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We packed our pens and paper and moved.
Please check out our new blog home at http://www.weightlosswithoutworry.com/blog
and our new website at http://www.weightlosswithoutworry.com.
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picture courtesy of bredgur on Flickr
A lot is written about the mind-body connection but I think much of it misses the boat. This article from Deepak Chopra sums up the essence of what this connection is all about. I especially picked on the point he makes about how "Every event in the mind matches a corresponding event in the body." If we want to take control of our physical health, fitness and weight we must start reeling in our emotions and thoughts. Read on and enjoy!
The Future of the Body
by Deepak Chopra
Western medicine has proceeded on the assumption that the mind is
intelligent but that the body isn't. In effect the body is a machine
made of meat. This machine needs fixing at times, and being
deviously complicated, with billions of interconnected parts, it has
innumerable ways to break down. Medical research doesn't so much
deny the body's intelligence as ignore it.
The next new drug and surgical procedure is pursued independent of
anything resembling the mind-body connection. The fact that millions
of patients have objections to this approach is scientifically and
commercially irrelevant. In the face of this opposition, it's
amazing how far mind-body medicine has gotten. How far the mind-body
revolution can go is uncertain, but it seems clear that each of us
as individuals must reconnect to the body's wisdom on our own -- on
that point all of alternative medicine agrees.
How do you know if the connection was broken in the first place?
Look at your basic attitudes and beliefs about your body. If you are
connected to your body, the following beliefs would be present.
1. You respect and trust your body. In a state of disconnection, the
body is seen as inert, subject to constant threats, and capable of
betraying you by falling sick at any moment.
2. You rely on inner healing and know how to help it when needed. In
a state of disconnection, you are baffled and alarmed when something
goes wrong and feel that only doctors know what to do.
3. You see the body as a balanced organism living in a balanced
ecology. In a state of disconnection the body is seen as totally
isolated, with hostile germs attacking it at random.
4. You listen for signals of imbalance before they turn into
symptoms of disease. In a state of disconnection, the body is
ignored unless it cries out with pain or a sudden breakdown of
function.
5. You realize that emotions, stress, depression, anger, and anxiety
aren't just psychological but have physical consequences. Every
event in the mind matches a corresponding event in the body. In a
state of disconnection, the mind operates independently of the body;
neither speaks to the other.
Changing your old, worn out beliefs is a personal project. You don't
have to renounce mainstream medicine or deny yourself any treatment
necessary as various problems arise. Alternative medicine, in my
view, isn't the enemy of mainstream medicine, nor is it simply an
adjunct. Instead, it's the practical side of a new way of life, one
based on a vision of wholeness. "Wholeness" has become rather empty
from overuse, but it means that you are a totality, not the sum of
countless moving parts.
Wholeness has already won a notable victory without fighting any
battles, simply by a change of beliefs. That victory came in the so-
called new old age. In the past, old age was feared, and rightly so,
because seniors lost their value to society and were put on the
shelf, both mentally and physically. When attitudes shifted, thanks
to better health and longer life spans, old age shifted with it.
People began to expect the opposite of previous generations. They
expected old age to be as vigorous, alert, and useful as any other
time of life. Quietly, the body cooperated with this new vision.
I consider this a victory for wholeness because a segment of life
that had been cut off and detached has been reconnected with the
entire human life cycle. Old age is no longer a useless leftover.
But that's only the beginning. Nobody knows how much more potential
the body contains that is yet untapped. It would seem reasonable to
expect more rather than less, however. Once you begin to trust the
body and listen to it, an intimate relationship gets established on
the basis of loving regard rather than anxious mistrust. Medical
school will probably never teach a course on that (with the possible
exception of the psychiatry department), but it could be the most
valuable medical breakthrough for coming generations.
Posted by Deepak Chopra
December 03, 2007
So you think you have barriers that hold you back in life? Watch this amazing video and then decide if those barriers are real or imagined.
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/779704/best_video_of_the_year/
Here are the latest Blog Carnivals for you to check out:
Enjoy!
The Brookings Institution recently put together a report of America's most pedestrian-friendly cities. The cities made the cut by being safe and convenient for walkers and had to have jobs and cultural opportunities that could draw visitors from other areas.
Here are the top ten most walker-friendly cities...
For the full list click here
Joy Bauer is a registered dietitian and has been seen on The Today Show and The View. I have had the pleasure of seeing her segments and find her to be clear and sensible when it comes to dishing out diet tips and advice.
She recently had an article on her blog that I think you will enjoy. Her Strategies to Avoid Emotional Eating article has some great ideas on what to do when you find yourself turning to food in response to boredom, anxiety, stress or any emotion. The article shares these strategies...
For the details read the full article by clicking here.
A woman's body shape is no longer dismissed as something cosmetic, new research is now proving that many health conditions and possibly life span may be linked to how the body carries excess fat.
For simplicity sake, there are two main female body types - an apple or a pear. A woman is described as having an apple shape if she carries excess weight around her waist. But if fat tends to be stored around the hips and thighs, then a woman would be considered pear-shaped.
Dr. Marie Savard wrote in her book Apples and Pears: The Body Shape Solution for Weight Loss and Wellness that a woman's body shape is an important indicator of future health risks. "Most people think of fat as an inert material but, in fact, it's a living, hormone-producing, metabolically active tissue."
According to Dr. Savard, Apple-shaped women tend to have more male hormones called androgens than pear-shaped women and therefore lay down fat in more of a male pattern, a.k.a. around the waist. This type of fat tends to pack itself around the inner organs of the abdomen and has also been linked to an increased risk of hearth disease. This makes apple-shaped women "more likely to die before the menopause, of the same causes and at the same rates as men." Pear-shaped women, who tend to carry their weight lower, in the hips and thighs, have a much lower rate of heart attack, regardless of their overall weight.
But this advantage changes for the pear-shaped woman after menopause when they start to lay down more fat around the waist and begin to experience many of the same health problems as the apple-shaped woman.
The good news is that we can improve our overall health picture no matter what our body shape. A healthy diet and exercise program works for everyone.
A study conducted by Dr. Ross C. Brownson of St.Louis University reported that women found more personal barriers to exercise than men. This means that before a woman can even get into her workout clothing she must overcome a number of issues.
The study found the top 4 barriers were
Here are some suggestions for overcoming these workout barriers.
come up as the day goes on. Not a morning person? Put your workout clothes on before you leave your bedroom. This simple act can make you more likely to follow-through with your exercise plan. The bottom line is that allowing your body to move and be strong is important. Make the commitment to bring exercise into your life then set up your environment to support your goal.
This week we are again featuring videos gathered by Steven Aitchison from Change Your Thoughts Blog. He has again done a wonderful job locating the best motivational and inspirational videos on the web.
Forward Thinking is when we look beyond ourselves and our limitations and open ourselves up to the possibilities life holds for us. This helps us to stay inspired as we work to achieve our goals.
I encourage you to bookmark this site and watch one of these videos each day.
This article first appeared in Today's Diet and Nutrition, Winter 2006.
For individuals who don't have time or money to enroll in a traditional weight-loss program and for those who live too far from weight centers, patient counseling by telephone appears to be a good alternative. Joe Donnelly, EdD, director of Kansas University's Center for Physical Activity and Weight Management, conducted a 26-week randomized study of individuals who participated in a phone program and those who attended a clinic-based program.
Preliminary data show that those in the phone-based program lost nearly as much as those receiving counseling services in the traditional manner. Those who received counseling by telephone lost an average of 23 pounds in 12 weeks and 28 pounds over 26 weeks, while those in the clinic-based program lost 28 pounds in 12 weeks and 28 pounds in 26 weeks. (The last 14 weeks focused on maintenance of weight lost in the first 12 weeks.) both groups followed the same 1,200 calorie diet, including calorie-controlled meal replacements and increased servings of vegetables and fruits, had weekly physical activity levels that equaled or exceeded the new USDA "Pyramid" diet guidelines, and each had weekly group counseling.
Says Donnelly, phone programs may be a boon for many. They're less expensive, they don't conflict with work and family commitments, and they save users the time and expense of having to go to a clinic.
