Episode #13 of iWarriorWalk’s 2 Minutes 2 Life, hosted by mind, body and spirit lifestyle expert, Stanley Bronstein.

In this episode, Stanley Bronstein continues talking about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (Part 2).

For more info, visit http://iWarriorWalk.com

Episode #12 of iWarriorWalk’s 2 Minutes 2 Life, hosted by Stanley Bronstein.

In this episode, Stanley Bronstein begins talking about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (Part 1).

Episode #11 of iWarriorWalk’s 2 Minutes 2 Life, hosted by mind, body and spirit lifestyle expert, Stanley Bronstein.

In this episode, Stanley Bronstein concludes his talk about motivation (part 3 of 3).

Episode #10 of iWarriorWalk’s 2 Minutes 2 Life, hosted by Stanley Bronstein.
In this episode, Stanley Bronstein continues talking about motivation (part 2 of 3).

Episode #9 of iWarriorWalk’s 2 Minutes 2 Life, hosted by mind, body and spirit lifestyle expert, Stanley Bronstein.

In this episode, Stanley Bronstein begins talking about motivation (part 1 of 3).

For more info, visit http://iWarriorWalk.com

This episode is Part 2 of Stanley Bronstein’s discussion on the long term consequences we can encounter by failing to take action in our lives.

Episode #7 of iWarriorWalk’s 2 Minutes 2 Life, hosted by Stanley Bronstein.

In this episode, Stanley discusses the long-term consequences that delaying action can cause in our lives.

In this episode, Stanley Bronstein talks about the main reason people delay taking action.

In this episode, Stanley Bronstein discusses ways to identify the deficiences and excesses in our lives.

For more info, go to http://iWarriorWalk.com

In this episode, Stanley Bronstein defines balance and talks about how we can bring more balance to our lives.

In this episode, Stanley Bronstein introduces you to the iWarriorWalk philosophy and discusses the need to bring balance to our lives.

I was a recent guest on the Radio 1650 AM Money & Business show in Montreal, Canada.

They were looking for a source within the United States to share their perspective on the Occupy Movement that has spread throughout America.

You can listen to the entire show by using the player below.  I don’t make much of an appearance during the first quarter of the show, so you may want to skip to the 12 minute mark or so to start listening.

OPTIONAL DOWNLOAD LINK

To Produce The Best Results, Throw Down A Challenge.

WHAT CONSTITUTES A CHALLENGE?

Dictionary.com defines challenge as:

• something that by its nature or character serves as a call to battle, contest, special effort, etc.
• difficulty in a job or undertaking that is stimulating to one engaged in it

WHY DO PEOPLE LOVE CHALLENGES?

I’m not 100% sure why we love challenges, but the fact is that we do.

Apparently challenges stimulate us. Challenges give us a reason to try harder. Challenges encourage us to come closer to achieving our maximum potential.

Personally I believe it’s because of the “competitive instinct” that is inside most every one of us.

Dictionary.com defines competitive as:

• having a strong desire to compete or to succeed
• the desire to strive to outdo another for acknowledgment, a prize, supremacy, profit, etc.

A PRIMAL LEVEL

In short, challenges affect us on our most primal levels. In short, challenges tie into our survival instincts.

As Abraham Maslow said in his now famous “Hierarchy of Needs”, survival is one of the most basic needs. It is a physiological need.

DOES THAT APPLY TODAY?

Surviving in today’s world is quite a bit different than it was when homo sapiens first came on the scene.

It’s probably easier to “survive” in today’s world than it has been at any time in man’s existence on the Earth.

Despite that, our basic instincts are still there. Our competitive nature is still there.

We can use that to our advantage. We should use that to our advantage.

I CHALLENGE YOU

During the coming year, 2012, I challenge you to get in the best physical shape you’ve ever been in your life.

During the coming year, 2012, I challenge you to embark upon a program of personal learning that will result in your getting in the best mental shape of your entire life.

During the coming year, 2012, I challenge you to embark upon a program of peaceful spirituality that will result in your getting in the best spiritual shape of your entire life.

Tomorrow Is The Only Day Of The Week That Appeals To A Lazy Man.
(Jimmy Lyons)

Definition of Lazy

Lazy – Resistant to work or exertion; disposed to idleness.

Why Are So Many People Lazy?

I believe it’s because they are NOT taught to be anything else.

Laziness (idleness) is the “default” state.

It takes no work whatsoever to be lazy (idle).

By definition, it takes work to overcome one’s disposition to idleness.

So, What’s The Solution?

Assuming you believe laziness is bad, the solution is to teach ourselves (and others around us to NOT be lazy).

We’ll talk about that tomorrow . . .

All the problems of the world could be settled easily
if men were only willing to think. The trouble is that
men very often resort to all sorts of devices in order
not to think, because thinking is such hard work.
Thomas J. Watson

So, What’s Wrong With A Little Bit Of Hard Work

Nothing . . . Nada . . . Zip . . . Zilch . . .

There is absolutely nothing wrong with hard work, other than it’s hard and it requires work.

Thus, people who are lazy will not do it.

In fact, lazy people will actually work harder to avoid working than it would have taken them to do the work in the first place.

Why?

More on that tomorrow . . .

Do Not Mistake Laziness For Patience.

So, Why Aren’t People More Patient?

People are not more patient because they are not trained to be more patient.

In today’s society, everything is Go, Go, Go . . . Now, Now, Now . . .

We are not encouraged to be patient.

We are not trained to be patient.

Marketers are constantly telling us that we can have anything we want and we can have it NOW.

Being Able To “Have It Now” Can Be Good, But . . .

When you live in an “instant’ society, we don’t hear the word “no” nearly as often as we used to.

I believe this produces a bunch of spoiled people who are  ill-prepared to deal with the harsh aspects one sometimes encounters in life.

Success doesn’t always come instantly, it takes hard work . . .

Building our mind, body and spirit doesn’t always come instantly, it takes hard work . . .

Relationships doesn’t always come instantly (or easily), they take hard work . . .

Quite simply, some of the best things in life require hard work.

So, What’s Wrong With A Little Bit Of Hard Work?

More on that tomorrow . . .

Those who know how to think need no teachers.
Mohandas Gandhi

Thinking Is Hard – It Requires Effort

We live in an “instant gratification” society that encourages us to be lazy.

Everything is pre-prepared, pre-packaged, ready to go, right at our fingertips.

Thinking doesn’t work like that.

Thinking requires us to set aside time and focus on the object of our thoughts.

In short, thinking isn’t instant.

Thinking requires patience.

So, Why Aren’t We More Patient?

We’ll cover that subject tomorrow . . .

There are many definitions for the word “think” in the dictionary. The main ones are:

THINK

1. To have or formulate in the mind.
2. To reason about or reflect on.
3. To decide by reasoning, reflection, or pondering.
4. To judge or regard; look upon.
5. To believe; suppose.
6. To expect; hope.
7. To intend.
8. To call to mind; remember.
9. To visualize; imagine.
10. To devise or evolve; invent.
11. To concentrate one’s thoughts on.
12. To exercise the power of reason, as by conceiving ideas, drawing inferences, and using judgment.
13. To weigh or consider an idea.
14. To bring a thought to mind by imagination or invention.
15. To recall a thought or an image to mind.
16. To dispose the mind in a given way.

What Do These Definitions Have In Common?

They pretty much all involve mental processes.

So, thinking basically involves our devoting mental energy either before we act, while we are acting, or after we have acted.

Thinking is the use of one’s mind . . .

Why Don’t People Think More?

We’ll cover that issue tomorrow . . .

Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking.
There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions.
Nothing pains some people more than having to think.
(Martin Luther King, Jr.)

If you read yesterday’s post titled “A New Way of Thinking”, you will remember that I defined “new” thinking as:

Thoughts that are:

• Recently found;
• Recently discovered;
• Recently learned;
• Not previously experienced; and/or
• Not previously encountered.

 So, How Does One Engage In New Thinking?

The way to engage in new thinking is:

• To find things you haven’t found before and think about them;
• To discover things you haven’t discovered before and think about them;
• To learn things you haven’t learned before and think about them;
• To experience things you haven’t experienced before and think about them; and
• To encounter things you haven’t encountered before and think about them.

If you notice, the key word is THINK !

So, What Is Thinking?

That is what we will discuss tomorrow . . .

The Significant Problems One Faces Cannot Be Solved
At The Same Level Of Thinking That Person Was At
When They Created Them.

My Hypothesis

It is my belief that “new” thinking creates opportunities for us to grow and advance.

Perhaps even more importantly, I believe “new” thinking is the only way we are going to be able to grow and advance.

If we keep thinking the way we’ve always thought, we’re going to produce the same results we’ve always produced. Sometimes that’s a good thing, but if mankind is going to improve upon it’s current state of affairs, it’s going to require quite a bit of “new” thinking.

What Is “New” Thinking?

Let’s take a look at 2 definitions of the word “new”:

1. Just found, discovered, or learned: new information.
2. Not previously experienced or encountered; novel or unfamiliar.

Putting it all together, New Thinking consists of thoughts that are:

• Recently found;
• Recently discovered;
• Recently learned;
• Not previously experienced; and/or
• Not previously encountered.

So How Does One Engage In “New” Thinking?

More on that tomorrow . . .

The Most Glorious Moments In One’s Life
Are Not The So-Called Days Of Success,
But Rather Those Days When Out Of Dejection And Despair,
You Feel Rise In You A Challenge To Life,
And The Promise Of Future Accomplishments.

Challenges Propel Us Forward

Without challenges, we have little or no reason to try to improve ourselves.

That’s why people who “already” have it all, or are “born” with it all, quite often don’t improve themselves or even slide backwards.

Quite simply, we have to have a reason to move forward,  if we’re going to move forward.

But Life’s Challenges Can Be Difficult

Yes, life’s challenges can make things quite difficult at times. But, these difficulties force us to try harder. They force us to become inventive. They force us to look for other solutions.

It is out of these challenges that some of our greatest moments can arise.

The “Creation” of the Light Bulb

Contrary to popular belief, Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb.  Instead, he created the first commercially successful light bulb.

Did he do it on his first try? No way.  It took him quite a bit of time and quite a bit of work.

Did he stop the first time he failed? No! He knew he was on the right track and eventually produced a commercially successful light bulb.

The rest is history.

Thomas Edison knew that if he faced his challenges, he would eventually overcome them. The promise of future accomplishments kept propelling him forward.

We should all face our challenges the same way.

Challenges Are Part Of Success.

I’ve been doing quite a bit of thinking over the past few days and I’ve come up with a few key thoughts.

I have had two primary thoughts go through my mind over the past few weeks. The primary thought is that it’s time for some new challenges in my life. The secondary thought is that I am capable of just about anything I set my mind to accomplishing.

Realizing this, I have two choices:

• Sit back and let life send some challenges my way; or
• Create my own GRAND challenges.

Personally, I’ve always believed it’s better to create your own challenges, as this is being active. You are doing your own creating.

If you sit back and let life send challenges your way, you are being passive. You are letting your life be created by others and by the universe.

Create 3 Challenges For Yourself NOW !

I challenge you to create 3 challenges for yourself NOW !  Don’t wait for New Year’s, make them now. There is no reason to wait.

My 3 Challenges For Myself !

Here are my 3 challenges (plus a bonus challenge) for the rest of 2011 and all of 2012:

• Continue to walk a minimum of 4 to 5 hours each day
• Walk 25 personally conducted marathons during 2012. This will require me walking for 10 hours on 25 separate days in 2012. I will basically be doing a marathon every 2 weeks.
• Blog each and every day about my thoughts and experiences.
• BONUS CHALLENGE – I want to help at least 50 people get started on life-changing, weight loss / walking programs.

So, What Are Your Challenges For Yourself?

Inquiring minds want to know!

People often ask me what “Warrior Walking” is about. I always respond by telling them it’s a way of life.  It’s a way of conducting yourself as you go through life and as life comes to you.

When I heard that Steve Jobs passed away today at the young age of 56, I couldn’t help but think about his death. While I can’t say I’ve always agreed with everything he did (or his company Apple has done), you have to admire the man.

You may ask why?  The answer is simple.

He made a difference.  He changed the world in which he lived. The world (in many ways), is better off for him having lived.

Rather than go into a long biography of his life, you can read about him at Wikipedia by clicking this link.

I believe there are 2 key lessons we can learn from his having died at such a young age.

1) It is important that you work toward making a difference, EACH AND EVERY DAY.

2) We never know how much time we’re going to have, so we shouldn’t waste time.

As I always say, it’s never too late, UNTIL IT’S TOO LATE . . .

That my friends is what the spirit of Warrior Walking is all about.

Steve Jobs may or may not have ever heard about Warrior Walking, but I can promise you that Steve Jobs was indeed a Warrior Walker.

Appreciation Is An Important Key To Success and Happiness

To Be Upset Over What You Don’t Have
Is To Waste What You Do Have.
(Ken Keyes, Jr.)

Take a few minutes to write a list of things you have.

Next, take a few more minutes and write a list of things you don’t have that you want.

If you are like most people, it was easier to fill out the list of “Things I Don’t Have That I Want” than the list of “Things I Have”.

This reflects an unfortunate tendency many have to spend more time desiring things we don’t have, rather than appreciating things we do have.

Don’t feel bad if your experience reflects this tendency. You are definitely not the only one. Sadly, this tendency is a fundamental part of our human nature.

Focus on What You Do Have

Keep the list of “Things I Don’t Have That I Want”, as it can be useful whenever you are working on setting goals.

Now focus on what you do have. Take a few minutes and think about what you have.

Do you have a loving family?

Do you have wonderful friends?

Do you have a good career?

Are you financially secure?

Are you happy?

If you answered yes to even one of these questions, you are a very fortunate person. If you answered yes to all of them, you are truly blessed.

Family, friends, security and happiness are key ingredients in an ideal environment that will provide you with the inner peace necessary to move beyond life’s daily struggles bringing order to your life.

Fuel – Something consumed to produce energy.

We Put Premium Fuel In Our Cars

Have you ever watched someone who owns a luxury sports car?

They will spend extra money to buy premium fuel for that car.

They will also make sure that nothing junky every goes into that car.

If we’re willing to put premium fuel into our cars, shouldn’t we be putting premium fuel into our bodies?

The Average American Diet Is Garbage

Unfortunately, we, as average Americans, listen to all the marketing messages that are constantly beamed our way.

We eat garbage foods that are unhealthy.

Then we wonder why we are sick. We wonder why we don’t perform up to our peak potential.

It’s because we’re not putting the proper fuel in our bodies.

Our Food Is Our Fuel

The next time you’re trying to decide what to eat, remember that your food is your fuel.

If your car deserves premium fuel, doesn’t your body deserve it also ???

Rest -  Cessation of work, exertion, or activity.  Peace, ease, or refreshment resulting from sleep or the cessation of an activity.  Mental or emotional tranquility.

Exercising is Just Another Form of  Work

When people ask me what I do for a living, I tell them that one of the things I do is exercise. After all, exercising is just another form of work. You may or may not make any money from it, but it is work nonetheless.

Work – Physical or mental effort or activity directed toward the production or accomplishment of something.

In this case, exercising is the physical effort we put forth toward the production or accomplishment of greater health for ourselves.

Working Hard Requires Us To Rest Afterwards

Just as we are not able to work on our jobs for 24 hours a day, we are not able to exercise for 24 hours a day. If we try to work that hard, or exercise that hard, our bodies will break down. Our bodies will fail.

When you consider that the goal of a proper exercise program is to build ourselves up, then we obviously need to set some type of reasonable limits on our exercise program.

Resting Allows Our Bodies Time To Rebuild

Our bodies are amazing machines. Quite often, our body will repair itself, all by itself, if we only give it the chance to do so.

An appropriate period of rest each and every day allows us to do that.

So, not only is it important to ask yourself, did I exercise today, you need to ask yourself, did I rest today?

Recharge – To revive or renew (one’s energies).

Energy – The capacity for work or vigorous activity; vigor; power.

 A Question

What do you do when your cell phone battery runs out of juice?

Answer – You recharge it.

What Do We Do When Our Personal “Batteries” Run Out Of Juice?

All too often, we do nothing. We ignore the fact that we’re running on empty and we continue to drain our personal batteries down even further.

And then we wonder why we need stimulants such as coffee, 5 Hour Energy Products, Red Bull Energy Drinks and the like . . .

Why Do We Treat Our Cell Phones Better Than We Treat Our Bodies?

I think it’s because recharging our own personal batteries takes time out of each and every day.

In today’s “fast-paced” non-stop society, no one wants to take the personal “down-time” necessary to recharge our own batteries.

Instead, we’re looking for a magic pill, or magic drink that gives us all the energy we need.

We don’t want to take the time to rest and we don’t want to fill our bodies with the proper fuels (i.e. the proper food).

This just won’t work . . .

The ONLY Proper Solution

The only proper solution to this issue is to spend our time and our energies in a wiser manner.

We must work/play hard (i.e. spending our energy) and then we must rest hard (i.e. regathering our energies and recharging our batteries).

That is the only way we can survive in the long-term.

I know in my personal case, I walk 5 hours (or more) each day.  That takes a lot out of my body to do that, each and every day, over a long period of time.

The only way I’m able to do that is to make sure I build in long periods of rest each and every day to recharge my batteries.

More on that subject tomorrow . . .

Attitude – A manner of carrying oneself. The way a person views something or tends to behave towards it.

Life Is All About Attitude

If you have a good attitude toward life, you’re much more likely to have a good life.

If you have a poor attitude toward life, you’re much more likely to have a poor life.

Some People Who Have It All

I have seen people who “seem” to have it all, yet they have a poor attitude about life. No matter how good things are for them, all they focus on is what they don’t have.

Instead of taking the time to enjoy what they do have, they lament what they don’t have.

Some People Who Have Nothing

I have seen people who “seem” to have all the problems in the world.  Despite that, they have the most incredible attitudes. These people are able to deal with, and rise up from, almost any adversity.

They are absolutely amazing.

A Side Benefit from Walking

As you embark upon a program of “Warrior Walking” (that is, walking with the spirit and philosophy of a warrior), you will discover that you attitude will improve. You don’t even have to try to get it to improve.  It will just happen naturally.

A Closing Thought

As you go through today, remember one thing that Zig Ziglar likes to say:

Your attitude is more important than your aptitude.

Privilege – A benefit, immunity, etc., granted under certain conditions.

Obligation – A social, legal, or moral requirement, such as a duty, contract, or promise that compels one to follow or avoid a particular course of action.  A course of action imposed by society, law, or conscience by which one is bound or restricted.

Let’s Make It Simple

Privilege is something we GET to do.

Obligation is something we HAVE to do.

Which Category Does Exercise And Warrior Walking Fall Into?

All too often, we look at exercise as an obligation.  It’s something we have to do.

Why does it have to be that way?

Why can’t we look at Walking (and exercise) as a privilege instead? Walking is something we get to do, not something we have to do . . .

I Know That Difference Makes It Easier For Me

Whenever I have a morning where I don’t feel like walking (like today), I make sure to repeatedly tell myself that the walk I am about to have is something I GET to do, not something I HAVE to do.

It is a privilege, not an obligation . . .

Isn’t This Just Semantics (a difference in words)?

Yes and no. While it may be just a difference in words, our words are important.

Why is that?

It’s because the words we use (both to others and to ourselves) help shape our attitutdes.

Thus, if we use different words, we will have a different attitude.

If we approach our daily walking session as a privilege, we will have a much better attitude than if we approach it as something we have to do . . .

We will talk more about attitude tomorrow . . .

To Make A Complicated Process Simpler, Break It Down Into It’s Smallest Components And Deal With Each Component Separately.

Complicated – Composed of elaborately interconnected parts; complex.  Difficult to analyze, understand, explain.

Simple – Easy to understand, deal with, use.

Exercising Is Not Complicated

People have a tendency to make things overly complicated and to over think them. If you want to exercise, just start moving. Movement is exercise. Personally, I prefer walking, as it’s one of the easier exercises to perform. All you have to do is put on your clothes and put on your shoes and start walking.

It really is that simple.

Losing Weight Is Not Complicated

If you want to lose weight, it all boils down to two things. Eat less and exercise more.

Simply start eating less (and better) and start exercising (in my case, walking).

Getting Your Life In Order Is Not Complicated

Don’t overthink things.  Just start getting things in order, one step at a time.

For example, I had a desktop full of paperwork to get done yesterday.  I was dreading it and thinking how long it would take me to get it done.

Rather than belabor the point and become paralyzed for lack of desire to get started, I simply got started.

I picked up one piece of paper and processed it. Then another . . . Then another . . . Then another . . .

In 30 minutes, my desktop was clear and all the paperwork had been taken care of.

It really was that simple.

Getting Help From Others

If you want help getting started on your program, simply ask for it.  It really is that simple.

Remember, life is simple.  People make it complicated.

I went to a family function in Dallas this past weekend. All too often, I dread going to parties and events because the food choices at such events are not always healthy.

This Weekend Was Refreshingly Different

My compliments to my cousin who organized the entire event. I knew this weekend was going to be different when I received my hospitality basket at my hotel.

What was in the basket???  Fruit . . .

Instead of all the usual chocolate, highly salted nuts and such, there was fruit . . . How refreshing . . .

At each of the events, there were healthy choices available. There were also some less than healthy choices, but they weren’t the only choices.

Also, there was no alcohol served the entire weekend. If you wanted alcohol, you could doubtlessly buy it on your own, but it wasn’t served to you . . .

Providing Healthy Choices For Your Guests

What I liked (and appreciated) was that she made healthy choices available for her guests. She didn’t force them to eat lots of junk (and only junk).  If you wanted to be good, you could be good.  If you wanted to be bad, you could be bad.  The important thing is that you had a choice . . .

My cousin was thoughtful enough to provide these choices.

Furthermore, she left it up to  her guests to take responsibility for their own actions. She provided healthy choices and we could then take responsibility for our own actions by making whatever choices we desired.

For that, I say a heartfelt “thank you.”

Pride- Pleasure or satisfaction taken in something done by or belonging to oneself or believed to reflect credit upon oneself.  A becoming or dignified sense of what is due to oneself or one’s position or character; self-respect; self-esteem.

Pride Can Be Both Positive And Negative

Pride in one’s own accomplishments can be a good thing, as long as it is kept in the proper perspective.

Taking too much pride in one’s own accomplishments can be a bad thing, as it can cause one to have an over-inflated sense of their own worth.

The Consequences

As a consequence, we are often taught that it is bad to take pride in our own accomplishments, so we are reluctant to do so.

I’m here to tell you that it’s okay to be proud of yourself, AS LONG AS you keep it in the proper perspective.

My Situation

I’m now 52 years old and for pretty much all of my adult life, I’ve been obese.  I’ve always been the subject of some ridicule and have caught grief from my friends and family during that time. They would always tell me that I did not look good and that I needed to lose weight.  While they were correct, it can be very tiring and hurtful to constantly be on the receiving end of such comments.

Things Can Change

Well, I was at a family function this past weekend.  I saw some people I had not seen in a year and some that I had not seen for 10 years.

As you may be aware, I have recently cracked the 200 pound barrier and now weigh around 195 pounds.  This is the lowest weight I have ever been in my entire adult life.  In fact, I have lost 125 pounds over the past 2 1/2 years.

As a consequence, EVERYONE (and I do mean EVERYONE) could not stop telling me how good I looked.  They wanted to know what I was doing and how I’ve been able to keep the weight off.

It was a nice change of pace, that’s for sure.

Two Ways To Look At This

1) I could be angry that all of a sudden they’ve taken a greater interest in me now that I’ve lost a lot of weight.

2) Or I can not worry about those types of things and release any anger I may be harboring.

I choose the second alternative. I am on a HUGE positive roll right now and I choose to continue down that path.

I am proud of what I have done and am proud of the path I have chosen for myself.

Pride Can Be A Good Thing

In my opinion, the type of pride I’m talking about is a good thing. I’ve worked hard and I’ve achieved much, so pride is merited.

It is only if I allow that pride to grow into an over-inflated sense of self-worth that it would be a problem.

I choose to not let that happen.

I am the same person I’ve always been, only more in control and more powerful than ever before.

I am proud of myself, but I choose to continue working hard and to continue walking down the path I have found for myself.

Questions?

How about you.  Have you done anything lately of which you can (or should be proud)? Please share your thoughts with us.

My apologies for not posting very much over the past two weeks.  To be quite honest, I’ve been swamped.

Also, the trip to Martha’s Vineyard took quite a bit out of me.  While I got everything done, it was exhausting.

I’ve finally gotten all my pictures sorted out from the Martha’s Vineyard Retreat and you can check them out below.

In the meantime, I have one more trip this coming weekend.  I promise to get back on track first thing Monday morning.

Until then, enjoy these lovely pictures from Martha’s Vineyard . . .

MV Aug 2011 1 MV Aug 2011 10 MV Aug 2011 11 MV Aug 2011 12 MV Aug 2011 13 MV Aug 2011 14 MV Aug 2011 15 MV Aug 2011 16 MV Aug 2011 17 MV Aug 2011 18 MV Aug 2011 19 MV Aug 2011 2 MV Aug 2011 20 MV Aug 2011 21 MV Aug 2011 22 MV Aug 2011 23 MV Aug 2011 24 MV Aug 2011 25 MV Aug 2011 26 MV Aug 2011 27 MV Aug 2011 28 1 / 3 Next     Last   1 2 3

Did you hear someone scream this morning around 9:00 AM Eastern Time ???

If you did, it was me, screaming for joy when I stepped on the scale and saw the magic numbers 199.8 show upon the screen.

I have been working, diligently, for over two years to get back out of the 200′s and into the 100′s . . .

For those of you who are curious, this is the first time I have weighed below 200 since my senior year in college (over 30 years ago).  And even then, that weight loss didn’t last as I didn’t have a proper maintenance plan in place.

Now I do . . .

What Is That Plan?

That plan is Warrior Walking. Walking is truly the greatest gift that has ever been given to me.

It has changed my life in ways I can’t even begin to relate and it is changing the lives of others I encounter.

More on that tomorrow, as I’m going to go out and reflect on where I’ve been and where I am now !!!

Somebody recently asked me how much walking I do in a year.  Well, in the belief that a picture is worth a thousand words, here’s my best guess . . .

A Commitment To Helping Yourself

Yesterday, I mentioned how I’m constantly receiving requests from people for help.

While I ALWAYS respond to these requests, I wish I could say I always get a response.

Why is that?

People Want Others To Help Them

I believe it’s because all too many people are looking for an easy way out. They’re not willing to put in the work necessary to resolve their problems.

In other words, they want me to help them more than they are wiling to help themselves.

If only it worked that way.

I’m Going To Share A Little Secret

I didn’t begin to resolve my physical, emotional and spiritual problems until I decided the following:

If it’s going to be, it’s going to be up to me.

While I can (and have) received help from others, the key to getting what I wanted was making up my mind that I was going to help myself.

How Does One Help Themselves?

The only way to help yourself is to MAKE A COMMITMENT to helping yourself.

If it’s exercise you need, YOU have to do the exercise.

If it’s time away from work you need, YOU have to take the time away from work.

If you need to do some heavy-duty thinking about what’s important (and not important) in your life, YOU are going to have to do the heavy-duty thinking.

Unfortunately, we live in a society that teaches us to do the exact opposite.

More on that issue tomorrow.

Plea -An earnest request. An appeal.

Help – To give assistance to. To aid.  To change for the better. To improve.

The last few weeks have been interesting. By emails and through phone calls, I have gotten probably a dozen requests for help.

They all go something like this:

I am very overweight (or obese). I am unhappy. I am unhealthy. Please help me.

That’s what the iWarriorWalk movement is all about

The iWarriorWalk movement was created to share what I’ve learned over the last few years with you.

After all, if I can help you learn from my experiences, wouldn’t that be a good thing?

My Changes

Over the last 30 months, I’ve been able to totally change my life. While I’m still a work in progress, my health has definitely improved.

I feel better than I ever have at any time in my adult life. I weigh less than I have in over 30 years. My clothes fit. I feel good about myself. I have lost 116 pounds during that time period and I still have roughly 20 to 25 more pounds to go.

Best of all, I’m now in a position to help others.

That’s what this is all about. That’s what I want to do. That’s what makes me happiest.

With That In Mind

With that in mind, we’re going to start talking tomorrow about the #1 thing you need to do if you feel like you need help.

Tomorrow we are going to talk about making a commitment to yourself.

Protecting Yourself When It’s Hot

In case you haven’t been following the news, the United States is in the middle of a massive heat wave at the moment.

It’s important, even more than ever, that we do our best to keep our body temperature down and to stay hydrated while exercising.

Both Of These Are Possible.

The #1 thing you can (and should do) is to keep yourself hydrated.

This means you need to bring plenty of water along with you for your walk.

It also means that you need to start drinking, EVEN BEFORE YOU PERCEIVE THAT YOU’RE THIRST.

The human body is funny. It won’t necessarily send us a signal that we should start drinking (thirst) until we’re already dehydrated. That’s why we should start drinking water BEFORE our walk, keep drinking it DURING our walk, and drink a little more afterwards.

I carry a HUGE, two liter bottle of water with me when I walk. People often make fun of me, but I’m able to make sure I’m drinking enough water while I’m walking. In the middle of a hot Arizona day, I can drink as much as 1 liter of water per hour.  That’s quite a bit.

The #2 thing you can do is to wear loose fitting clothing that allows your body to have ventilation. This will help you to keep cooler.

Pay Attention To Your Body

The main indicator of overheating / dehydration is often dizziness and lightheadedness.

If you feel dizzy or lightheaded while exercising, stop what you’re doing  Your dizziness is telling you that something is wrong (in this case, it’s most likely dehydration).

Summary

In summary, the two main things you should do while exercising in the heat is:

Act to prevent the problem by keeping yourself hydrated throughout the process; and

Learn to recognize the signs of dehydration so that you know to quit while you’re ahead.

A Good Article on the Subject

Here’s a good NYTimes article I recently read on the subject that you might want to read.

Lessons From Exercising in the Heat

If You Plant Rice, Rice Will Grow.
If You Plant Fear, Fear Will Grow.
(Kung Fu)

Plant - To establish or implant (ideas, principles, doctrines, etc.).  To put or set in the ground for growth.

Rice - Starchy seeds or grain used to feed a major portion of the world.

Grow – To increase by natural development.  To arise or issue as a natural development from an original happening, circumstance, or source.  To increase in size, amount, etc.

Fear – A distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the treat is real or imagined.  The feeling or condition of being afraid.  Concern or anxiety.

Balance – State of equilibrium. Equal distribution. Mental steadiness or emotional stability. Habit of calm behavior, judgment, etc.

We Must Create The Proper Environment In Order To Bring Balance Into Our Lives

If we create an environment that is intentionally structured to encourage balance in our lives, balance will grow from that structuring.

If we create an environment that lacks the structure to encourage balance in our lives, we are in essence planting the seeds of “imbalance.”  Consequently, imbalance will grow from that lack of structure.

Questions To Ask Yourself

As you meditate upon this thought, ask yourself the following questions:

• Does my lifestyle encourage structure and balance, or does it make it very difficult for balance to take root in that environment?
• What can I do to encourage structure and balance in my life?
• What can I do to establish a peaceful rhythm in my life and in the lives of those around me?
• What is deficient in my life?
• What is excessive in my life?
• What can I do to increase that which is deficient in my life, thus eliminating the deficiency?
• What can I do to decrease that which is excessive in my life, thus eliminating the excessiveness?

Here’s an excerpt from a very interesting article I read from the New York Times – Health Section recently. It talks about toning shoes and asks that all important question – Do they work as advertised ?

Be sure and read the comments to the article as a few medical professionals chimed in with their opinions . . .

Personally, I’m not a big fan of them.  For sure, I don’t think I’d be a good candidate for them, as I have a previous achilles tendon injury from 4 years ago.  I need something more stable.

I’d be interested to know your opinions and your experiences with them.

———————————————-

Here’s a link to the full article – Can Shoes Really Tone the Body?

By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS

New scientific experiments can be inspired by a simple question, and in the case of John Mercer, that question was, “So, John, do toning shoes work?”

Dr. Mercer, a professor of biomechanics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was talking with a friend who runs an athletic shoe store. The friend told him that customers were coming in and requesting toning shoes, which are soft sneakers, often with a rocker-shaped sole, that promise to exercise and tighten muscles in the calves, thighs and buttocks. (“Your boobs will be jealous,” a refined advertising campaign for one of the shoes declared.) Many manufacturers make them: Reebok, New Balance, MBT, FitFlops and Crocs, among others.

The store owner carried various models of the toning shoes. But, he told Dr. Mercer, he was uncomfortable recommending them to his customers, because he didn’t know if they actually functioned as claimed.

Dr. Mercer didn’t know, either. So he recruited a group of healthy young female students (toning shoes are marketed almost exclusively to women) and had them walk on a treadmill for 10 minutes at a time while wearing, alternately, a walking shoe or a toning shoe — in this case, the Skechers Shape-ups. He and his colleagues attached sensors to the women’s legs to measure the electrical impulses generated as their muscles contracted. They also determined the women’s oxygen consumption, to see if they worked harder and burned more calories with one shoe rather than the other.

But as it turned out, according to results presented in June at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine, muscle activation and oxygen consumption were almost identical whether the women wore walking shoes or Shape-ups. The finding “was a little surprising,” Dr. Mercer said, since his volunteers commented that the toning shoes, with their bowed, unstable bottoms, felt different underfoot from the walking shoes. But that difference didn’t change how they moved in the various models, he said.

Dr. Mercer’s study joins a small but growing body of science about toning shoes, much of which does not support the makers’ claims.

You can read the full article at – Can Shoes Really Tone the Body?

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/13/can-shoes-really-tone-the-body/?ref=health

A new study has come out that suggests that it takes more than providing access to better foods to reduce obesity in poorer neighborhoods.  While I think it would help, the bottom line is that it’s not just the choices we have available to us, but the choices we actually make.  Just because someone might have access to better food doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to buy it, or that they can even afford it.

——————————————————————-

You can read the full article at: Access to grocers doesn’t improve diets, study finds

By Daniela Hernandez, Los Angeles Times
July 17, 2011

Better access to supermarkets — long touted as a way to curb obesity in low-income neighborhoods — doesn’t improve people’s diets, according to new research. The study, which tracked thousands of people in several large cities for 15 years, found that people didn’t eat more fruits and vegetables when they had supermarkets available in their neighborhoods.

Instead, income — and proximity to fast-food restaurants — were the strongest factors in food choice.

The results throw some cold water on the idea that lack of access to fresh produce and other healthful foods is a major driver in the disproportionate rates of obesity among the poor, or that simply encouraging grocery chains to open in deprived areas will fix the problem, said study lead author Barry Popkin, director of the Nutrition Transition Program at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

For one thing, experts said, grocery stores are brimming with choices that are every bit as fattening as fast-food meals. For another, the prices of healthful grocery store foods are often higher than fast-food prices.

“This raises the serious issue of how we get people to eat healthy,” Popkin said.

The study, published last week in the Archives of Internal Medicine, looked at more than 5,000 African American and Caucasian men and women in Birmingham, Ala., Chicago, Minneapolis and Oakland between 1985 and 2001. The researchers assessed participants’ diets over the years and tracked how far they lived from supermarkets and fast-food restaurants. The study did not measure their weight or body mass index.

As other studies have reported, the researchers found that living near fast-food restaurants was associated with a greater consumption of fast food, especially, in this case, among low-income men. But the scientists also found that easy access to supermarkets was not linked to a greater consumption of healthful foods such as fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy products, lean meats and whole grains.

Other studies, Popkin said, had found the same thing. In one, the introduction of a large supermarket did not increase fruit and vegetable consumption in a poor community in Scotland; in another, a 2011 survey of Latino immigrant women in New York City found no relationship between supermarket proximity and eating more fruits and vegetables.

“The cheapest calories come from fried foods, chips and sodas,” said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, who wrote a commentary accompanying the report.

You can read the full article at: Access to grocers doesn’t improve diets, study finds

Anyone who does a lot of walking (or running, hiking, etc) knows that, from time to time, your feet are going to get sore. It’s just the nature of the activity.

I’m always on the lookout for foot massages, especially good ones.

Well yesterday, I was determined to get my own foot massager so that I could try to help myself.

After searching the web extensively, I saw several wooden, electric, infra-red massagers and such, price all the way from $9 to hundreds of dollars.

Then I ran into an interesting picture.  It was similar to this one that I’ve taken of my own foot.

It is a picture of a simple wooden rod, being rolled under the instep of my foot.

It is absolutely amazing how this simple piece of wood (actually it’s made to be a closet rod) has brought me tremendous relief.

In fact, I made myself 3 of them, and I keep one under my desk and one by my bed on the floor. The 3rd one will be a gift to someone who needs it.

Now, here’s the good part . . .

These 3 foot massagers cost me a grand total of $1.77 at Home Depot.  That’s right. Instead of spending lots of money on fancy wooden foot massagers, I went to Home Depot and bought a small piece of a wooden rounded moulding.  I then cut it into 3 pieces, using the saw that was available at the store.

3 foot masssagers for only $1.77.  It’s hard to beat that.

So, if you’re feet are sore, go to Home Depot or Lowes or your local hardware store and make yourself a foot massager.

Here’s a very interesting article that not only talks about how harmful excess salt can be, but how combining it with a low potassium diet can possibly be fatal.  Important stuff here.

High salt + low potassium = early death: study

CHICAGO — Put down the salt shakers. Eating too much salt and too little potassium can increase the risk of death, U.S. government researchers said on Monday.

The findings from a team at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are a counterpoint to a fiercely-debated study released last week that found no evidence that making small cuts in salt intake lowers the risk of heart disease and premature death.

“Salt is still bad for you,” said Dr. Thomas Farley, Health Commissioner for New York City, which is leading a campaign to reduce salt in restaurant and packaged foods by 25 percent over five years.

Most health experts agree with Farley that consuming too much salt is not good for you and that cutting salt intake can reduce high blood pressure, which raises the risk of heart attack and stroke. Salt intake has been rising since the 1970s, with Americans consuming about twice the recommended daily limit.

The CDC study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, specifically focused on growing research that shows a diet high in salt and low in potassium is especially risky.

Farley, who wrote an editorial on the CDC study, said it is one of the best yet looking at the long-term effects of eating too much salt.

“It is entirely consistent with what we’ve said all along about sodium intake,” Farley said in a telephone interview.

For the study, researchers looked at the long-term effects of sodium and potassium intake as part of a 15-year study of more than 12,000 people.

By the end of the study period, 2,270 of the study participants had died; 825 of these deaths were from heart disease and 433 were from blood clots and strokes.

POTASSIUM IS KEY

They found that people who had a high salt intake and a low potassium intake were most at risk.

“People who ate a diet high in sodium and low in potassium had a 50 percent increased risk of death from any cause, and about twice the risk of death — or a 200 percent increase — from a heart attack,” said Dr. Elena Kuklina of the CDC who helped lead the study.

She said consumers need to increase the levels of potassium in their diet by adding more servings of fresh fruits and vegetables, such as spinach, grapes, carrots, sweet potatoes, and low fat milk and yogurt.

You can read the rest of the article here.

Here’s an interesting article I read today.  It suggests one should drink red wine in order to avoid muscle loss, IF THEY DON’T HAVE TIME to visit the gym today. Red wine may be great, but we should ALWAYS find time to visit the gym (or walk outside, or do some type of physical activity).

——————————————————————————–

No Sweat: Could Red Wine Have the Same Benefits as Exercise?

Don’t have time for a visit to the gym today? Don’t worry – just pour yourself a healthy glass red wine at dinner instead. A recent study has found that resveratrol, a phenol that happens to be contained in red wine, may help prevent muscle and bone deterioration due to lack of exercise.

Though it may seem like a study that only affects wine lovers, the research, published in the Journal of the American Societies for Experimental Biology, was meant to help astronauts. Long-term spaceflight has been known to result in muscle atrophy, insulin resistance, bone loss, and other physiological complications. Researchers have been looking for a way to solve such issues with spaceflights. The study subjected two groups of rats to simulated weightlessness. One group was given resveratrol and the other was not.  The group that was not given the phenol showed a decrease in muscle mass, an increase in insulin resistance, and a loss of bone mineral density. The rats that were given resveratrol saw none of these complications.

According to Forbes, resveratrol has been the subject of many studies but very few of which involved humans. It may be that resveratrol does not have the same effects on humans that it does on rats. Or, if it does have the same effect, humans would need more than a glass or two of red wine to see its effects.

So maybe drinking red wine won’t help you lose weight like exercise will. But it might keep your muscle mass and bone density from deteriorating – not to mention it’s a lot tastier than an hour on the elliptical.

People often say it’s difficult to keep weight off after you’ve lost it. I know from my personal experience that the ONLY thing that has worked is to walk every day. Walking keeps the metabolism going and helps keep you in the proper frame of mind to keep the weight off. Here’s a recent article on the subject of keeping weight off.

——————————————————————————-

If you lost weight, you need a whole new diet strategy now

Dieters have long lamented how hard it is to keep weight off after losing it, but the results of a new study may help.

Penn State researchers found that some of the techniques used by people who successfully maintain weight loss are quite different from those techniques used to lose weight. And the researchers say that understanding these differences may hold the key to keeping weight off for the long term.

“It’s intuitive to think the same things that got you there would keep you there,” said study leader Dr. Christopher Sciamanna, an internal medicine physician at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. “What we found is that that may not be the case.”

Maintaining weight loss has traditionally proven to be harder than losing weight, a problem that researchers have chalked up to waning motivation.

“People may successfully lose weight, but maintaining that weight is really where the challenge begins,” said Joy Dubost, a registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. “Within 3 to 5 years, typically, all of that weight loss is regained.”

What works to keep the weight off?
The researchers analyzed survey responses from 926 people who were overweight (whose BMI was over 25) and had tried with varying degrees of success to lose weight and keep it off. The responses detailed whether they used 36 specific weight-control practices either in losing weight or keeping it off. They defined successful weight loss as losing 10 percent of body weight, and weight maintenance as keeping that 10 percent off for one year.

Sciamanna said one of the goals of the study was to find cognitive techniques, or things that people should think about. The idea is that these could help weight loss, but not be as difficult to do as dieting and exercise. He added, however, that dieting and exercise remain essential to weight loss, and thoughts alone wouldn’t have an effect.

The researchers found two techniques that helped with weight maintenance (but not necessarily weight loss): reminding yourself why you need to control your weight, and rewarding yourself for sticking to a diet and exercise plan.

Based upon my own personal experiences, I think it should be illegal to call “diet soda” diet . . .  After reading this article, you might agree.  As the article says, “They may be free of calories, but not of consequences.”

———————————————————-

Diet sodas don’t help with dieting

Two new studies have linked drinking diet soda to poorer health compared with those who don’t drink the beverage.

People who said they drank two or more diet sodas a day experienced waist size increases that were six times greater than those of people who didn’t drink diet soda, according to researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

A second study that found the sweetener aspartame raised blood sugar levels in diabetes-prone mice.

“Data from this and other prospective studies suggest that the promotion of diet sodas and artificial sweeteners as healthy alternatives may be ill-advised,” said study researcher Helen P. Hazuda, professor and at the university’s school of medicine. “They may be free of calories, but not of consequences.”

The human study was based on data from 474 participants in a larger, ongoing study called the San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging. In that study, the participants were followed for nearly 10 years.

Diet soft drink drinkers, as a group, experienced 70 percent greater increases in waist circumference compared with those who don’t drink diet soda.

Abdominal fat is a major risk factor for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and other chronic conditions, the researchers said.

In the mouse study, researchers fed aspartame, a calorie-free sweetener used in some diet sodas, to diabetes-prone mice. One group of mice ate chow to which both aspartame and corn oil were added; another other group ate chow with only corn oil added.

After three months, the mice that ate aspartame showed elevated blood sugar levels.

Here’s yet another study that I’m not sure I agree with.  After all, most nutrition experts agree that reducing salt in your diet is a good thing.  Also, please note that just because this study suggests cutting salt may not help, it doesn’t mean increasing salt intake doesn’t hurt. As always, proceed with caution.

Cutting salt may not help your heart after all

LONDON — In an analysis that set off a fierce debate over the health effects of salt, researchers said on Wednesday they had found no evidence that small cuts to salt intake reduce the risk of developing heart disease or dying prematurely.

In a systematic review published by The Cochrane Library, British scientists found that while cutting salt consumption did appear to lead to slight reductions in blood pressure, that was not translated into lower death or heart disease risk.

The researchers said they suspected the trials conducted so far were not big enough to show any benefits to heart health, and called for large-scale studies to be carried out soon.

“With governments setting ever lower targets for salt intake and food manufacturers working to remove it from their products, it’s really important that we do some large research trials to get a full understanding of the benefits and risks of reducing salt intake,” said Rod Taylor of Exeter University, who led the review.

The Cochrane review attracted sharp criticism from nutrition experts. Francesco Cappuccio, head of the World Health Organisation’s collaborating centre for nutrition at Warwick University, said it was “a surprisingly poor piece of work”.

“This study does not change the priorities outlined worldwide for a population reduction in salt intake to prevent heart attacks and strokes, the greatest killers in the world,” he said in an emailed comment.

Simon Capewell, a professor of Clinical Epidemiology at Liverpool University, said the review was “disappointing and inconclusive” and did not change public health consensus that dietary salt raises blood pressure.

Most experts are agreed that consuming too much salt is not good for you and that cutting salt intake can reduce hypertension in people with normal and high blood pressure.