SRHALLIN's SparkPeople Blog

Soul Trippin'

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 20:59:23 EST

Ah, my beautiful SparkFriends. I have *missed you all sooo so much.

For those of you who have been wondering why I fell off the face of the earth, I am going to share with you the (very ) short form. Short, simply because my time is just that at the moment. Hopefully, the near future will change that. But, for now, this is what has been happening with me.

In July of this year, I left both an unhealthy environment - and an unhealthy relationship - with someone who rem...

Healthy Habits Entry #6: Honestly Honest.

Tue, 3 Jul 2012 14:36:51 EST

It is sometimes difficult for us to see our own faults, when we are frequently inundated with the faults of others… or, when we refuse to look for our own faults. Regardless, they are still ever-present for each of us. Whether it is a tendency to talk over another person, a quick temper, a sullen disposition, or difficulty expressing our thoughts and/or feelings in a healthy way; we each have a special co...

Healthy Habits Entry #5: Great Expectations

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 20:43:21 EST

"Expectations were like fine pottery. The harder you held them, the more likely they were to crack." - Brandon Sanderson

We all start off with a dream, an idealized image of who and what and how we expect our bodies to be once we reach the embodiment of our full potentials. Whether we are picturing ourselves as strapping men with ripped muscles and pecs firm enough to bounce ping pong balls on, or buxo...

Healthy Habits Entry #4: Sharing

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 13:51:39 EST

Today my aunt related to me a childhood story she had heard from a co-worker. It went a little something like this:

“As a child, [he] was told by [his] Mother to share his Halloween candy with a child from the neighborhood who had been too sick to go trick-or-treating for the holiday. Struck by the prospect of losing [his] precious chocolates to some greedy kid who hadn’t earned them, [he] immediately ...

Healthy Habits Entry #3: Forgive Yourself

Sat, 9 Jun 2012 23:54:39 EST

"We all need love, but we need it most when we deserve it least - when we have sinned against someone, when we have made poor choices, when we have failed. In these situations, ordinary love must become extra-ordinary love." - Barbara Rosberg

Sometimes, when we look back on the deepest cuts, the most salted wounds we have suffered we find our gaze turned away by the gnashing and gnawing teeth of Truth. ...

Healthy Habits Entry #2: Forgiveness.

Wed, 6 Jun 2012 21:36:53 EST

Today's Healthy Habits entry is on Forgiveness, but it is such an enormous topic that I will likely expand on it in the next few entries as well. For the purposes of this particular entry, I'm going to address the topic of Forgiveness in very general terms.

"The first step in forgiveness is the willingness to forgive." - Marianne Williamson

In my experience, people often view Forgiveness in t...

Healthy Habits Entry #1: Self-Talk.

Tue, 5 Jun 2012 22:23:56 EST

I thought I should start a series of blog entries on ways to incorporate healthy habits into our daily lives. I've never been a fan of "diets." They generally cost a lot of money, and don't create lifelong changes in our bodies, minds, or spirits.

With that said, here is our very first in an upcoming series of "Healthy Habits" entries.

What we say to ourselves matters more than what anything or anyone...

My To-Do List is To-Done To-Day....

Tue, 29 May 2012 20:34:11 EST

Ah, this year has been a struggle for me on so many levels. But, I believe I am back on track.

Past guilt let go. - 248
Past sins forgiven. - 248
Past sins of others forgiven. - 248
Lungs mended. - 248
Root canal complete. - 248
Treadmill repaired. - 248

Hopping back on the workout wagon with a clean bill of health. - Priceless

To all of my nearest and dearest (CLPURNEL...

Illness and Light

Wed, 23 May 2012 17:42:08 EST

"An illness is like a journey into a far country; it sifts all one's experience and removes it to a point so remote that it appears like a vision." - Sholem Asch

I wanted to take a few moments today to thank all of my SparkFriends who've stopped by and offered up well-wishes and prayers for me to make a swift recovery from illness. My lungs have been plagued of late; and it is the season for such things where I currently live. Having said that, though, I am getting stronger each ...

What's Your Excuse...?

Mon, 7 May 2012 16:08:14 EST

I think there are very few naturally occurring people in the world for whom exercise comes effortlessly and naturally. I think that - for most human beings - there is a fairly innate resistance to the call to exercise for its own sake.

Having said that, I thought it would be good to take some time to really consider the many myriad excuses of which I have heard the Siren Call to inertness.

...

When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached...

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:42:51 EST

Confucius said, "When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps." Such is the sage advice of someone far wiser and more determined than I can ever hope to become. I can, however, pay attention to the message and do my best to apply it to my daily life.

For the past two to three months, I have struggled. Oh, not in the classical sense of ballooning back u...

Forgive Me (But I Can't...)

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 20:00:30 EST

"I'm a survivor. - A living example of what people can go through and survive." - Elizabeth Taylor

There are three things you will need to know before you delve too-deeply into this blog:

1. It is long. It is very long. Feel free to stop when and where you need to.
2. It is deeply personal, and touches on various forms of abuse and victimization. Consider yourself forewarned.
3. It is po...

It Takes Two

Fri, 9 Mar 2012 20:46:22 EST

If you have ever found yourself going "rounds" with a friend, frienemy, loved one, or diabolical arch-nemesis, you will understand that weighty feeling of frustration and apprehension that comes each time you find yourself drawn into yet another long, overly-complicated 'discussion'/monologue about why you are wrong and the other person is right. It can exhaust us before we even say our first word.

For Whom the Scale Tolls

Tue, 6 Mar 2012 21:04:30 EST

It finally happened. I hit a mental & emotional roadblock, and started to sabotage my efforts to be healthy. So, I have gone up to 185. As I stared at the scale, I couldn't really lie to myself about why it was going in the wrong direction. I felt badly about it. I felt like I had quit on myself and the future that I had been working so hard for and towards for so very long. But, I also felt something else: I felt that I control whether or not I continue to gain weight, or lose weight. ...

Q&A (Ala Bellalucia)

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 22:32:41 EST

1. What time did you get up this morning? 4:43 a.m.

2. How do you like your steak? As rare as it can legally be served. (AKA, Body Temperature)

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Sherlock Holmes 2. (Next up: John Carter of Mars!)

4. What is your favorite TV show? Arctic Air, Grimm, and/or Criminal Minds.

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Vancouver, BC, Canada

6. What did you have for breakfast? A...

Think Positive: The Power of Positivity #2

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:59:17 EST

"At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us." – Albert Schweitzer

Without a proper inventory of what was, what is, and what will matter to us, we are ill-equipped to properly frame our experiences in healthy ways. I'll provide an example:

- What is your great...

Think Positive: The Power of Positivity #1

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 16:26:00 EST

Our days and nights are so often clogged with the clutter of ever-increasing "to-do" lists that never seem to get "too-done."

It is important that we prioritize them in order of their value to the people and things which hold the greatest personal meaning for us.

Dishes can wait for a few minutes. So can the laundry. That ringing telephone? You can call them back; on the off chance that t...

In My Skin

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 14:37:06 EST

As I have said in my previous blog... sometimes my thoughts do not make it to the keyboard. So, I thought I'd try to free-form them and move forward. Thanks to all who stop to listen.

Ghosts & Phantoms

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:16:27 EST

I know, it's been just about forever since I posted a functionally useful or emotionally insightful blog. Nearly every time I log into SP, I'm struck by how long it's been since I posted something personal here. I consider all of the things I always intend to write a blog on, and I just cannot seem to hold my thoughts together long enough to move them from my mind to the tips of my fingers as they skip along the keyboard's surface.

Surely, I tell myself, if I can find the focus t...

IMPORTANT UPDATE: The Online Blackout Strike Against SOPA/PIPA

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:54:40 EST

IMPORTANT INFORMATION UPDATE: There will be a BLACKOUT of some very popular websites which will last 24 hours starting at midnight 01/18/2012 websites that will be participating in this effort to prevent the passages of the PIPA and SOPA laws can be found here: http://www.sopastrike.com (It is at the bottom of the page.

This will affect anyone who uses websites like Amazon, Wikipedia, WordPress, Reddit, Mozilla, TwitPic, Greenpeace, and quite a few other sites. So, if you need ...

Sometimes...

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:59:58 EST

Sometimes, I uncover a quote which has a very profound and impactful effect upon me. Normally, they are short and I impart them under my status; however, sometimes... just sometimes, there is a thing said which will not fit within the confines of a few well-constructed sound bites. Those normally appear on my Facebook Pages. This one, I am going to share here:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our lig...

S. Rhallin: Year One (2011 - 2012)

Fri, 6 Jan 2012 17:02:54 EST

This video documents one woman's weight loss of nearly 160 pounds in a one year period. No extreme actions were taken during the course of this endeavor, and no pills, shakes, or diuretics were employed. These are the results of a healthy mind, a healthy diet, and healthy exercise alone.

(The background music is "Remember the Name" by Fort Minor Ft./Styles of Beyond. It's my favorite song to workout to.)

Special Thanks to all of my SparkFriends!

Sun, 1 Jan 2012 17:29:33 EST

So, From 01/01/2011 to 01/01/2012:

- I went from 354 lbs. to 197 lbs.
- I went from Super Morbidly Obese, to Obese Class 1; and halfway to the "overweight" category.
- I went from a BMI of 67 to a BMI of 32.
- I went from not being able to walk 2 blocks, to being able to do over 9 Kilometers a day.

I couldn't have done it without the love, encouragement, and support of my friends and family. So, thank you all from the bottom of my heart. You're ...

This is N.E.A.T.

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:52:12 EST

N.E.A.T. stands for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. In short, it is energy (calories) that we burn through our incidental activities throughout each day. These are calories which are often consumed by necessity, or due to a person being willfully or inherently inefficient with their available resources. Let me give you a few pertinent examples:

- Taking the stairs, instead of an elevator.
- Parkin...

Think Positive: Self-Talk

Fri, 9 Dec 2011 22:16:13 EST

“The inner speech, your thoughts, can cause you to be rich or poor, loved or unloved, happy or unhappy, attractive or unattractive, powerful or weak.” – Ralph Charell

Sometimes, we are exposed to negative thoughts and words from those in our immediate vicinities. It is important to understand that a human being who is electing to assault another person - with words, with weapons, with any tool in their ...

Love Others Enough to Love Yourself.

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:17:07 EST

Love others enough to love yourself.

Missing and In Action

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 15:21:09 EST

Where has that durned S. Rhallin been hiding?!?!?

Special Thanks

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:26:35 EST

Vlog to my fellow Sparkers. I thought you all deserved to hear this straight from me.