Getting Out There

I'm with my General Practioner about a week ago and it turns out that I need to lose a little weight.  I remember thinking to myself, hmm, I'm raw, mostly.  I wonder why I still have this paunch around my middle?

She recommended an hour of exercise a day.  Now, I have been a fitness junkie on and off, but, lately, as in the last two years, mostly off.  I'll be good for a week or two and exercise 3 or 4 times a week, then I'll forget about it and not do anything for a week or two.  And the cycle continues.

That's not going to cut it anymore.

An hour a day, I thought.  How can I make that happen?  I said I'd try.  Well, it has happened for 8 days straight now.  All right!   And even though I've walked the local reservoir with Lisa, spent time on the Nordic Track, and even gone body boarding, the number one activity has been - mountain biking.

So, since I truly love to mountain bike, I decided to go ahead and spring for a new trail shredder on Sunday.  And on Monday I was oh so glad I did.  Did about 20 miles all over Wildcat Canyon and Tilden Parks over the course of 3 hours.  Up some massively steep hills.  And down some massively steep hills, too.  Beautiful country, the Berkeley Hills.  Highly recommend it.

Three things I love about riding the trails:
1)  I'm in nature.  To be in nature is very, very healing.  The trees, the clouds, the blue sky, the sunshine, the fresh air.  It's great for the soul.
2)  You cover a lot of ground on a bike.  I love to hike, for all the same reasons.  But I cover so much more territory on a bike.  There are more vistas, more people to meet, more sights to see.  You get around on a trail bike.
3)  It's awesome training.  A lot of fitness experts have touted the benefits of interval training as of late.
Interval training intersperses high cardio activity with lighter cardio activity, back and forth.  In keeping your heart rate varied, up and down, your heart lung rate is constantly changing, with no preset schedule - thereby providing bursts of intense activity with periods of rest.  These are ideal training conditions.

So, incredibly, after 8 days of at least 45 minutes of cardio a day I'm feeling much stronger, and am actually shedding a few pounds.  It's working.

The other thing the doctor mentioned was to stay away from sugars, including that found in high glycemic index fruit.

Now I love fruit, and usually eat a ton of it, being high % raw.

So what I'm doing is eliminating or reducing my intake of some of the fruits with the highest glycemic index.  So, no more snacking on lots of dates, big slices of watermelon, or big bunches of grapes.

That's ok, though.  I still love apples and oranges, and I'll continue to make fruit a big part of my diet.
And I'll still have dates, watermelon and grapes, just not as much.  I'm going to become an expert on all kinds of apples, though.  Maybe I'll become an apple connoisseur!

Anyway, I can always use some encouragement in keeping inspired and motivated to work out every day.  If you have tips and tricks that keep you motivated, I'd love to hear them.  Post your comments below and let's all inspire each other.

I'm sure that I'll be ok with taking a rest day once or twice a week, but for now, I'm trying to stick to finding time every single day for a minimum of 45 minutes, preferably an hour, and 2 - 3 on at least one weekend day.

I have to say it feels really good to get out there.  I come back energized, with a healthy appetite for healthy food, and my mood has definitely brightened.

So get out there, everybody.  Use it or lose it!

Raw, Green, Fit and at Peace

This will be the first post in a very, very long time.  Much has happened since the last one.  My daughter has been busy growing up, and she's headed to high school this fall.

I'm no longer in solar, and now I'm exploring my options for the next stage of my career trajectory.

I have continued on my raw journey, many stops, stumbles and starts, but it's still a huge part of my life.

I have been working on myself in terms of loving me.  I used to think that having a primary focus of self love was somehow narcissistic or self conceited.  But no more.  Having a primary focus of self love helps us really take care of that person that needs us to be there for us. Yourself.

Ourselves.  

Believe me, taking great, great care of yourself is the best thing in the world you can do.  If you have kids, or a spouse with health challenges, obviously that needs to be a top priority as well.  But even so, if you don't take excellent care of yourself through a good nutrition, plenty of exercise and rest, and finding soul sustenance, nobody is going to do it for you.  And you can't be as much help to those that need you most. 

Let's make sure that we are all doing our best to love ourselves and each other.  Let's take great care of ourselves. 

If you feel lonely on your raw food journey, if you feel that socially, you are misunderstood or being rejected somehow, don't worry.  They will come around.   If you hear about a friend's or neighbor's BBQ, and aren't sure if you want to go because you don't want to get tempted by the ribs or chicken on the grill, you are not alone.  Load up on some healthy food before you get there, that way you won't be so tempted by the meat on the grill.  Then fill your plate with melon, and go engage in some lively conversation with someone who seems to have good energy.  That meat won't hold any sway over you.

If you always feel like you need to cook 2 dinners, because you want a great big salad for dinner but the rest of the family insists on steak and potatoes, or chicken and rice, you are not alone.  If it's your turn to make dinner, make sure they get a chance for the salad first.... then provide somewhat smaller portions of those things that they seem to really enjoy.  At least they've gotten some green leafy herbs and some vegetables. 

If you feel like you want to exercise after work when you could be helping your kids with their homework or sitting and watching TV with your spouse, and you are torn, and in conflict, don't worry, you are not alone.

Being raw, fit, green and at peace requires some compromises.  Maybe we should call it deal-making.

First, make a deal with yourself.  It could go something like this:

You can say, self:  "If you promise to eat whole, fresh foods, as grown, as the mainstay of your diet, I promise you will start to lose weight and begin fitting into those clothes sizes from your younger years again."

"If you promise to squeeze in an hour or two of exercise a day, however you break it up, I promise you will have plenty more energy."  This can be something simple like parking far away from the store's entrance in the parking lot, always taking the stairs instead of the elevator, gardening for half an hour Saturday morning, going outside and playing with the kids for 25 minutes, whatever.  It all adds up.  And by the end of the day, you can say that you were active...and it will be so.

"If you promise to break up your day, so that things don't get too monotonous, then I promise the day will magically take on that quality of adventure that I know that you  love."

Just to reiterate, making deals with yourself is a great way to negotiate your way to radiant health.

Make some deals with your spouse or kids.  "If you help Johnny with his homework now while I take my walk, I'll take over in 45 minutes when I get back."   Deal making can make sure that everything that needs to get done does get done.  And you still have time for you.

Speaking of walking, sometimes, going for a walk is the very best thing you can do.  It's convenient, the walk begins at your door.  A good pair of shoes is all the equipment that's required.  You'll see neighbors, and maybe strengthen some neighborhood ties.  You can swing your arms and get an upper body workout as well as some cardio.  You can increase your speed and up the cardiovascular benefits.  Or you can slow things down and do a walking meditation.  You can take in the greenery, if you live in the burbs or the country.  Or if you are in the city, you can head towards the park and find out what the rest of the community is up to you.  The benefits and the ease are right there.

  If you are hungry when you get back, grab some grapes,  slice a banana, chop up an apple and mix them up and munch them down.  Then, do some breathing and stretching exercises, do some yoga.  Maybe a few pushups.  Get reacquainted with your body.  All of these types of things help to re-establish your relationship to yourself.  Begin to re-establish a loving, interactive relationship with yourself, and things just seem to get better.  You just had a great workout.  And no gym required.

Having a good, strong, lean, flexible body doesn't happen in a vacuum.  Ok, maybe for some of us, it did seem to happen in a vacuum when we were young.  But most of us are not 13 and we are never going to be 13 again.  It is going to take some intentionality.  We are going to need to say "No thanks" to a lot of the generous food offerings of others, the temptations that surround us, the convenience of junk food, the prevailing cultural norms that would have us eating TV dinners while sedentary rather than a giant salad (with minimal dressing), and then a few laps walking around the block instead of an ice cream dessert.

We are going to have to stop watching mindless You Tube videos and cultivate a sense of creativity, by picking up that guitar or flute, re-engaing with a favorite hobby, rediscovering great literature, or sitting down for a heart to heart with our spouse.

Remembering our spouse for a moment, do you remember that yours can be your biggest source of inspiration, and you can be theirs?  Simply by doing something that you love, your spouse will notice and it quite often happens that your enthusiasm is contagious; your spouse will soon be doing something that they love too, as they witness first hand the benefits that you are getting.   And guess what?  It sets up a positive feedback loop so that now you get to witness your spouse being fulfilled, and that will inspire you as well. 

Being a positive influence for each other keeps everybody winning, and peaceful.  So go for it.  Dream your dream, then begin to live it.  Measure your small wins, and take pride in them.  Love yourself in this way, and a sense of excitement about the future and the present will reappear.  Life can be fun and fulfilling, even if you haven't reached your goals yet.  

As a matter of fact, as you reach your goals, you will probably already have set new ones.  That's how it works for most of us.  The satisfaction, excitement and adventure of taking the journey towards vitality is  so much fun that new goals constantly appear, new ideas and new possibilities.   That's why radiant health is much more a journey than a destination.

Maintaining Social Connections

I've written about this topic many times, but not in these pages, this being a relatively new endeavor. The topic of friendship is always quite fascinating in that deep abiding friendships, like deep abiding love relationships, are always works in progress, replete with pitfalls and misunderstandings along with the good stuff: the connections, easy rapport and sense of knowing and being known.

I have been gathering with a group of friends in a group we call the "Wise Guys" for almost 5 years now, and once again, we met last night. we are men, and it is a group of 10, but in reality, this group was born from 4 or 5 friends who've been meeting for hikes, parties, hanging out, holidays, etc. for over 10 years. We did enjoy each others company so much that we decided to expand the number and set a date - the 4 th Friday evening of every month - to meet and continue our work of listening to and speaking deeply into the truths of our existence.

I have to say that this is one of the most valuable ways that I spend my time every month. There's something really grounding about being with men friends every month - without too much of an agenda - that really let's the humanity of being a man come out and be seen.

You just never really know how it's going to go. One month there could be wild African drumming, chanting, wrestling, confrontation - the energy can be really tumultous.

Another month some of the musicians might bring their guitars and flutes, the story teller in our group may bring in a gem, and we spend the evening more in a dream state with soft music and poignant tale- telling.

Last night was more of an intellectual evening - one of our members returned from foregin travel in the Fertile Crescent area and it sparked a conversation about archaeology, ancient human civilizations and migration, aboriginal story traditions, responsibility to future generations regarding preservations of the planet, and a host of other topics.

When we realized that we were ready for a shift, we all jumped up and a whole new energy was created with some movement games, some sociometry exercises, some theatre and some psychodrama. The group reminds me of who I am as a man, as a social creature, our dynamism, our enjoyment as we exercise our intellect and form ideas, that we are very social beings.

That as humans we love to play, to laugh, to joke around, to be silly as well as serious.

That having friends is just as important at this time in my life as it ever was, even though I don't naturally bump into friends all that often and really need to make dates and set up time to meet.

There's a fair amount of research out that great health is aided by having strong social and friendship networks. We've seen an explosion of social networking sites on the net lately, and between Facebook and Twitter, folks are constantly finding new ways to connect with friends old and new. Face time is valuable, very valuable, though, and lest we once again be drawn into the belief that we can live a virtual life on the web, we should remind ourselves to get out and spend some social time with each other in person. It's one of the places where our humanity is strengthened and forged. Do these engaments always satisfy? I'd be the last one to tout that.
But important they are to our health and well being, so much so that the research has shown that strong social support networks can add years to our lives, stregthen our immune systems, stave off isolation and lonliness, and help our overall health profile in any number of ways.

One of the things that's so valuable about the net is the resource base it does offer to find and meet up with others who share similar interests or ones that are newly emerging. I have found a raw food lovers group that meets often in the East Bay, and I'm scheduled to bring Lisa and Maya to a gathering close by in two weeks that will feature a great raw blueberry cheesecake, made by a former dessert chef at Cafe Gratitude. Another healthy way to meet up with folks, have something raw and delicious to eat, and make some new friends.

As time goes by, may we all continue to strengthen our social and familial ties, keep up with old friends, make some new ones, and touch the humanity that lays at the core of the human bonds of family and friendships. Easy to say, harder to do, but well worth the effort!

How To Feel Great Right Now

So how's everybody doing today? I want to encourage all of you (and me), to think really hard about what's motivating you to stay healthy and fit. Do you want to look good in your clothes? Do you want to wake up in the morning all ready and raring to greet the day? Do you want to inspire others and yourself? Think hard about your reasons.

Here's mine: I want every day to be the best day I've ever had. Now, how can that be, you ask? How can your days consistently improve? How can one day ALWAYS be better then the next? Here's how: By keeping this awareness that you are creating your reality every moment through thought, word and deed.

Let's break it down. Think: Today will be the best day I've ever had! Say "Today will be the best day I've ever had". ACT like you're having the best day you've ever had!

If you truly believed that today was the best day you've ever had, you probably would take the time to really nurture yourself. You'd be open to others, open to your emotional intelligence, open to what the world is offering to you. You'd be keenly tuned in to your body's wisdom, reaching for only the healthiest foods, thoughts, and behaviors. You'd want to be embodied, you'd want to stretch out your muscles, maybe run, jump skip or play.

Ever heard of the term jumping for joy?

If you were acting like this was the best day of your life, you'd probably be smiling a whole lot. People would probably smile back. You'd inspire joy and happiness in others, and in turn, without even realizing it, they'd begin to inspire smiles and happiness in all of the people they came into contact with.

You'd be setting off a chain reaction of joy that could go viral.

If today were the best day ever, you'd accept yourself as you are while challenging yourself to be even better, all through thought, word and deed.

When it comes to weight loss, weight loss maintenance, being fit, being healthy, being emotionally, mentally and spiritually vibrant, it's your attitude that gets you there in the first place, your attitude that keeps you there, and your attitude that takes you to ever greater heights and depths of understanding about what this all means for you and everyone all around you.

I'm a huge believer in raw foods these days. Here's why: What you eat is who you are. Literally. And to eat the freshest, most nutrient rich, uncooked, live, super foods that are available on the planet means that my essence, my being, my body, my organs, my brain, liver, pancreas, lungs, heart, stomach, muscle tissue, tendons, bone, skin, eyes, knees, hands, feet and glutes are all getting fed in ways that maybe 2% or less of the general population gets to experience. You cannot believe what eating this way does for your energy levels, your attitude, your spiritual development.

Here's the deal: I encourage everyone of you in the next few days and weeks to seriously investigate the arguments for adding in more and more uncooked, nutrient dense fruits, and super-foods into your diet. The way that I began was with the "morning smoothie". I have done about 400 smoothies over the last 13 months, by my count. Everyone of them has been slightly different. But what they have in common: Rice Dream or filtered water is the base, about 4 cups, because I'm making one for my wife every day too. If it's just for you, then 2 cups is enough.

Then I add organic strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, dark sweet cherries., pineapple, or mango. You only need about a cup and a half of fruit. Most of the fruit I put in is frozen but I often use fresh in season. Organic is the way to go. Use organic as your first choice!

Now the superfoods: You can find most of the following at health food stores:
A TBSP of sprouted flax powder: Has Omega threes
A TBSP of organic hemp powder (high in protein)
A TBSP of Super Green Powder ( A mix of 35 or 40 different dehydrated green vegetables and fruits, super high in chlorophyl, antioxidants, minerals, vitamins)

Recently I started doing raw CACAO powder. Yes, this is what the native Americans call chocolate, and what the Spanish call coco. The cacao fruit's seed pod holds cacao seeds. These seeds are harvested, cold pressed and powdered. This is the most nutrient dense food on the planet. High in Manganese, which is the primary mineral in your heart, Chromium, antioxidants, polysacharrides, it's an incredible food. It's a super-food!

I don't always put Cacao powder in my morning smoothies. Sometimes I just blend it with rice dream and agave at night and cool it down in the freezer for a chocolate sorbet or I'll warm it on the stove for a hot cocoa. But I use it every day. It's an amazing, amazing mood lifter, full of incredible minerals and it's so good for you. Check out David Wolfe's Naked Chocolate or his You Tube Video "David Wolfe on Cacao"

I also put organic coconut flesh into the smoothie. Coconut is also a super-food that has incredible properties.

Lately I"m also adding baby spinach, or kale, or dark romaine. I only put a few leaves, you can't even taste it. But this way I'm getting my dark leafy greens in.

Color in foods is key. The richer, brighter, the more vibrant the color, the more pigmentation and antioxidants in the food. Eat color.

The more antioxidants, the more your will be able to counteract the free radicals in your bloodstream that are trying to damage your cell walls and defeat their functionality. Antioxidants are anti-aging formulas.

This is what you want to be eating if you are trying to look and feel your very best.

If you think about it just for a second, it makes perfect sense. Nature, it it's infinite wisdom, added in color so that we could find these fruits on trees more easily. Color is a natural attractant. Nature is trying to tell you something. Are you listening to your Mother?

My complexion has totally changed in the last few months. My skin is glowing.
Remember, I'm a 49 year old guy. You usually don't see that in 49 year old guys. Fat has burned away, muscle is more defined. ( I do work out a lot), but going raw has really helped me to show the definition that was hiding under the fat.

Here's the deal: You need to stay away from processed grains and sugars. These foods are your enemies. I'm not 100 % raw, and I don't know if I'll ever be. But I rarely if ever eat bread, or other baked grain products. And white, processed sugar is a battle, but I'm doing pretty good with it. The problem is we keep tons of candy around the office and sometimes I succumb during the mid afternoon when my energy dips. You already know I love chocolate, but I shouldn't be eating the processed white sugar kind.

I feel like a million bucks most of the time. The more I've gone raw, the more my energy levels have gone through the roof. There is a lot of intuition being released at this time in my sphere of life. I just know things, I sense them more than ever before. It's hard to explain. But women seem to have this skill. My guess is that Intuition is related to awareness. Awareness is related to our physical senses (smell, taste, touch, hearing) and the sensations that we come into contact with.

As you clean up your diet and begin gravitating to super-foods, all of your sensory organs are receiving vitality and nourishment like they've never seen before. It only stands to reason that they are going to function more robustly. And that could be the reason that everything just becomes clearer, simpler, more beautiful, and more easily understood.

Here's something I can understand. Clean up your diet, gravitate towards raw, whole, organic, live foods, and the people that grow, deliver, prepare and consume them, and your life will change for the better.

It just so happens that the practices that go into creating this type of food for us happen to be better for our environment, too. So you are contributing to the best plant ever when you eat this way.

Finally, feel love in your heart for yourself at all times, if possible. This self love is what makes me gravitate towards my intuition, which is pushing me towards doing the best thing I do for myself in any given moment. Being the right weight doesn't mean anything if you don't have love in your heart for your self and the people around you. Having love in your heart will help you start the journey, arrive at your destination, and explore new vistas, all while feeling great and having a good time doing so. That's my two cents for now -- Isaac Alfandary