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NOMORESTALLING's Recent Blog Entries
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Monday, April 09, 2012
If you are feeling stuck in your life and are ready for change, take time to declare to the Universe that you are ready.
There comes a point in most of our lives when we feel ready to experience a change we’ve had trouble carrying out. Maybe we’ve been stuck in a home, a relationship, job, or a town that hasn’t felt right for a long time, but we’ve been unable to shift our circumstances in the direction we want to go. At times like this, it can help to declare to the universe that we are ready for a change. Think of it as informing a helpful friend that you need her assistance to move to the next level in your life. If the time is right, the universe will respond with opportunities and offers designed to help you create the change you wish to see.
You can begin the process of making your declaration by getting clear within yourself about what exactly you want to change. Whenever we ask anyone for help, they can assist us that much better if we are specific. The universe also appreciates our clarity and has an easier time answering a direct communication than a vague yearning. When you are clear on what you want, write your declaration on a piece of paper and place it on your altar, if you have one. If you don’t, you can also place it under your pillow or in a box on your nightstand. Set aside a period of time every day to be silent with your wishes for change, repeating your declaration like a mantra. This lets the universe know that you are ready to change and will be receptive to its efforts.
Feel free to continue to refine and redefine your declaration, and remember to be open to the many different ways in which the change you seek might come to be. Remember also to be active in your own efforts, taking opportunities that come your way, watching for signs, and always taking responsibility for your intentions. If things don’t happen quickly, try not to be discouraged; it might take time to free up energy that has been blocked and possibly serving a purpose beyond what we can understand. If you continue your conversation with the universe, declaring yourself clearly and openly, you cannot help but experience the magic of changing and being changed.
DAILY OM
Sunday, April 08, 2012
I know, without a doubt, that everyone of you would agree with me that "muffin tops"-- the fat hanging over the waist of a too tight pair of pants --and beer bellies are not only unattractive but definitely unhealthy as well. And, when it comes to excess belly fat, the situation is actually more serious than the physical appearance alone because as we are all aware, excess belly fat has been linked to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, some cancers and stress.
We all know that when we have stress, our body releases certain "fight-or-flight" stress hormones that are produced in the adrenal glands: cortisol, norepinephrine and epinephrine. When you first get stressed, these hormones kick into gear. Norepinephrine tells your body to stop producing insulin so that you can have plenty of fast-acting blood glucose ready. Epinephrine will relax the muscles in your stomach and intestines and decrease blood flow to these organs. Once the stressor has passed, cortisol tells the body to stop producing these hormones and to go back to digesting regularly. It's normal for your cortisol levels to go up and down throughout the day, but when you are chronically stressed your cortisol level goes up; and stays there.
Are you aware that when our stress and cortisol levels are high, the body actually resists weight loss? Our bodies begin to think "times are hard and the possibility is that you might starve me", so it hoards the fat we eat or have present on our body. Cortisol tends to take fat from healthier areas, like our butt and hips, and move it to our abdomen which has more cortisol receptors. Hello ab flab! In the process, it turns once healthy peripheral fat into unhealthy visceral fat (the fat in your abdomen that surrounds your organs) that increases inflammation and insulin resistance in the body. This belly fat then leads to more cortisol because it has higher concentrations of an enzyme that converts inactive cortisone to active cortisol. The more belly fat you have, the more active cortisol will be converted by these enzymes — yet another vicious cycle created by visceral fat.
So what if you have belly fat? Lose weight by following the best nutrition and lifestyle strategies that support you in times of stress, like the ones in Dr Joel Fuhrman's Eat To Live Lifestyle. When you limit your caffeine to 200 milligrams a day, avoid simple carbs, processed foods, and refined grains, and get plenty of high-quality micro-nutrient foods, in addition to de-stressing yourself, you'll automatically help your body keep your stress hormones, especially cortisol, lower. It's a day by day choice you'll have to make, but the results will be worth it. Think how good it will be when you are as healthy on the inside as you look on the outside.
Friday, April 06, 2012
You've been watching what you eat counting calories watching your fat proteins and carbs percentages, exercising 6 days a week an hour every day, and it's been working. Your weightloss progress has been steady and then without ryhme or reason the scales just abruptly stop moving.
There is nothing more discouraging than stepping on the scale after weeks of diligent dieting and arduous physical exertion and not seeing any drop in the numbers. I know we're all to familiar with the common plateau, but there are measures you can take to keep your metabolism fired up and continue with your weight loss lifestyle changes
The best way to break a plateau is to keep your sodium intake below 1000 milligrams, eat high volumes of water content foods; fruits and vegetables a day and continue drinking the required amounts of water. Make sure you're not eating any processed foods or refined carbs, period. Reduce your starch to one a day That's right — no chips, sugar, white flour, and so on. And increase your exercise of on hour a day to an hour and a half! The boost in exercise will make your body swell and hold fluids for a few days, but after a week you should see the benefits on the scale.
You can also try playing around with your caloric intake, Staying on track with your portion controls and foods yet varying it from day to day throughout the week while keeping the same weekly total. The body can't slow its metabolism to adjust to a reduced caloric intake if the intake isn't fixed from one day to the next. For instance, to bust my plateau, I might have 1,200 calories on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and then eat 1,500 calories on Tuesday, 1,600 on Thursday, 1,400 on Saturday, and 1,700 on Sunday. Get it?
The plateau effect can sometimes simply be a matter of flagging resolve. If mixing up your caloric intake just isn't working, make sure you're not slipping up on your diet or slacking off in your workouts. I'm serious; it happens.
As with any lifestyle change, there will be highs and lows of adjustment periods, but stay with it. Your body is trying to adjust to the weight loss. Don't get scared or discouraged. Just be patient and know that you are worth it!
Friday, April 06, 2012
We can improve our overall physical well-being by first starting to notice our thoughts and our reactions to our thoughts.
The power of the mind is a curious thing, because it is so powerful yet so difficult to control sometimes. We find ourselves thinking a certain way, knowing that this thought may be creating trouble for us yet we find it difficult to stop. For example, many people have the experience of getting sick at the same time every year or every time they go on a plane. They may even be aware that their beliefs impact their experiences, so continue to think they will get sick and then they do.
Sometimes we need to get sick in order to process something or move something through our bodies. But often we get sick, or feel exhausted, because we don’t make the effort to galvanize the power of our minds in the service of our physical health, which is one of its most important functions. We really can use it to communicate to our bodies, yet we often regard the two as separate entities that have little to do with one another.
Knowing this, we have the power to create physical health and mental health, simply by paying attention to the tapes running in our minds. Once we hear ourselves, we have the option to let that tape keep running or to make a new recording. We harness the power of the mind in our defense when we choose supportive, healing words that foster good health and high spirits. All we need to do is remember to tend the field of our mind with the attentive and loving hand of a master gardener tending her flower beds, culling out the weeds so that the blossoms may come to fruition.
Daily OM
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