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.