only takes a second for your life to change. It doesn't have to be struggle, hard work, determination or white knuckle willpower. Sometimes change happens in an instant.
And when it does, decide to hold on to the good things for as long as they last, and choose to let the bad things simply fade away. There are no guarantees that anything is forever, but the miracle of transformed thoughts and renewed attitudes can be as permanent as that feeling you still have when you look into your partner's eyes.
Love at first sight
One moment in time and your life is transformed forever
Your world changes in a heartbeat and the change is permanent
A tragic accident
One moment in time and your life is transformed forever
Your world changes in a heartbeat and the change is permanent
A single decision to pick up the phone and talk to a stranger
One moment in time and your life is transformed forever
Your world changes in a heartbeat and the change is permanent
It only takes a second for your life to change. It doesn't have to be struggle, hard work, determination or white knuckle willpower. Sometimes change happens in an instant.And when it does, decide to hold on to the good things for as long as they last, and choose to let the bad things simply fade away. There are no guarantees that anything is forever, but the miracle of transformed thoughts and renewed attitudes can be as permanent as that feeling you still have when you look into your partner's eyes.
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
100 Day Challenge - Day 49 - Triumphant Tuesday
Tuesdays are bad days, and typically binge days. I have 2 meetings at 11.00am and noon that bore me to tears and make me frustrated and cranky. I don't need to be there except for show.
Tuesdays are also the day I have my weekly meeting with my boss at 4pm. Although we get on quite well most of the time, when it comes to our weekly meetings I feel like a naughty school girl in the principals office. He never compliments me but just points out my shortcomings and makes me feel useless.
Snacking normally commences about 2pm as my crankiness turns into anxiety. My meeting with my boss always runs over so I get home late from work and I am starving for dinner. After another crappy Tuesday at the coal face, I fall face first into food.
Today was different [even though I have a semi-migraine today to add to the mix]
♥ I felt the frustration and anger in the first meeting and sat through it (the emotions and the meeting)
♥ I chose not to stay for the second meeting because I needed to eat more than I needed to sit through the meeting
♥ I scheduled another meeting from 2pm to 3.30pm that was walking the route of a planned event so I was (a) active, (b) with people I liked and (c) not required to concentrate or think too hard
♥ I went to my meeting with the boss and it was the usual crap but I chose to let as much of it as possible just slide off me
♥ On the way to the ferry one of my co-workers who I rarely speak to (because we work in different areas not because I don't like her LOL) congratulated me on my decision to go on extended leave and to take time out for myself. She is one of the very few people who understand why I am doing this. Her support made me feel great.
♥ I had healthy nachos for dinner - rice crackers, sweet chilli sauce, chicken, baked veges and cheese melted on top with sour cream - I had twice the number of crackers (a whopping 50g ☺) and 1/2 the chicken I normally have. Yum!
♥ Then I treated myself to dessert - dates and ice-cream and then I stopped. Dates have been my new trigger food - once a packet (500g) is open, I keep going until they are gone. Do you know how many calories in a 500g packet of dates? ... 1300 big ones!
♥ I made a new friend on the other side of the world and we chatted for an hour
So today was triumphant Tuesday. Let's celebrate this miracle and look forward to many more.
Tuesdays are also the day I have my weekly meeting with my boss at 4pm. Although we get on quite well most of the time, when it comes to our weekly meetings I feel like a naughty school girl in the principals office. He never compliments me but just points out my shortcomings and makes me feel useless.
Snacking normally commences about 2pm as my crankiness turns into anxiety. My meeting with my boss always runs over so I get home late from work and I am starving for dinner. After another crappy Tuesday at the coal face, I fall face first into food.
Today was different [even though I have a semi-migraine today to add to the mix]
♥ I felt the frustration and anger in the first meeting and sat through it (the emotions and the meeting)♥ I chose not to stay for the second meeting because I needed to eat more than I needed to sit through the meeting
♥ I scheduled another meeting from 2pm to 3.30pm that was walking the route of a planned event so I was (a) active, (b) with people I liked and (c) not required to concentrate or think too hard
♥ I went to my meeting with the boss and it was the usual crap but I chose to let as much of it as possible just slide off me
♥ On the way to the ferry one of my co-workers who I rarely speak to (because we work in different areas not because I don't like her LOL) congratulated me on my decision to go on extended leave and to take time out for myself. She is one of the very few people who understand why I am doing this. Her support made me feel great.
♥ I had healthy nachos for dinner - rice crackers, sweet chilli sauce, chicken, baked veges and cheese melted on top with sour cream - I had twice the number of crackers (a whopping 50g ☺) and 1/2 the chicken I normally have. Yum!
♥ Then I treated myself to dessert - dates and ice-cream and then I stopped. Dates have been my new trigger food - once a packet (500g) is open, I keep going until they are gone. Do you know how many calories in a 500g packet of dates? ... 1300 big ones!
♥ I made a new friend on the other side of the world and we chatted for an hour
So today was triumphant Tuesday. Let's celebrate this miracle and look forward to many more.
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