Open-Secrets

Month: June 2009

  • Losing Weight at the Speed of Life

    weight_loss_diet15 Pounds in a Month with NO Dieting!

    At the beginning of June I decided it was time to explore my relationship with food, dieting and diabetes. My doctor had been telling me for several years that I was at risk for type II diabetes. Not surprising since I have 32 sweet tooths and a love of bread, pasta and other wonders of refined flour.

    I had been noticing for about 6 months a sense of being more at risk and I was definitely becoming more and more uncomfortable every day with my weight and a closet full of clothes I wanted to wear again. So, I did what I usually do when something interests me – I Googled and Amazoned.

    I wound up ordering 4 books – 2 on diabetes and insulin control dieting (these were not much help other than reminding me of the underlying issues and knowledge), The Gabriel Method and I Can Make You Thin. The latter two books, were a major break-through, a fundamental shift, an awakening – a moment of truth.

    These two books pointed out a few fundamental truths that I had been overlooking. It was phenomenal to experience the radical shift that happened with me as the truth of this knowledge hit me.

    • Diets Don’t Work
    • Our Bodies Keep Us Fat to Keep Us Safe

    Both books have 4 simple guidelines for eating like a thin person. What’s really interesting to me is how things changed over night for me. Reducing my intake of refined flour and sugars was hardly even a choice – it’s more like I lost interest in them, they no longer seemed to drag me toward them. So, this was a big plus for helping my system stop the insulin swing that has been problematic.

    About the time I made this shift, I started frequenting Lettuce, a great Salad & Soup restaurant in Walnut Creek, that opened in  March. I eat at Lettuce almost every day. The food is just awesome, Laura & Bahman, the owners, are wonderful and their staff is friendly beyond measure.

    This whole process is opening up several interesting inquiries for me. Yesterday, I took the belt in another notch for the second time since all this began – whoohooo!

    The weirdest thing about all of this is the lack of effort. As I was reflecting on this the other day, I realized that the knowledge gained is acting as a huge support, but more importantly – the shift has led to a huge sense of openness and freedom.

    It’s another one of those experiences where I find myself wondering who I am – the familiar self and long-standing habits have taken a significant hit.

    Items of Interest

    Links of Interest

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  • Self-Image Abuse

    compassionSelf-Torture is a Big Love Affair

    A friend of mine recently commented that her ego hated a recent video someone had taken of her. An hour later, in a book I am reading the author addressed self-abuse – “We would never let people treat others the way we treat ourselves.”

    The author went on to say that this chronic internal negative self-talk is probably the number one factor in personal misery. And this internal criticism is what keeps our lives locked in their current form.

    No big surprises for me, but I appreciate the synchronicity of the reminders. My friend is pleasant on the eyes and a joy to be around, but things are different for her. Inside her head a totally different reality exists.

    As it happens, I was discussing this friend with common friend earlier in the day and we both see her similarly. It’s amazing how we could get the whole country to say – wow, you’re fabulous – and our inner critic’s opinion would out-weigh 250 million people.

    Here’s the $64 million dollar question – who’s voice is that in our heads? We weren’t born with it. It wasn’t pre-installed. It came from outside to find a cozy little home inside where it can endlessly rattle around making our lives miserable – robbing us of the simple treasures in life – peace, joy, innocence…

    How’s the daily mental chit chat going for you?

    Items of Interest

    Links of Interest

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  • Project Natal GoodSex France

    Twitter Consciousness vs. Spectacular Sunrise

    tweet-consciousnessI was wondering what to write. I’ve been giving more and more attention to Twitter these days, so I thought maybe I would write something about twitter. My first thought was, “What are people tweeting this morning?”

    So, I went over to TweetCloud to get a visual of this morning’s twitter consciousness. As you can see from the tweet cloud, what’s on tweeter minds is Project Natal (gaming not babies), Good Sex (always a hot topic), the lost Air France flight (tragedy) and Google Wave (techvolution).

    Toys, sex, tragedy and technology. As I was pondering this collective consciousness and what to say about it, I noticed a spectacular sunrise happening outside (Walnut Creek California). Glorious pink clouds moving through the sky with the sun just starting to break over the mountains.

    By the time I was able to get to the car and grab the cameras, the sunrise was further along than I would have liked, but here it is.

    And now, I must take my leave as I have to drive to Pleasanton CA for a 7:45am appointment. But, let me just say – the sunrise will have more influence over my day than the twitter collective.

Open-Secrets